Thinking it’s normal to repaint the house every couple of years?

[Cloudyyy]

Help solve a debate for us.

DH thinks once you’ve painted a room, it should be done! No touch-ups or fresh coats necessary. MIL agrees they’ve never needed to repaint unless otherwise redecorating, sometimes going 10+ years between paint jobs (and absolutely never more often than every five years).

I remember my parents always “touching up” with a fresh coat of paint every other spring, alternating doing upstairs and downstairs. DM used to sponge the walls sometimes with warm soapy water if we had scuffed it.

What is the norm???

YABU = we never repaint unless absolutely necessary
YANBU = we retouch the paint jobs from time to time

I should add we have young children, so messy/ sticky fingers on the walls are unavoidable at times!!!

I do all the decorating. No wallpaper, just paint on walls, and I do not strip gloss paint I just do a new coat on top.

I am interested that PP think it will look bad if not done professionally. I only know one person who uses a porfessional, painting is hardly difficult

Jeez! We moved in in 2005, did the whole house, and haven't done it since.
Thinking about doing our the whole living room this year though

I touch up quite often. Paint gets mucky. You can always tell whose house doesn’t get a touch up

Rooms get painted every 18 - 24 months. I like to change colours and update things every so often. It also keeps everything fresh.

Repainting and refreshing every year or so here

Our house was build in the 50s, when we bought 10 years ago we had 60 years of paint on paint on paint and woodchip on paint on woodchip on paint on wallpaper on paint etc. to deal with. I think our rooms were noticeably bigger after stripping the paper!

Same here! And oh my fucking god. Layers upon layers of that indestructible gloss crap on anything wooden is unbelievable. I cried. Genuinely cried from frustration. In the end I gave up and we actually had all doorframes and everything with it ripped out and replaced.

We usually repaint once every 3-4 years, at the very least a fresh coat of paint in the same colour. My parents though, totally different. My parents went 15 years without repainting! And I had to convince them to do it, as they were trying to sell their home, had this disgusting mauve colour (mother's choice), she took great offence of course that the colour wouldn't be loved by everyone.

Weird thing is, now they have repainted; they don't want to sell! Sometimes repainting often makes the home fresh and newer, and means you're happier there. So no, def not unreasonable.

God what a ball ache, no way. I'll wash the walls down if necessary but I won't repaint unless it really needs it. I use Farrow and Ball modern emulsion and it lasts for years even after washing it.
Obviously I don't leave dirty stains. The last time I repainted was 10 years ago, if the paint is good quality it will last if you use B&Q rubbish you will have to do it every year.

I would say approx every seven years. If you have a long lease that is usually what is required for keeping the decor in good repair. We lived in our old house 14 years and all the rooms got decorated once in that time, some twice.

We did/do wash or wipe down grubby marks as we notice them and we keep the spare paint in the loft to go over any localised knocks or scrapes every few months. That seems to keep it looking fine.

I could not bear the thought of redecorating every two years. It's not the painting itself, it's the moving furniture, clearing rooms and general disruption. Who's got time for that? So stressful.

I love diy, but simply don't have e the time or money to continually decorate, I just about keep on too of more urgent jobs. Trying to keep the place pristine with small children is pointless.
My contract as a landlord with my letting agent suggests internal decorating should be done every 5 years, and that seems about right. Maintenance issues are addressed and rectified as soon as they arise.

Painting isn't hard :o I've never got a professional in to paint. Bit of masking tape, easy.

Wallpaper I wouldn't be so confident about.

I still find paint expensive - I can't remember now how much we spent on DS2's room but it seemed like a lot at the time, and it's a tiny single bedroom. Not quite as small as a box room, you could fit a double bed in there, but only if you didn't want to be able to walk around the room or put any other furniture in.

I use Farrow and Ball modern emulsion and it lasts for years even after washing it.

I use eggshell estate and it doesn’t wash well. Is there a big difference in the emulsion finish? I am thinking of using it for the kid’s rooms. What is the finish like?

We have painted each room once or twice, depending on use, in 26 years. We have a flat in which students and young people live and each room has been painted once or twice there also over 8 years .

We had the whole house done five years ago. The hallway needs re-doing because we had a mucky dog, otherwise It's fine. No DCs though.

I don’t think it’s necessary unless you have kids with sticky fingers or are indoor smokers. Mind you, I painted my house last year and I don’t plant to paint it again till my DC starts full time school as by the time I’ve done it it’ll just be a mess again.

Yes ours was always repainted every year or two, the white bits and heavily used areas definitely. It looks clean, and there's only so much you can get off with magic erasers or soap and water

I wash my walls and skirting boards though. Not because I'm obsessive, but because they are dirty.

Bought my place 22yrs ago - in that time gave had one kitchen refit @16yrs ago , bathroom last year and repaint on moving in and once since

My house was professionally repainted a year ago almost the exact colour it was before (off white type of colour). I would do it again this year but I haven't got the time to organise it and live in it whilst it gets done. it isn't about fast fashion or changing colours, houses get grubby and I like my walls to look clean.

I'm a painter and decorator and try and leave it as long as possible between redecorating, though I will do repairs inbetween to prolong it.

Every two years? No way .

I use eggshell estate and it doesn’t wash well

Just looked at my retouch tina. I use eggshell emulsion for walls and estate for the woodwork. Is modern emulsion really easier to wash?

YABU. But then I can't really identify with the desire for everything to be 'pristine'. Life's too short. If I kept my house pristine, I'd have no time to do anything else.

It's skirting boards and doors that seem to go yellow and hence need reglossing quite often.

I did all my big decorating when I moved in some 15 years ago. Granted, I live alone so it gets very little wear, but I liked the colours I chose then so I can't see the point changing them for no reason?

That said, I have redone some bits as the aftermath of a breakup but I think that was me keeping myself busy/fresh start, especially because I went for a massive change, not just a freshen up!

Unless you're using very poor quality paint you should get at least 10 years before it needs to be done again. DH repainted all of the interior rooms 10 years ago and they still look great. We hired painters to do the exterior 4 years ago because it was too big a job for just DH and they only touch we've had to do is the horizontal surface of our second story catio/deck.

My mother's house was decorated just before she moved in and she has maintained that it isn't necessary to do it again.

She moved in on 17th May 1963.

I think that adopting a more 'classic' style rather than heavily patterned burnt orange circles and asbestos sparkles in the ceiling paper means mine is only looking like it needs doing now it's nearly 8 years down the line, but I am not a skanky hoarder do keep my house in considerably better nick.

Then again, she has always claimed that windows fall out if you wash them and net curtains don't get dirty. So she's probably not the best person to ask for an opinion on decorating.