If you need advice about a painting or decorating problem not covered elsewhere on the site please leave a comment below.
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Steve
I’ve recently wallpapered a ceiling. There was a water leak in the ceiling years ago. The source of the water leak has been fixed, but there is some yellow staining visible on the surface of the wallpaper caused by the leak. I’m not sure if the staining would be considered as a heavy stain or not, but it is clearly visible in the day during sunlight. To cover the staining effectively, would it be best to use an oil based sealer or a stain block spray? And would it be possible just to cover the stained area of the ceiling wallpaper or will the entire ceiling need painting after applying stain block on the stained area? Thanks for your advice.
An oil or spirit based stain blocker will usually be effective for a water-based stain. The aerosol-types tend to be spirit based so that may be your best bet.
You only need to go slightly over the edge of the stain, not the whole ceiling. Whether the entire ceiling needs repainting will depend on the colour and finish. A white matt finish, for example, can usually be touched-up quite effectively whilst some colours will be difficult to match exactly and painting a small area may stand out too much, necessitating a full repaint.
Brenda
I live in an old house and need to repaint the outside. Dune walls are pebble dashed and others rendered. The on the rendered gable wall in particular, when I remove a little loose paint I end up taking of huge areas in sheets. What should I do?
You will need to remove any loose material before painting again otherwise you’ll be wasting your time and money.
Emma
Hello, the walls in my house have old plaster on them. They have been sanded down but are uneven and patchy. I am wanting all the walls painted. Can you please advise on what’s best to do to make them look nice and smooth when painting and which best roller to use. Thank you
It depends how bad the walls are but the usual solution is to use a heavy grade lining paper and then paint over it. Any medium pile roller will do the job. Also, use a matt finish as this doesn’t show up the bumps as much.
David
Could you recommend a suitable Primer for a garden table light grey brital metal. My first thoughts were Calcium Plumbate?
Not sure what you mean by ‘grey brital metal’ but outdoor tables are often made from cast iron or cast aluminium. In both cases a general-purpose oil-based metal primer will suffice.
Janice
Can you advise on zinc downpipes? My builder says he will have a primer for zinc which is great and asked us to get paint specially formulated for zinc for the topcoat. However at the paint shop they said they said there wasn’t such a paint and that normal metal paint would be fine if it had a zinc primer underneath. Do you have any advice or guidance to assist? Thanks for your help.
Zinc is naturally resistant to oxidization and, therefore, does not require a specialist primer. What it does need though is to be properly degreased prior to painting and it may also need an etching-primer in order for any coating to stick to the surface. (Etching primer is, basically, an acid-based solution which takes away the shiny finish from surfaces such as zinc and galvanised steel).
The alternative is to leave the surface untreated for a year in order for it to ‘weather’. In other words, the natural process of being rained on repeatedly will denature the finish to such a degree that no further preparation is needed.
Once prepared (or weathered), I would use a general all-purpose solvent based metal primer and two coats of solvent based undercoat, finished with one or two coats of solvent based gloss. (*solvent based = oil-based).
If you are paying someone to do this for you then ensure you receive a written specification before any work is carried out.
Tom
Hi this is a great site very useful. My house is an old Victorian terrace (1888) on the seafront. It is rendered and painted regularly with Sandtex STHC smooth. Long shot I know but is there a better product to withstand the elements and do you have any advice on any specialist gloss paint for the window woodwork. As you might expect the repainting seems to be every 5 years rather than 10. Just wondered if there was a better product or whether more coats would be a good idea.
Dulux Trade Maximum Exposure Masonry Paint [link] is formulated for coastal environments and is claimed to perform better than the regular alternative. Whether it would be worth the added expense is hard to say though since you’ll be painting over an existing coating and, as always, any paint is only as good as the surface it is applied to.
In theory, you may get a bit more time between recoats but it can’t be guaranteed so that’s a risk you’ll have to judge for yourself.
As for the woodwork, Dulux Trade Weathershield exterior undercoat and gloss will perform as well as anything and much better than most standard finishes. In your case, over existing woodwork that is in good condition, the oil-based option will be the better choice.
Re applying extra coats, with previously-painted woodwork, absolutely yes. Two coats of gloss are better than one and three coats better than two.
And for masonry paint, not so much, since you want any internal moisture to be able to escape and multiple coats will have a detrimental effect on this process.
Choy
I posed a question about nicotine stain on the wall/ceiling using an air purifier, however another suggestion was ‘The only thing that ‘covers’ nicotine stains on walls/ceilings is stabiliser solution before painting.’ I am wondering how that would work.
I am thinking of doing something different in my hall, landing, stairs. I have embossed paper at the moment. I like the look of suede effect paint. Can it be used in this area? Is it difficult to apply?
Steve
I’ve recently wallpapered a ceiling. There was a water leak in the ceiling years ago. The source of the water leak has been fixed, but there is some yellow staining visible on the surface of the wallpaper caused by the leak. I’m not sure if the staining would be considered as a heavy stain or not, but it is clearly visible in the day during sunlight. To cover the staining effectively, would it be best to use an oil based sealer or a stain block spray? And would it be possible just to cover the stained area of the ceiling wallpaper or will the entire ceiling need painting after applying stain block on the stained area? Thanks for your advice.
Decorator
An oil or spirit based stain blocker will usually be effective for a water-based stain. The aerosol-types tend to be spirit based so that may be your best bet.
You only need to go slightly over the edge of the stain, not the whole ceiling. Whether the entire ceiling needs repainting will depend on the colour and finish. A white matt finish, for example, can usually be touched-up quite effectively whilst some colours will be difficult to match exactly and painting a small area may stand out too much, necessitating a full repaint.
Brenda
I live in an old house and need to repaint the outside. Dune walls are pebble dashed and others rendered. The on the rendered gable wall in particular, when I remove a little loose paint I end up taking of huge areas in sheets. What should I do?
Decorator
You will need to remove any loose material before painting again otherwise you’ll be wasting your time and money.
Emma
Hello, the walls in my house have old plaster on them. They have been sanded down but are uneven and patchy. I am wanting all the walls painted. Can you please advise on what’s best to do to make them look nice and smooth when painting and which best roller to use. Thank you
Decorator
It depends how bad the walls are but the usual solution is to use a heavy grade lining paper and then paint over it. Any medium pile roller will do the job. Also, use a matt finish as this doesn’t show up the bumps as much.
David
Could you recommend a suitable Primer for a garden table light grey brital metal. My first thoughts were Calcium Plumbate?
Decorator
Not sure what you mean by ‘grey brital metal’ but outdoor tables are often made from cast iron or cast aluminium. In both cases a general-purpose oil-based metal primer will suffice.
Janice
Can you advise on zinc downpipes? My builder says he will have a primer for zinc which is great and asked us to get paint specially formulated for zinc for the topcoat. However at the paint shop they said they said there wasn’t such a paint and that normal metal paint would be fine if it had a zinc primer underneath. Do you have any advice or guidance to assist? Thanks for your help.
Decorator
Zinc is naturally resistant to oxidization and, therefore, does not require a specialist primer. What it does need though is to be properly degreased prior to painting and it may also need an etching-primer in order for any coating to stick to the surface. (Etching primer is, basically, an acid-based solution which takes away the shiny finish from surfaces such as zinc and galvanised steel).
The alternative is to leave the surface untreated for a year in order for it to ‘weather’. In other words, the natural process of being rained on repeatedly will denature the finish to such a degree that no further preparation is needed.
Once prepared (or weathered), I would use a general all-purpose solvent based metal primer and two coats of solvent based undercoat, finished with one or two coats of solvent based gloss. (*solvent based = oil-based).
If you are paying someone to do this for you then ensure you receive a written specification before any work is carried out.
Tom
Hi this is a great site very useful. My house is an old Victorian terrace (1888) on the seafront. It is rendered and painted regularly with Sandtex STHC smooth. Long shot I know but is there a better product to withstand the elements and do you have any advice on any specialist gloss paint for the window woodwork. As you might expect the repainting seems to be every 5 years rather than 10. Just wondered if there was a better product or whether more coats would be a good idea.
Decorator
Dulux Trade Maximum Exposure Masonry Paint [link] is formulated for coastal environments and is claimed to perform better than the regular alternative. Whether it would be worth the added expense is hard to say though since you’ll be painting over an existing coating and, as always, any paint is only as good as the surface it is applied to.
In theory, you may get a bit more time between recoats but it can’t be guaranteed so that’s a risk you’ll have to judge for yourself.
As for the woodwork, Dulux Trade Weathershield exterior undercoat and gloss will perform as well as anything and much better than most standard finishes. In your case, over existing woodwork that is in good condition, the oil-based option will be the better choice.
Re applying extra coats, with previously-painted woodwork, absolutely yes. Two coats of gloss are better than one and three coats better than two.
And for masonry paint, not so much, since you want any internal moisture to be able to escape and multiple coats will have a detrimental effect on this process.
Choy
I posed a question about nicotine stain on the wall/ceiling using an air purifier, however another suggestion was ‘The only thing that ‘covers’ nicotine stains on walls/ceilings is stabiliser solution before painting.’ I am wondering how that would work.
Decorator
It wouldn’t.
Dawn
I am thinking of doing something different in my hall, landing, stairs. I have embossed paper at the moment. I like the look of suede effect paint. Can it be used in this area? Is it difficult to apply?
Decorator
No idea!
Miguel
Hi, I need to paint rusty metal beading in the exterior of my house. Is it worth treating them removing the rust or ask someone to replace them?
Decorator
Probably easier to replace them since they will have to removed anyway in order to remove the rust and to prepare adequately for re-painting.