Scared to paint over a grey wall! Help!

[Paintingmyhouse]

I'm about to paint my house on my own, everything's grey and I want to paint it white except for the kids bedroom, I know I have to wash the walls with sugar soap first, fill in any holes and cracks with fillers etc. But for some reason I'm scared to paint over the dark colour, anyone done this? Did you use primer first? And what brand paint did you buy? I'm thinking wickes/dulux. Arghh so much to do and learn!!

You don't need primer, that's just to seal the surface and the grey paint will have done that. If you think you'll need more than one coat, use an undercoat first - it's cheaper, but not so tough, so you use undercoat to cover the unwanted grey or and imperfections and discolourations, then a top coat to give you the fine tough finish.

If you're going white, think whether you want absolutely pure white, or white with a hint of colour - it still looks white, but white with a hint of pink or apricot will look warmer than white with a hint of green or blue. You can buy samples in the form of matchpots for about £1 to try out the paint before you fork out for a whole tin. Also useful for giving a hint of how many coats you need to apply to hide the grey.

Try and buy all the top coat you need for a room in one batch, as sometimes the colour may vary slightly between batches. The tin should tell you somewhere what the coverage is in square metres.

As above, plus don’t believe any paint product that claims to cover a dark wall in one coat! None of them really do, the underlying grey will always spoil the colour of the “one coat” paint. You’ll need at least two coats of your white paint.

You sound new to decorating.
I always paint a sheet of a4 paper when I use a new paint. I write on the paper the colour details. It's incredibly useful if you need to touch up later, and also if you want to see how new furniture, curtains etc will look against your walls because you can take the paper to the shop.
My paint record goes back 25 years so I can also find colours I have used in previous homes.
Agree with PPS. You will need two coats. If you're new to using filler you might benefit from watching a YouTube video about it. You also usually put all purpose primer on top of filler before emulsion.
Damp patches of plaster can benefit from a layer of gloss paint before the emulsion goes on. Gloss is very impermeable.

TBH I've never met a paint that gives truly good coverage in one coat unless it's going over something identical (i.e. I've used white "once" paint to refresh and already white ceiling...tbh even that isn't great!)

Plan on two, possibly three coats. It's no biggy.

Avoid Wickes paint. I speak from hideous experience, having effectively trashed my own house with a bad paint job. Dulux trade paint is really worth it- two coats.

Great idea, Dilkhush!

We just painted a dark colour over with a light colour. It took 2 coats but covered it well.
It was a kitchen paint from dulux so I’m not sure if this gives a thicker/full paint colour/finish (we went to white with a hint of colour in it so it wasn’t bright white)

Buy a good quality paint. It will take at least two coats. I agree with above poster consider a "hint of" rather than brilliant white, its very stark and doesn't age well in my experience

Buy trade paint. I now buy all my paint from a Crown Decorating Centre. The people who work there are full of good advice.

Dulux one coat paint is really good. I painted a dark red room with a light sandy colour and it looked great. Just make sure you use a decent paint and it will be fine.

Find a decorating centre for the trade and get trade Matt emulsion - that stufff covers like a dream

Our kitchen was dark red when we moved in, I painted it white - took 5 coats but looks fab. Room so much brighter.
Only regret was that I didn't get some help as it's a very high ceiling (3.5m) and as it took so many coats I spent a lot of time up a ladder!!

Find a decorating centre for the trade and get trade Matt emulsion - that stufff covers like a dream

I agree. Avoid B and Q and DIY shops. Trade paint is more expensive, but better quality so you use less. The staff are more knowledgable as well.

Why use a ladder wonkylegs? You can get extending poles to fit the end of your roller.

Don't worry! And painting is fun.

You will need two coats.

Don't go for brilliant white. Imagine the way you'd like the room to look in an afternoon sun. Do you imagine it looking warm and pinky? Go for a rose white or similar. Clean and fresh and flowery? Go for an apricot or yellow white etc.

Get a few tester pots and try them out.

I don't think I have ever sugar soaped in my life and I have painted a lot of houses! Are your walls especially dirty or something?

I can't use a roller with a telescopic handle. It hurts my shoulders and I get paint splatters everywhere.

plus you still need to cut in

Dont use regular Dulux as we had a really pale duck egg wall that took 4 coats to cover with white. The trade paint went on much better

The advice I was given was to paint over a dark wall with a white coat before putting another coat on it.

@Moooooooooooooooooo
When your 4'11 and the room is nearly 12' high an extended roller is somewhat unwieldy plus, picture rail and cutting in (corners, window frames, rail, fireplace, cupboards etc) is a significant amount of the job.

No need to wash the walls unless they are beyond filthy.

Trade emulsion in the biggest size. Ask them in the paint shop for the best value for the number of rooms etc.
Better to cover with emulsion than the more expensive paint.

Buy the best paint you can afford.
It's a false economy to buy cheap paint.

I've got 10 years from good pain that still looked great, touched up well etc.

Colourtrend paint if you can get it is a superb paint.
A bit more expensive but painters love it because it goes on like a dream.
Great finish.

The A4 size is a great idea.

Different light in rooms affects how a paint looks.

Best of luck👍

I find I get better coverage with a brush than with a roller. I use a 4" brush, which is small enough to cut in with and still quite quick to cover a large area.