DIY for complete and utter n00bs

Hey all, thanks so much for the advice.

Basically, yes, the entire house needs repainting, every single wall has at least one hole in it (like I said, they were very fond of putting up pictures), trims and some ceilings also need a lick of paint, as do some of the doors.

In my head it sounded hard work but relatively straight forwards, I had romanticised notions of getting the boys and girls together and getting the place painted in a few days and basking in our awesome handy work over a few beers and a BBQ. However, I know that is dumb and that there is a lot more to just splashing paint around.

This morning I spoke to a work colleague and, like Tothiel, he advised to NOT do it yourself, especially given the magnitude of the job (entire house) and having never picked up a brush other than to do Hitler impressions in my "adult" life. He also regaled me of horror stories where home owners have actually devalued their homes doing DIY or ruined something with nothing more than a paint roller and paint (his brother is a painter/decorator but unfortunately too busy at the moment).

I mean, I'll do my due dilligence and do some reading and gather some quotes and weigh up the pros and cons of DIY vs professional job...

Thanks all.

 

You could always put your pictures up in exactly the same places they did?
And if you thinK one picture per wall is "very fond" then my house would knock your socks off.

 

I did think of that...

The walls with one picture have one picture because that's all you can get on them (i.e., there's a door or window where they can couldn't really hang a picture). Full walls were practically littered, like one of those crime walls you see on TV with string leading from one pic to another to pictures of houses and graveyards and things...

 

Ah I see. That is a bit much.
The problem I have in my house is that the previous owner was a "bodger".
Superficially it looks OK but everything is a bit make do or poorly done.
Almost every screw I've had to remove has had the slot in the head gouged away where it's been forced into a hole that's too small for example.

 

An important thing to remember is that no matter how small the job is - something can go terribly wrong. Plan, and don't do things that are outside the scope of the project.

 

Oh, oh, I downloaded a spirit level for my iPad...

 

Ahhhhhhh come on man, my iPad has sensors and gyroscopes and widgets, a standard true life spirit level has a bubble and doesn't play Angry Birds...

 

I have many Apps, they are the new tools and mostly have low space requirements and energy consumption...

 

My Spirit level is 12.

 

All you have to do is make a few trips to the beer store and call up your buddies.

 

Dude did you grow up in a bubble? Seriously? There's nothing to it. With each and every blunder you learn what not to do. And sometimes you create modern art.

Just take your time. Plan a head. Make sure you buy everything you need for the job you're doing before you knock down a wall. You'll be fine.

http://www.handymanknowhow.co.uk/

 

Pretty much rented accommodation since I was 18 and landlords don't usually take too kindly to tenants doing DIY on their property. So, I've never had to lift up a brush, drill holes, take a hammer to a wall, that kind of thing. I did, however, use Tipp-Ex to "paint" over cracks in a wall after I pulled down some posters and much of the wall came with them - that blue tack is solid stuff...

As it is there are two schools of thought I've been getting from people: DIY but make sure you have the right tools, even a n00b can do it AND under no circumstances do it yourself especially if you've never done it before...

 

Lots of good advice already here for you Chimp. Just to echo a couple of points:

* Preparation is the biggest part of decorating. Allow it the biggest amount of time.

* Do one room at a time, don't have several projects on the go at once. The only exception to this is if you're going to be doing something REALLY messy, like repalcing old lathe-and-plaster walls for example. If so, then you might not want to clear up all that dust several times over. (Believe me it'll get into every room.) Might be better to do them all in one go.

One tip of my own: get Purdy paintbrushes if you can get your hands on them. Nothing else comes close. Forget all that crap about real bristle being the best.

 

Engerland is a strange place. On the last line. Just consider how people got into DIY in the first place. It's sex. The longer you leave it the harder it gets. Just prepare well and you shouldn't go too far wrong.

Make a list of all the jobs you have to do. Prioritise them and do them in the right order. So for example. Don't lay your carpets until after you've painted. Or at least put down a dust sheet or two. It's all common sense stuff.

Oh and you're not a "real" man if you don't have a suitable assortment of power tools and know how to use them. By use them I mean switch them on.

 

Chimp,

Before you tackle each new task, start a new thread telling us what you plan to do. You'll get lots of free advice, and we can all argue over the best way to do it!

Might be an idea to create a new DIY sub-forum first.

PS: don't forget before-and-after pictures. Very important.