In this article, I will explain the best practice for preparing a room, ready for painting and decorating. Before any painting can begin, there are a few things that have to be done first, one of which is protecting all surfaces and furniture. There are numerous different dust sheets available at all good DIY stores and it's important to get the right one for the surface that requires protecting. For carpeted floors, its best to use cotton based dustsheet as any paint that drips onto the sheet will be soaked into the sheets itself, rather than sitting on the top, ready to be walked everywhere! For wood and ceramic floors it is also best to use cotton as sheet, as they will be less inclined to slip on the hard surface. Plastic sheets are pretty inexpensive and are a good way to protect furniture and fittings, with having the added benefit of being extremely light weight, thus making them easy to move around and store. It is also a good idea to mask off all sockets and switched prior to painting, using a general masking tape that can be purchased from any DIY store.
Next, we move on to the actual preparation of the surfaces that are going to be painted or wallpapered. If the surface is going to be wallpapered, any existing wallpaper must be removed before any new wallpaper is applied. This can be achieved by using a wallpaper stripping knife, water and if the paper is really stubborn, a steam stripper. When all the existing wallpaper is removed, it's time to move on the preparing the walls ready for decoration. For holes and cracks its best to use a powder filler that requires mixing. It is possible to purchase ready mixed fillers but in my experience, these tend to be a lot more difficult to rub down when the time comes. Filler should be applied to cracks and holes in stages if they are particularly deep. It is also good practice to leave the filler slightly proud of the surface; this can then be sanded back to a smooth surface using some sand paper. For rubbing down plastered walls, I recommend using a sand paper of 120 grit or higher to minimise the risk of scratching the walls. Cracks between woodwork and walls and ceiling should be filled using decorators caulk but this should be used sparingly, using only what is absolutely necessary to fill the crack.
Once all this is completed, you're ready to get painting!
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