Why would I need an interior painter?
Painting a house is not as easy as it seems at first glance. There are many aspects to be considered when painting an entire house - both inside and outside. Whilst painting the outside might initially seem to be the more dangerous and arduous job (think of scaffolding and VERY high ladders for multi-storey homes, for instance) it is also, to some extent, the simpler of the two. Interior painting involves a lot more than simply getting the paint onto the walls, washing your rollers and brushes, and walking away. It is extremely time-consuming, even considering that interior painting can be carried out one room at a time if you do it yourself. Even so, the smell of paint and the disruption to the household can become overwhelming and tedious if it goes on for too long.
What makes interior painting more difficult?
Painting the interior of a house involves a great deal of pre-preparation work before the paint tins are even opened. Most of the work when painting involves preparing the surface for a durable and appealing end result.
Let’s look at just a few of the steps involved :
- On new plaster, walls need to have a suitable undercoat applied which prepares the wall for the final top coat.
- On older walls, cracks need to be repaired and sanded to provide a smooth unbroken surface for painting. If cracks are not attended to prior to painting, these crack will soon show through the new paint.
- All furniture needs to be either removed completely from the room being painted, or moved to the centre of the room to clear an area for stepladders or scaffolding to be placed near the walls. All furniture and flooring (whether carpet, vinyl, laminate, stone, etc.) needs to be covered and protected by dustsheets to prevent paint splashes. Very often, skirting boards need to be covered with painters’ or masking tape to provide clean lines where they meet the wall, and doing this step correctly takes a great deal of time and patience. Similarly, cornices need to be masked off to ensure a clean line from wall to cornice. If the cornices or skirting boards themselves are being painted or varnished, the walls need to be masked off around them for the same reason.
- All light-switch covers must be removed prior to painting so that the paint can be applied completely around the electrical outlet. And no, it is NOT professional practice to paint around these covers! Not only will paint find its way onto the edges of the covers themselves but any slight adjustment of the covers will clearly show the old wall paint around the edges. The same rule applies to wall shelving, which should be removed prior to painting the walls.
- Door and window handles and hardware should be removed prior to doors being painted or varnished, and the doors and window frames must be sanded down, dents and cracks filled and smoothed before painting starts. The areas where the glass meets the window-frame must be masked off to prevent paint getting onto the glass, although this can be scraped off later with a paint scraper, but is simply additional work which is not necessary if adequate preparation work is done beforehand.
- If ceilings are to be painted, these should be done first, to avoid the possibility of paint splashing or dripping onto the walls. Using a roller will often result in fine droplets of paint which radiate when the roller is used. Some painters will use a roller shield which helps to prevent this, especially when painting ceilings, but it is still not 100% effective and some spray will inevitably occur.
- The right paint must be used for the room’s purpose. Paints which are fairly impervious to moisture should be used in areas such as bathrooms, kitchens, shower-rooms and laundry areas. The finish of the paint is an important factor when painting. Walls which are less than perfect due to uneven plastering, for instance, will definitely show this more when high sheen paints such as gloss, egg-shell or satin are used, whereas matte finishes will not showcase these imperfections as much. Be aware, though, that matte finishes are not as durable as higher sheen paints, and do not stand up as well to cleaning and touching, as they are likely to mark easily.
Professional interior painters have the time, the know-how and the experience
Perhaps you are one of those very individualistic people who want walls which showcase your own unique style in a specific manner. Perhaps you want a feature wall with a pattern of chevron stripes or specific paint effects such as ragging, colour-washing, ombre-walls (usually used where two colours are blended over the entire wall from top to bottom to form a gentle colour change from, say, green to yellow or grey to pink). Some paint techniques can imitate wood grain, and are extremely effective without going to the cost of actually installing wooden panelling. Many years ago, mathematician friends of mine had a feature wall in their living room which depicted a spiked graph painted in three different colours. They had this professionally done as the lines had to be clean, straight and accurate. Because it was a skilled and professional job, it was striking and extremely eye-catching, rather than being a potential eye-sore.
How do I find the right interior painter?
Check their online ratings and customer reviews
As with general painters, specialist interior painters advertise their services widely. You will find them through adverts placed in home magazines, home improvement catalogues, flyers, by visiting Home Expos, through talking to builders and interior designers and looking in newspapers and the Yellow Pages. Using an online search engine is probably the easiest way to find the right interior painter for your needs, and in this respect Uptasker is one of the most convenient and quickest search sites available. Uptasker lists in geographical areas, which is perfect for those not wanting to waste time searching the whole of South Africa to find a local painter, and the site also provides online ratings and customer reviews. Where it is possible, try and use word of mouth referrals, especially where you have seen examples of the interior painter’s work and are able to ask about factors such as adherence to time and budget constraints and overall quality of the service rendered.
