How to Paint Your House - Woodwork Inside and Out

Simply, to protect it and also to provide a finish that is colourful and can be wiped clean.

The main wood used in houses is a softwood, deal or pine and has the usual knots and shakes or splits and requires painting. That is unless it has been carefully selected to be seen and is then stained or varnished.

If you are lucky enough to have hardwoods like oak and mahogany then it is a shame to cover such quality and so lime wash oak and oil or varnish mahogany. Teak and cedar are long lasting woods and have their own built-in oils to preserve them so oiling is best here.

Other areas that need a special paint are in food and clothes cupboards where it is best to use a low odour paint for obvious reasons. There are also special paints for coating steel and radiators.

But here I want to talk about the standard paint finish for deal or pine. The type of wood used for skirtings, architraves, doors, windows, pelmets, soffit, fascias, shelving and the like.

One coat primer
Two coats undercoat
One coat gloss.

Why three types of paint? Well each does it's job well but does not do all the jobs well. Keep this fact in mind when you see paint advertised that will do all the jobs - they do not do all the jobs really well. It follows on to say that cheap paint will give a cheap job. The cost of labour will be far more that the cost of paint so get quality materials.

Oil based or water based paints? Well for gloss work on wood I still prefer the 'old fashioned' oil based paints for a long lasting finish.

The primer does a good job of bonding the undercoat to new wood. It is thin and soaks in.

The undercoat is thick with a lot of filling to smooth out the grain and cover patches and repairs. It can be sanded. It also provides the base colour for the finish coat.

The gloss coat provides a tough, weatherproof, crack free, washable, ultra-violet stabilised finish that should last a few years. Oh, and it provides colour too.

Preparation is the foundation of the job. Stop knots with a stopping preparation or the resin in the know will weep through and ruin the job. Fill gaps and sand the wood smooth.

Paint one coat primer. The colour of the paint is not needed here so it is usually off-white or pink. Do not try to get a finish. It is meant to soak into the wood. This coat will show up prep work you have missed so fill gaps and sand down. Patch up the primer where you have sanded away the first coat. Allow to dry over night.

Apply the first coat of undercoat. Colour again not important - white will do. Avoid runs at all costs. Leave to dry over night. Sand smooth in the morning and fill gaps if they are still there.

Apply the final coat of undercoat. Choose a recommended colour suitable for your choice of gloss colour. For deep gloss colours this is often dark grey for the undercoat, for instance. Let dry over night . Sand smooth with 240 grit paper. The smoothness of the finish at this stage will govern the smoothness of the gloss coat. The top gloss coat, although shiny, does not make a rough undercoat smooth. It is not designed to fill gaps. It just follows all the ups and downs of the undercoat.

It cannot be stressed enough that the quality of the finish of the final undercoat governs the quality of the whole job.

Apply one coat of gloss paint. This is thinner than the undercoat and care must be taken to avoid runs. Keep a 'live edge' as they say in the trade. In other words, plan your painting so that you avoid painting up to work that has already started to dry and so will drag the older paint and spoil the finish.

Avoid windy, frosty or damp weather when doing gloss work as it will spoil the finish.

Wash down with sugar soap to remove grease and dirty film left by the atmosphere. It is amazing how dirty the air is! Let the work dry.

Sand down the whole surface with 120 grit paper and 80 grit paper for old runs and loose paint. Try to feather the edge where old gloss changes to base wood. Cut out rot and glue in new wood (or dutchmen as they are called) and so avoid an excess of filler which tends to shrink and spoil the finish.

Prime any bare wood then apply one coat undercoat. This will show up any defects to be filled and sanded back. Touch up as required till you have a smooth base for the top coat. Exactly the same argument applies as with new work - the quality of the undercoat governs the finish.

Apply one coat gloss paint.

Use one brush for each type of paint. Clean the brushes in brush cleaner rather than white spirit - it does a better job.

Undercoat brushes will tend to clog up at the root due to the large amount of filler or 'body' in the paint.

Get the best quality brushes for gloss work that you can afford and take care of them by keeping them really clean. Cheaper brushes can be used with primer and undercoat work. 3/4"(20mm) and 2" (50mm) will cope with most work with 3" or 4" (75/100mm) for larger areas like fascias and doors. The bigger the brush the more skill is needed so start small.

White is popular outside for a good reason. It absorbs less of the sun's rays and lasts longer. Dark colours make the wood hot in the sun and so it expands more and cracks the finish. This allows moisture to get in and lift the paint shortening the life of the finish.

A painter decorator is a very skilled trade so it is not surprising that the amateur needs a lot of guidance and practice to become proficient.

A beautiful paint job is a joy to behold.