How do I paint a room?
The order of work for painting a room properly — preparation, cutting in, rolling and second coats — and how long each stage actually takes.
beginner8 hr3 min read
Decorating
Painting, filling, finishing — how to get a tidy result.
191 guides in Home & DIY
Why is my paint patchy?
Absorbency, coverage and technique — the three causes, and how to tell which one you have.
beginner30 min2 min readWhich flooring should I choose for each room?
Match the material to what the room does to it — water, traffic and warmth decide almost everything.
beginner30 min2 min readWhich paint should I use where?
Finish and location decide it — and using the wrong one usually means repainting within a year.
beginner20 min2 min readHow do I prepare walls for painting?
The preparation that decides how a paint job looks — cleaning, filling, sanding and priming, in the order that matters.
beginner4 hr2 min readHow do I sand a wooden floor myself?
Preparation, the grit sequence, how to drive a drum sander without cutting hollows in the floor, and the edge and corner work that decides whether the finished floor looks professional.
advanced15 hr6 min readHow do I stop brush marks in gloss paint?
Brush marks in gloss come from the paint setting before it can level. The fix is a combination of the right brush, a wet edge and knowing when to stop touching it.
intermediate45 min3 min readWhich primer do I need for which surface?
A primer is bought to solve one named problem — porosity, adhesion, alkali, stain or a powdery surface. Match the substrate to the problem and the product follows.
beginner12 min4 min readCan I tile over a painted wall?
The paint is now the thing holding your tiles up. Whether that is acceptable depends on what the paint is, how well it is stuck, and how heavy the tiles are.
intermediate30 min2 min readDo I need special paint for a kitchen or bathroom?
What kitchen and bathroom emulsions actually do differently, when they earn their price, and the problems they cannot solve however many coats you apply.
beginner10 min4 min readDo I need to prime, and with what?
The four situations that genuinely need a primer, and the ones where it is a wasted coat.
beginner15 min2 min readHow do I gloss skirting boards neatly?
Skirting is glossed at floor level with a carpet on one side and a wall on the other, which is why it is fiddly. The order of work matters more than the brushwork.
beginner2 hr3 min readHow do I paint kitchen cupboards so it lasts?
Why kitchen paint fails, the degrease-abrade-prime sequence that stops it, and the cure time nobody allows for.
intermediate8 hr4 min readHow many coats of paint do I actually need?
The number of coats is decided by the substrate, the colour change and the film thickness the paint needs to work — not by a rule of thumb.
beginner8 min4 min readWhy are large tiles so much harder to lay?
A big tile cannot bridge an uneven wall, cannot be adjusted once it grabs and needs full support underneath. Everything that is forgiving about a small tile stops being forgiving.
advanced30 min3 min readWhy can I see brush marks and roller marks?
Paint that sets before it can level, and the four things that cause it.
beginner20 min2 min readHow do I gloss a panel door without lap marks?
A panel door is glossed in a set order for a reason: it keeps every join between sections wet, so no lap marks form. The order is the whole technique.
intermediate1 hr 30 min3 min readHow do I paint a staircase without making it slippery?
The finish on the treads is a safety decision, not a decorating one. Everything else about painting a staircase is ordinary woodwork with an awkward access problem.
intermediate5 hr2 min readHow do I refresh a kitchen without replacing it?
Six changes in order of cost and impact, how to tell whether the carcasses are worth keeping, and the one thing that means you should replace instead.
beginner30 min5 min readIs expensive paint actually worth the money?
What the extra money in a tin actually buys — opacity, binder and pigment quality — and the three jobs where cheap paint costs you more than expensive paint.
beginner10 min4 min readWhy did my tiles stop sticking to the adhesive?
Combed adhesive skins over surprisingly fast. A tile pressed into a skinned bed touches the ridges and bonds to almost nothing, and it looks perfectly fine until it comes off.
intermediate20 min2 min readWhy is my gloss paint peeling off?
Gloss peels because it never stuck, and there are only four reasons it did not. Which one applies decides whether you can patch the area or have to take the whole piece back.
beginner20 min4 min readHow do I prepare a concrete floor before painting it?
Almost every floor coating that fails, failed at preparation. The three things that matter are moisture, contamination and profile, and none of them can be judged by eye alone.
intermediate3 hr3 min readHow do I use masking tape so paint does not bleed?
Sealing the edge before you paint the colour, choosing the right tape for the surface, and when to pull it off.
beginner30 min4 min read
Going deeper: Renovation Calculator
Room-by-room material quantities, wastage allowances and project cost estimates.