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- How To: Paint Interior Walls
How To: Paint Interior Walls
What you will need
- Dust sheets
- Paint
- Paint brushes
- Paint roller and tray
- Masking tape
- Filler
- Paint scraper
- Stain block (If required)
- Sugar soap (If required)
- Step ladder (if required)
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1 Clear the room of furniture. Cover anything you can’t remove with dust sheets. Also put down dust sheets on the floor or any other surface that paint could splash on. -
2 Use decorators tape to mask off the edges of light fittings, sockets and skirting boards to protect them from getting splashed with paint.
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3 Wash the walls with sugar soap and rinse with water and a sponge. This will help give a smoother finish.
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4 Fill in any cracks or holes in the wall with suitable filler, and sand down until smooth. Use a stain block on any stains that are on the wall. If your walls are marked with crayon or felt tipped pen, you’ll need to use a stain block, as these will keep seeping through the paint, even after 4-5 coats.
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5 Using a brush start painting by cutting in the edges. This means painting where the walls meet the ceiling, skirting boards, corners and around any wall fittings. Always start at the top and work your way down.
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6 When you’ve cut in, use a roller to paint the main surface of the wall.
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7 Start in a corner of the room and roll from the bottom up with smooth steady strokes ensuring your roller is covered with paint. Paint one wall at a time.
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8 Leave paint to dry and apply second coat if necessary. Top Tip: Keep the roller in a plastic bag overnight to stop it drying out. If it’s a newly plastered wall, apply some matt white emulsion first, as this will soak into the wall before you apply your coloured paint.
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9 When paint is completely dry, remove strips of decorators tape. Take off the strips slowly to avoid chipping the paint.
