Do you paint your house yourself

[spanieleyes22]

Just following on from another thread where I was disappointed in my painting skills! Just wondering if people paint their own houses or pay someone to do it. Tbh if I had the money I would pay someone! They would have to be good though. When I moved into this house someone had done a really terrible job on the painting. The paint on the bannisters was literally peeling off when you touched it as they obvs hadn't prepped - they'd just painted over old peeling paint. It's v expensive to get someone to do it though. Are you any good at painting. I'm better than I was but am not amazing

Always do it myself. DH hates doing it and prefers drills, putting things up and electrics. Whereas I'm the opposite and love a bit of painting. I'll give anything a go, walls, front door, glossing etc. The prep can be tedious but I learn as I go along to what I have been half arsed with and need to do properly again next time.

I debated retraining to be a P&D but there was a lack of courses near me and I'm approaching 40, I wonder how my body would hold up still doing it in 10/15 years time. I ache as it is after a weekend of it.

I have done it myself for years but now we have more spare cash I’m going to pay someone from now on.

I used to do it all myself, my old house had been badly painted previously so I didn't mind that my painting wasn't perfect. I moved into a new house and it is not very old so has lovely straight lines, and since moving here have used a decorator, partly because there was some we couldn't do ourselves anyway. High staircase and very high living room ceiling. It is worth it to me now to have it done nicely.

@spanieleyes22 I mentioned on your other thread that I’ve recently (after going semi retired) started getting into DIY including painting.

I quite enjoy it and it stops the constant snacking during the day lol! (Should also mention I’m in recovery (alcohol - early days) it’s a great way of feeling that I’ve accomplished something positive that day!).

I probably could afford a professional but getting someone to do small jobs (eg one room) is difficult. The way I see it is - unless you are painting blindfolded, the room will look better once painted so it doesn’t need to be a really professional finish. Plus - even professionals had to start somewhere and people do get better with practice. With painting, I’ve learned that it’s worth paying for better quality brushes and rollers and caring for them properly- we used to just buy the cheapest and bin them. Also - as a general rule, cheap paint usually sucks! I splashed out on expensive paint for my bedroom wall and it went on a dream and only one coat needed!

I do the walls.

I'm rubbish at ceilings and prepping woodwork, so that's an expense I'm prepared to pay someone to do.

Yes I do. I hate it and make a mess.

We’ve painted and wallpapered our house ourselves. We’ve not done the hallway and stairs though as I’d want to get a professional in for that.
We’re not super neat though so you can definitely tell the paint was done by us. We’re changing the colour scheme in the living room and will be getting a decorator in to do that as we’re going from a very dark wall to a light neutral colour and I don’t want patches. Also need the ceiling doing so may as well get it all done properly.
I quite enjoy painting and wallpapering and would prefer to do it myself.

@KreedKafer - is that because of gloss paint?

I loathe gloss painting so would just avoid it but a friend suggested satinwood instead and it’s changed my life!

Granted the finish is not as strong as gloss but it goes on so easy and is a breeze to clean up. It means I’m much more likely to freshen up door/skirtings etc more frequently (say every year ish) rather than just keep putting off as I can’t face it.

I have done it in the past and would do it again if I couldn't afford a decorator. But generally I'd rather spend the money to have someone else do it better and quicker. Finding the time to do the painting and the hassle of working out how much paint I need and going to get it is also a pain I'm happy to pay the decorator to handle.

I'm very bad at it and would prefer to get someone in to do it but the reality is we live in a badly painted flat

We have fitted 3 kitchens, 2 bathroom and decorating our 3rd house currently.

There's a YouTube video for everything! There's a nifty trick for getting crisp lines with cutting in where you seal the tape with the colour you are butting on to. Let that dry and then paint the colour you are cutting in with. Any bleed through is with the other colour so don't show

We have paid someone to plaster over a textured ceiling in one of the bathrooms and to replace a roof otherwise we have done everything ourselves

Always used to do it myself but the difference a proffesional makes in the finish is astounding, so decorators for me from now on.

Yes, good skills and based on a DF in the building trade letting me help him as a child and him not being afraid to let us loose on basic tasks and then moving on to having a go when needed! Me and DH have renovated 4 homes and have got to the stage where the results are very good, whether decorating, tiling, electrics and plumbing, installing bathrooms and kitchens and we do as much as possible and only bring in 'professionals' when we need to carry out something that requires a qualified operative or certification for the final install. We put in a new shower pump yesterday, costing just the part and us fiddling with connection for a short time, saving a fortune in getting someone in to do it!

Start small, say a loo or bathroom wall and woodwork, get advice on the prep / tools and materials (Youtube can be great here) and give it a go. There's not much decorating wise you can't fix and once you've got the technique with a paintbrush / roller, there'll be no stopping you. The other way is learn what should be done, so you know what you should be getting if you pay for someone to do the decorating, will save a great deal of grief.

We got a painter in last time. Highly recommended.

All it did was save me time. I can do just as good a job myself but I'm time poor, i resented how much it cost.

DH is our painter. He's very good. Poor man had to do 6 coats on the lounge when I changed my mind on a new colour. He repaints each room every couple of years!

He doesn't do complicated wiring or plumbing though. Basic stuff, yes, but not big stuff.

Always used to do it myself but the difference a proffesional makes in the finish is astounding, so decorators for me from now on.

I'd disagree with this. I can achieve just as good a finish doing it properly myself, as the various professionals I've had in to paint. I simply lack the time

Painting isn't difficult when you know the handful of things you need to do - how to prime bare walls, masking taping edges etc.

I’ve always decorated my own places. I’m competent at the basics like tiling, wallpapering and painting (although I loathe painting ceilings and so skimp there a bit).

I think of it as like housework: not necessarily fun, but the results are nice.

I actually think most decorators do a worse job than I could! Probably because they don’t care as much. I used to be nervous about cutting in but just gave it a go and am pretty good now. Woodwork is all in the prep and quality of the brush to not leave marks.

not really sure how anyone can go wrong painting a wall!

Would always do it myself unless it was hard/ dangerous to get to so I probably wouldn't attempt stairs.

I don't do ladders but can do a sturdy stepladder. I was rubbish to start with but pretty good now, I've had 50 years practice though. My best bits of advice would be to have good paintbrushes and really look after them, have really cheap rollers and bin them and treat yourself to a palm sander for prep

It’s so expensive now. I’ve used decorators in the past but rates have skyrocketed. I was quoted 4k for hall, stairs and landing! I do it myself now.

I used to love DIY and would always do everything myself but as I’ve got older and developed lupus (joint issues) I don’t feel safe on a ladder anymore. Very frustrating!

I always pay someone!! My finish wouldn't be good enough and life is too short to spend weekends doing something so tedious.

I have in the past and it looked shite so this time we paid someone to do it and he did a great job.

We painted the outside of our house ourselves when we had scaffolding up for some roof work. We just harnessed ourselves in and gave it a go. To be honest, it looks quite shite too but it took hours so we're just going to live with it

In Germany, when you leave a rental, you (almost always) need to paint everything. Walls, sometimes window-frames, doors... We were too cheap to pay professionals, so we did it ourselves, carefully and painstakingly. We did a good job, after 11 rooms of practice, and it has come in handy renovating our old house.

I don't think painting is difficult. Just fiddly and requires patience.