Decorating advice needed

Jeepers_Creepers

Jimmy_Boy said:

Whats the main critique of using a sprayer over roller ? Does it not give as good a result? The setup / masking is too time consuming? The cleanup of the tool is annoying / time consuming? Im curious as I have no experience with one.

All of these, and more

As with spraying cars, preparation is everything. Sprayed paint is much thinner than brushed or rolled, so the surface finish has to be perfect; it'll show up every surface blemish without mercy.

Unless you are going for a designer finish where the walls are going to be completely and utterly flat and even, then there is no point putting in the HUGE extra effort of spraying.

A decently-skimmed wall painted using the correct roller, paint and technique will give you a superb finish.

Ditto with architrave - modern paints and brushes will not leave brush marks, or barely so. Spraying these will as likely give you 'orange peel' as it will a better-than-brush finish.

Jeepers_Creepers

Oh, and when you do scuff or mark your newly-sprayed walls, how will you touch it up...?

GT60

For painting I recommend this

https://www.screwfix.com/p/harris-trade-big-box-roller-brush-set-18-pieces/6781x
Great coverage by the rollers

stuart45

That's a fair bit of kit for the price. These are quite handy for the money as well.
Harris Continental Filling Knives 3 Piece Set | Knives & Scrapers | Screwfix.com
Do go rusty quite quickly unless you keep them oiled.

neilmcl

GT60 said:

For painting I recommend this

https://www.screwfix.com/p/harris-trade-big-box-roller-brush-set-18-pieces/6781x
Great coverage by the rollers

If you want better quality paint rollers and brushes you're best going to the various decorator centres, Johnstones, Brewers and Dulux. The equipment there is usually far superior and quite often isn't that much more expensive as they often have offers.

Jimmy_Boy

So... progress is a little slow (trying to fit it in around a full time job) and just wanted a little clarification before I jump in head first.

I have managed to get the majority of paint off the ceiling but there are a few stubborn parts that im struggling with.

I was thinking of getting a sanding head / pole (https://www.screwfix.com/p/sander-head-84-x-240mm/11587) and  giving it a gentle going over with 180 or 220 grit as suggested by @Jeepers_Creepers. What kind of finish am I looking for?, ie how do I know when ive done enough and its adequate to be painted on.

Turning my attention the uneven wall, the paint on this wall has been a lot more stubborn to get off.

As its being a pain in the backside AND im really not happy with it being uneven, I have started to think would it be better for me to just skim over it ?
I have watched several videos (such as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z68PxXLGO7s) about plastering and im thinking it may be the better option. I may not do a fantastic job, but im at least willing to give it a go. Ive also got walls like this in the front room to address, so I would be able to tackle that as well if I had the tools / know-how.

Any advice greatly appreciated again, you have been very helpful.

Thanks.

benson1980

I would scrape off the loose paint around the edge, skim a thin coat of filler around the transition between bare wall and paint. Then sand with 180 grit. With the paint on the ceiling this doesn’t look loose as such, so as long as it’s a flat surface I’d leave it.
I’d then use a stabilising solution that is suitable to paint over (I used ever build) and I appreciate decorating purists may not vouch for it but everbuild also do a filler coat. I’d then do a coat of this, sand it all with 180 grit to smooth it out, then do my emulsion coats.
I’ve just done the above on walls that were worse than that, but with caveat being as long as the paint already there is reasonably stable. We ended up reskimming another bedroom as there was loads of plaster repair to be done and we had a plasterer skimming ceilings as well. To be honest, the difference in finish is minimal to what I did using the above method.

stuart45

Rule of thumb with edges. If you can feel the edge when you run your fingers over it, painting will make it worse. The method advised above is the one I would use. Modern fillers are really easy to use and can be sanded to virtually nothing, so the edges won't show. Skimming a whole room and getting a good finish with plaster is harder than it looks.

Jimmy_Boy

Thanks again for the advice.

Jeepers_Creepers

What a 'mare, JB :-(

It shouldn't have come to this, but it looks as tho' the paint applied to the fresh skim wasn't done properly.

Anyhoo, what to do? Basically as said by others above. It's an awful situation to have a paint edge that needs 'feathering down' until it can't be seen when repainted, but that's what's needed.

Have you tried spraying the remaining paint with water (with a drop of washing up liquid in it to make it wetter)? If you do a trial on a remaining paint bit - spray it until it's wetted, then leave it for 20 minutes. See if it's softened enough to scrape off now.

But, if a layer of paint is left behind, all you can do is blend in the step between that paint layer and the surface below - a mix of filler and sanding.

Hellish.