Do it yourself

You have purchased a desirable paint. You already see it on your wall. You are about to get down to paint. STOP! Not so fast. So that the effect can enchant you have to prepare yourself…

Even the best paint won’t look well if we don’t prepare the surface properly before its application. Even the most beautifully painted facility won’t be enjoyable if during painting we will destroy its surroundings by splatters of the paint. Therefore we must bear in mind three principles: firstly, - prepare the working place ( - safeguard the surroundings),secondly, we prepare and prime the surface (or perform suitable adjustments if necessary),thirdly – we select tools (high quality and adjusted to the sort of used paint, sort and size of surface).

Before we begin

Before you commence painting works, equip yourself with the painting foil and tape. When the floor, electric sockets and all surrounding objects have been covered, we can begin to prepare the surface which is about to be painted.

In the event of good quality walls and ceilings we limit ourselves to remove dust and other contaminations. In order to perform it the best option is to use a painting soap diluted in water. It will enable to provide additional adhesive properties of further applied emulsion paints. The method may seem a bit archaic but is effective. Thanks to it the dust does not mix with the applied paint, does not diminish its efficiency and does not soil light colours.
If there is fungus, moisture and difficult-to-remove stains on the surface we have to apply special products and paints. If the wall was painted previously it’s necessary to check the adhesive properties of the previous coating – stick a 15-centineter of the painting tape and remove it vigorously – if the previous paint is found on the tape, it means we have to apply a primer. All cracks and defects must be removed by using putty masses or mortars. Only after removing all defects and cracks are you allowed to apply an emulsion primer. It levels up the surface absorptiveness, enhances efficiency of surface paints and enables to cover intense colours. Good quality wallpapers can be painted without removal ,however, vinyl ones must be removed. Generally, we apply strong latex paints upon glass fibre wallpapers, one must however, pay attention to the manufacturer’s recommendations.

Old bad adhesive surfaces

It’s important to remove all contaminations, moisture, dust by using special cleansing products. To wash off the old paint we can use a special product which will remove it. If necessary, we should use a putty knife to remove the remains of the paints or varnishes. If there are any cracks or defects we should remove them and smooth the surface. If the object is clean, even and dry we can prime it – the product selection depends on the sort of material it is made of. For wood we can take advantage of priming oil, for exteriors we can use acrylic or latex paints, for interiors we can use priming and straitening preservative and alkyl paint for old wallpapers.

A paintbrush or a roller?

In the case of walls in the house – we definitely recommend the second one. When performing most of the painting works we need at least two different kinds of tools (to cover larger surfaces as well as all the details and difficult-to-reach spots). Smooth walls can be painted by a big roller (240mm). If you use an additional grip handle, you are able to reach further and do not expose your back. In small premises such as kitchen, bathroom or staircase, it’s better to use an medium-size roller (100mm). Difficult-to-reach spots and other tiny details can be painted by using a mini-roller (35mm) or a paintbrush – necessary with a long handle. When selecting a roller we must pay attention to the length of roller hair, rollers with short hair (10-13mm) are ideal for smooth surfaces. In the event of rollers with long hair (19-25mm) an unskilled painter may leave some undesirable texture upon the wall. It’s also important the order of painting – we must begin our painting work with the ceiling. We should  paint the whole surfaces of walls without any breaks during painting. We begin with so called ‘cut offs’ which are found in corners and then we paint the whole wall. We try to perform it by vigorous movements so that particular stripes are joined when still wet. After completing this stage we can have a break or move to other surfaces.
When we have to paint the whole surface of the wall or facade, additionally we can take advantage of a telescopic stick so as not to expose our back and arms. When painting wooden facades we select two kinds of paintbrushes: the first one should be wide to let us draw large amount of paint and the second narrow one for tiny details and difficult-to-reach spots. When painting doors, windows as well as metal surfaces it’s recommended to use small paintbrushes as well. Walls (both made of gypsum and concrete),doors and radiators should be painted by a roller. If we want to obtain a texture, bear in mind that the longer hair is, the more visible texture will be. It’s also important to select the paintbrush hair to the sort of paint. Synthetic are designed for latex paints and for alkyl and oil paints it is recommended to use natural one. When applying varnish the best option is to use a roller.
And now we can get down to some real work!     

Aleksandra Gniado
Three principles of painter’s prologue:

  • firstly – we safeguard the surroundings , 
  • secondly – prepare the surface and prime it,
  • thirdly – select the tools (good quality ones as well as adjusted to the kind of paint and surface)

Three means to reach the goal:

  • Śnieżka grunt – a latex emulsion primer which uniforms the absorptive properties and surface texture. Thanks to it the paint has better covering properties and better efficiency as well as decorative effect.
  • Śnieżka na zacieki i plamy – this paint is helpful wherever we have problems to remove stains and contaminations. Thanks to it we will paint out effectively all stains after damp patches, oil or nicotine.
  • Magnat tools – proper materials they are made of will facilitate the painting process and contribute to painting aesthetics. A desirable effect depends on the quality of tools we use, though!

 

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