How flat does a wall need to be before tiling?
Tile follows the wall. Every hollow and hump appears in the finished surface as lippage, and adhesive is not the material to correct it with.
intermediate40 min2 min read
Decorating
Painting, filling, finishing — how to get a tidy result.
191 guides in Home & DIY
Should I use matt, silk or soft sheen emulsion on my walls?
Sheen buys you a washable, moisture-tolerant film and costs you every ripple in the wall. How to decide which trade you can actually afford.
beginner10 min4 min readWhy are knots showing through my paint?
Resin in a knot is mobilised by heat and travels straight through primer and topcoat. Why more paint never fixes it, and where the barrier actually has to sit.
beginner45 min5 min readWhy does my filler keep falling out of the hole?
Filler that drops out was never gripped by the hole. Undercut edges, dust and the wrong filler for the depth are the three reasons, and all are fixed before the filler comes out of the tub.
beginner30 min3 min readWhy does my paint need so many coats?
Poor coverage is usually not the paint. It is porosity, colour contrast, or spreading the paint too far — and each has a different remedy.
beginner20 min3 min readHow do I choose a paint colour?
A method for choosing colour that survives contact with the actual room, rather than the one that looked good on a card.
beginner1 hr2 min readHow do I feather filler so the repair does not show?
A repair shows because of its edge and its porosity, not its colour. Feathering removes the edge; sealing removes the porosity. Both are needed.
intermediate40 min3 min readHow do I mist coat new plaster?
Why new plaster rejects ordinary emulsion, the dilution that works, and how to tell when the plaster is dry enough to paint.
beginner1 hr 30 min4 min readHow do I paint a fence or shed properly?
Preparation, weather and the coverage most people underestimate — how to make it last five years rather than two.
beginner5 hr2 min readHow do I paint over a stain that keeps coming through?
Why emulsion cannot cover certain stains, choosing the right blocker, and the check that comes before any of it.
beginner1 hr 30 min3 min readHow do I reseal a bath?
How to remove old silicone from around a bath or shower tray and apply a new bead that's watertight and looks neat.
intermediate2 hr3 min readHow do I work out which layer my paint failed at?
Turn the flake over. Whatever is stuck to the back of it names the layer that let go — and that single observation decides the entire repair.
intermediate20 min5 min readHow long before a freshly painted room is safe to sleep in?
What VOCs are, what the labels actually mean, and how long to wait before a room is sensible to sleep in — for water-based and solvent-based paint separately.
beginner8 min3 min readHow long should I wait before grouting?
Grouting too early traps water in the adhesive and causes patchy grout and weak bonds. The wait is a curing requirement, not a convention.
beginner10 min2 min readWhy does my paint not cover, even after three coats?
Hiding comes from pigment, and the brightest colours physically contain the least of what hides. Why more topcoats stop working, and the basecoat that solves it.
beginner15 min4 min readWhy has my varnish gone cloudy or milky?
Cloudiness in varnish is trapped moisture or trapped air, and which one it is decides whether it will clear on its own or has to come off.
beginner30 min3 min readWhy is my paint bubbling or blistering?
A blister is either water pushing from behind or solvent trapped in front. Burst one and look underneath — the answer decides whether this is a repaint or a building repair.
intermediate30 min5 min readWhy is my ceiling paint patchy?
Patchy ceilings come from lap marks, uneven porosity or stains bleeding through — three different faults that look similar from the floor and need different fixes.
beginner30 min3 min readDo I need to sand between coats of paint?
On trim, almost always. On walls, almost never. What sanding between coats is actually for, and which of the two jobs — key or smoothness — you are doing.
beginner15 min4 min readHow do I get a smooth finish on a painted door?
The order that avoids lap marks, why brush marks are usually a paint problem, and the between-coat step that does most of the work.
beginner4 hr3 min readHow do I match an existing paint colour?
Taking a sample the shop can actually scan, why the match will still not be perfect, and the finish that matters as much as the colour.
beginner1 hr4 min readHow do I paint a textured or artex ceiling?
The asbestos question first, then the roller nap and the wet edge that get paint into the texture without twenty coats.
intermediate5 hr5 min readHow do I paint woodwork properly?
How to get a smooth finish on skirting, doors and frames — the sanding, priming and brushwork that separates a good job from a streaky one.
intermediate5 hr2 min readHow high and how wide should a curtain pole go?
The four clearances that decide where a pole goes — height above the window, width past it, drop below it and projection from the wall — and what each one is actually for.
beginner15 min4 min read
Going deeper: Renovation Calculator
Room-by-room material quantities, wastage allowances and project cost estimates.