How do you paint a room properly, step by step?
What order does a room get painted in?
Work from the top down, so anything you drip or splatter lands on a surface you have not finished yet. Ceiling first, then the walls, then the doors, skirtings, architraves and window frames. Bunnings sets out the same order in its room painting guide: cut in the edges with a brush, roll the big flat areas, then come back for a second coat.
Inside each of those stages, cut in and roll straight away, while the brushed band is still wet. Cut in the whole room and come back an hour later and the brushed edge has dried at a different rate to the rolled wall, which you can see as a border in certain light.
- Ceiling in one go, so there is no join drying across the middle of it.
- Walls one wall at a time, edges then roller, not all the edges then all the walls.
- Doors, skirtings and architraves last, when nothing above them can drip.
- Pull masking tape away at an angle while the paint is still slightly damp, as Bunnings advises, rather than after it has hardened.
What needs doing before you open the tin?
Preparation is most of a paint job, and skipping it is the usual reason a home job looks like one. Get everything out of the way first: furniture into the middle and covered, curtains down, switch and power point covers loosened or masked. A canvas drop sheet stays put underfoot far better than plastic.
Then wash the walls. Hallway and kitchen walls carry more grease and hand marks than they look like they do, and paint will not stick to them. Sugar soap and a sponge, rinsed and dried, deals with most of it. Fill the nail holes and dents, sand them flat once they are dry, and dust everything off with a brush or the vacuum.
Before you start, hold a torch flat against each wall and look along it. Every lump, hollow and missed filler shows up, and all of them are easier to fix now than under two coats of colour.
On the Peninsula and not sure what your place needs? We'll come and look, and the quote is in writing.
0481 737 626Which bits need a primer?
A sound painted wall does not need priming from end to end, but the patches do. Filler and bare plaster suck paint in faster than the paint around them, so a topcoat straight over them dries to a dull spot that grins through both coats. Painters call it flashing, and it is the single most common complaint about a first attempt.
Dulux 1Step Prep is a water-based primer, sealer and undercoat with a stated spread rate of 14 square metres a litre. Dulux lists it as touch dry in 20 minutes and ready to recoat in 2 hours, says one coat does most surfaces with no sanding needed, and says it blocks tannin and flash rust stains. Dulux also notes that very dark, tannin-rich timber is better done with the oil-based version.
- Filled holes, patched plaster and anywhere you have sanded back to the paper.
- Water stains and pen marks, which bleed up through waterborne paint.
- Bare timber on a door or architrave you have taken back.
- Anything glossy, after a sand to knock the shine off it.
How do you cut in and roll without it looking patchy?
Load the brush about half the bristle length, as Bunnings suggests, and run a band along the ceiling line, into the corners and around the fittings. Keep that band wide enough that the roller can get close without kissing the ceiling, then roll into it before it sets.
The nap on the sleeve matters more than the frame you put it on. Dulux puts 10 to 12 millimetres on walls in low sheen and flat paint, 6 to 8 millimetres under gloss and semi-gloss, and 20 to 32 millimetres on rough or textured surfaces such as concrete. Too short a nap on a textured wall leaves pinholes; too long a nap on a smooth wall leaves stipple you cannot sand out later.
Roll in sections you can finish while the edge is still wet, spread the paint properly, then lay it off with light strokes in one direction. Do not go back over paint that has begun to set: Dulux's own instruction is to paint up to a natural break and never over an area that is partly dried, because the brush or roller leaves marks in it.
How long do you leave between coats?
Read the tin rather than the internet. Dulux Wash and Wear Low Sheen is listed as touch dry in 30 minutes and ready for a recoat in 2 hours, with two coats recommended and the first one properly dry before the second goes on. Those figures assume normal conditions. A closed-up room in the middle of a Melbourne winter is not normal conditions, and paint recoated too early drags, streaks and lifts.
Two full coats, properly spread, will beat three thin ones every time. Going from a dark colour to a light one, plan on a third coat instead of trying to get there by laying the second one on heavy.
When is it worth getting a painter in?
There is no reason an able adult with a free weekend cannot paint a bedroom, and plenty of people around Frankston and the Peninsula do exactly that every spring. It is worth handing over when the job stops being about paint and starts being about access, dust or time.
- Stairwells, raked ceilings and anything needing a plank or a second ladder. WorkSafe Victoria is blunt about ladders: anyone on one is at risk of falling, even below two metres.
- A house built before 1970, where sanding old paint can raise lead dust. Our guide on old weatherboards explains how that gets handled.
- Doors and trims you want to look sprayed rather than brushed.
- A whole house at once, where the cutting in on its own runs into days.
- Ceilings, which are the part of the job most people wish they had not started.
Getting it right the first time
If you would rather hand the inside of the house over, we quote interior repaints in writing, with the preparation for each room set out before anything starts. If you are doing it yourself, work out how much paint you need before you drive to the shop, and check which sheen belongs in which room while you are deciding on colour. Both take five minutes and save a second trip.
Quick questions
What order do you paint a room in?
Ceiling first, then walls, then doors and trims. Within each stage, cut in the edges with a brush and roll into the wet band straight away.
Do I have to prime before painting a room?
Not a sound painted wall, but yes on filler, patches, bare plaster and stains. Unprimed patches dry dull and show through both coats.
How long should I wait between coats?
Go by the tin. Dulux Wash and Wear Low Sheen lists 2 hours before a recoat under normal conditions, and a cold, closed-up room needs longer.
Which roller nap should I use on walls?
Dulux suggests 10 to 12 millimetres for low sheen and flat wall paint, 6 to 8 millimetres for gloss and semi-gloss, and 20 to 32 millimetres on rough surfaces.
Want us to take a look?
We paint homes and businesses across Frankston & Mornington Peninsula. Tell us what's going on and we'll come and see it, then put the price in writing.
Sources
What this guide relies on. Product advice changes, so check the maker's current instructions for the exact paint you're using.
- How to paint a room: a step-by-step guide — Bunnings Warehouse
- Wash&Wear Low Sheen: drying and recoat times — Dulux
- 1Step Prep water based primer, sealer and undercoat — Dulux
- How to use a paint roller (nap lengths) — Dulux
- Working safely with ladders — WorkSafe Victoria
Want us to take a look? One call and we'll take it from there.
Painting homes across Frankston & Mornington Peninsula · 7-year workmanship guarantee