Painting coving

d0nkeyk0ng

The coving in the living room has been damaged (banners stuck up with tape instead of blutak). I was thinking about painting the whole lot in one go rather than try patch repair.

Any advice or suggestions for doing this successfully?
Walls are papered, floors are carpeted so I need a way of doing this without dripping paint everywhere.

Lorian

Use calk in any deep marks first, dry and sand, then paint with solid emulsion, but you'll still need sheets down.

Owain_Moneysaver

Small brush and a small pot of paint, and a drop cloth below.

Clean the coving with sticky stuff remover first as tape can leave a residue.

TheCyclingProgrammer

Lorian wrote: »

Use calk in any deep marks first, dry and sand, then paint with solid emulsion, but you'll still need sheets down.

Caulk is not appropriate for filling deep holes and it can't be sanded.

Use a good sandable filler (Touprets or Easifill better than any ready mixed stuff) instead.

Furts

Be very careful and very gentle on sanding down coving. Modern coving is plaster covered with a layer of paper - if you damage the paper the plaster could crumble out. Using filler flushed off with a filling knife/scraper is what I would do.

d0nkeyk0ng

Thanks all. The damage is superficial- ie only the layer of paint has come away but it is approx 1" sq in each case.

I was unsure whether to key the surface before painting.

Also, any ideas on how to avoid paint drips on to wall paper?

Le_Kirk

d0nkeyk0ng wrote: »

Also, any ideas on how to avoid paint drips on to wall paper?

You can try Frog tape below the coving but try it on a small area first to make sure it detaches easily afterwards. I once did a paint job on one wall and didn't want to get paint on the adjacent walls so I taped an old shower curtain to those walls (mind you, the wife was livid when I put the curtain back in the shower!!).

martinsurrey

d0nkeyk0ng wrote: »

Also, any ideas on how to avoid paint drips on to wall paper?

go slowly/carefully, no magic trick to it.

Wassa123

Use the yellow (delicate) frog tape.

Might be worth painting the ceiling while you're up there too... might look odd if you have bright white coving compared to the ceiling.

ST1991

Frog tape, and then possibly hang some light clear dust sheets on the walls from tape as well if you are worried about drips! Don't forget to cover the carpet too.