Find a Decorator you can trust in Ballynahinch.

Hiring a decorator for your project always seem easy until you get started. With a wide range of decorators available today, it can be quite tricky separating the boys from the men and selecting the right tradesman for your unique project. There are a number of things to put into consideration, questions to ask and lots more to ensure your decorating job is awarded to the right tradesman. In this post, we’re going to give you an insight on some of the essential questions to ask to make sure the prospective decorator is a good match. Let’s take a look!

• What qualifications do you possess? With the pool of decorators around in the industry today, qualifications are needed to help you determine the true specialists. A qualified decorator gives you an assurance (to some extent) that a quality work would be done to your requirements. Decorators, generally, can earn a degree which includes course work in architecture and are also licensed.
• How do you help me identify and communicate my style to you? If you have an idea and know what you want for your space, a good decorator should be able to get it out of you by showing you pictures and asking questions which can vary widely.
• Do you have examples of previous work that are similar to my project in style, scope as well as budget? A decorator that answers yes to this question is a good indicator that they can handle your project. If they don’t, you can ask for pictures of projects they feel is quite similar to yours

How Much To Paint A House Exterior?

Do you feel your home is need of a lift to enhance its visual appeal or give it some TLC? In order to impress your visitor or potential buyers, kerb appeal is simply everything. Many homeowners are usually discouraged due to the thought that a painting job is always an expensive one with not so much value in return. However, in reality, painting your home’s exterior is actually one of the most significant improvements one can make as it tells your story and communicates your value.

The cost of getting a house exterior painting job done is based on a number of things which includes the type of walls you possess, whether it’s a maintenance project, whether it’s your first time of painting the house as well as your location. So what’s involved in a painting job?

✓ Scrapping off the loose paint.

✓ Brushing off cobwebs and dust on the surface

✓ Washing the wall

✓ Application of fungicide to mouldy patches

✓ Repairing minor damages

✓ Applying paint surface stabiliser

✓ Applying two coats of your chosen paint

✓ Disposal of waste as well as a full clean up of the site.

Below is a breakdown of the cost of painting the exterior of a house. Kindly note that this is just an example (using a semi detached house) to give you an idea of how much your project is going to cost.

✓ Costly scaffolding isn’t required here but platform towers can be need - this will cost about £80 to £100.

✓ Materials including sand or cement for repairs, plastic sheeting, tape, paint, masonry stabiliser as well as fungicide treatment will cost about £200 to £300

✓ Cost of labour for two workers £700 to £1000 based on the location

How Much Do Painters And Decorators Charge?

If you’re thinking about painting your home or property, then one of the first things that crosses the mind is the amount charged by painter or decorators to carry out the project. However just like any other home improvement projects and as with most tradesmen, the amount charged by a painter and decorator largely varies from job to job depending on a plethora of factors. These factors include your location, the urgency at which you need the job done and whether or not a specialist equipment would be required.

For painters and decorators, one of the biggest influencing factors that determines the price to be charged is the size of the room. For instance, if you have a large room to be painted, it’s definitely going to cost you more than a smaller room. And same applies to multiple rooms when compared to single room. In other words, to get a more accurate cost estimate from your tradesman, you’ll need to have a good idea of the size of your room or rooms. So let’s take a closer look!

✓ Painting a mid-sized room. The question here is, how do you know if your room is medium sized? The room will have a size of about 3.5m by 5m or a room that can conveniently allow up to 6 to 8 people. The price range is between £240 to £410.

✓ Wallpapering a mid-sized room. This uses the logic as painting a mid-sized room but the price can differ due to difference in materials used. The price range here is between £204 to £420.

✓ Painting a large ceiling. Painting a ceiling is very similar to painting a wall but its not as straightforward and will consume more time. The price ranges from £286 to £5476.

How To Choose Exterior House Paint

Painting the exterior of your house is a great way to give your home a new fresh look that improves it’s curb appeal, make it stand out and also increase it’s value. Exterior paints can serve a wide range of purposes, be it to make a statement in the neighbourhood, highlight some architectural features or to complement the nature. Hence, it’s very important to know the purpose of your exterior house painting project before choosing colour and proceeding with the task. In this guide, we aim to help you narrow down the paint colour selection to help you choose the right paint combination for your home’s exterior with relative ease. Let’s take a look!

✓ The neighbourhood’s style. At times, the style of the neighbourhood can help in selecting a house’s paint colours. For example, in the event whereby the neighbourhood is filled with Victorian homes, then a bold colour wouldn’t even be an option. Furthermore, if there are more ranch style homes in the area, an exuberant collection of pastels may not be the most suitable choice.

✓ To complement nature. Sometimes all that’s needed to know the best paint combination for your home is simply to look around at the surrounding landscape to get clues of the colours that’ll be perfect. For instance, different shades of summer green can be incorporated fr the exterior, meanwhile the fall colour combinations of red, brown and golden shades can also go well too.

✓ Look inwards for guidance. The existing fixed colours inside or outside a house can also be a great option to be used in the exterior colour scheme. This can be the colour of the material of the window trim, foundation or even the roof.

If you happen to possess a upvc door, then you’re likely to notice two main things about about it. Firstly, it’s built to last and will most likely work perfectly well for several more years to come. Lastly, after just a couple of years, it’ll start showing signs of ageing - it starts to fade and becomes dull or discolour which is a problem that’s commonly identified with white plastic after some time and even more so when exposed to the sun and rain year in year out. Unlike back in the days where you’d have to replace your old upvc door due to discolouration, now you’d only have to repaint it which will only cost just a fraction of the price that would have been expended to get a replacement upvc door. By painting your upvc door, you’ll have it looking its best again while also adding to the curb appeal of your home.

Now painting of a upvc door is a very tricky and dangerous affair as it requires a lot of practice and any if proper care is not taken, you can easily inject yourself with paint. As a result, if you lack the skill or confidence required to carry out this task, then we’d strongly recommend you get in touch with a professional who can guarantee the best results the first time. If you wish to paint your upvc door, here are the four simple steps to it:

1. Remove any door furniture
2. Prepare the upvc door for the painting
3. Select a paint that’ll work on upvc doors
4. Decide on the finishing touches

Can You Paint Over A Wallpaper?

According to some painting and decoration experts, painting over a wallpaper can never produce a result that’ll be as good as painting on a blank or naked wall. However in the event whereby there’s a pressing need to quickly beautify a room, it’ll be totally understandable if you don’t want to go through the hassle of the time consuming old wallpaper removal process.

Therefore, the short and simple answer to this question is yes, it’s absolutely possible to paint over a wallpaper and get a good outcome so far you don’t rush the process. To ensure your success if you want to paint over a wallpaper, there’s also the need to use the right tools and techniques. And just like any other DIY project, proper preparation before commencement is key.

If you’re going to paint over a wallpaper, many of the tools you’ll need to acquire are the standard painting and decorating products. This means that they can be easily procured at many DIY stores. To paint over a wallpaper, you’ll need a paint roller, top quality paint brushes, joint compound ( you’ll only need this in situations whereby your wallpaper is damaged or peeling), oil based primer, tape, sandpaper, paint ( can be water, solvent or oil based paints) as well as drop clothes ( for the protection of your furnitures).

As a rule of thumb, if you can easily remove the existing wallpaper, then you probably should before you start to paint the walls. However, if removing the wallpaper seems to be a pain or can significantly damage your wall, then it’ll be smart to simply paint over it. But before you proceed, you must also note that painting over the wallpaper will make it even harder to remove later in the future.

How To Prep Walls For Painting

This is exactly the part of a wall painting job that can make or mar the whole project. To ensure that your paint project doesn’t end up being disastrous, the most important place to start is from room preparation which includes cleaning, sanding as well as priming the walls before painting. Not every wall will require to go through all the preparation steps as all walls are unique and some are in better conditions than others. However, it’s advisable to thoroughly inspect the surfaces before you proceed to painting and take the necessary actions where required.

This is a very simple DIY job that should be completed in little time, however it’s also perhaps the most important step of the entire painting project. Hence, if you lack the confidence to pull this off, then we’d recommend employing a painting expert who can guarantee the best results for help. In this guide, we’ll should you how you can prepare your wall for painting.

✓ Cleaning. There is no single best way to properly clean a wall, but most walls will be just fine with a sponge and warm water. For walls that have been stained with oil or grime such as kitchen walls, you can apply grease cutting detergent and water mixture to wash and follow up with warm water to clean the residues and a damp cloth wiping to finish it off. Then leave to dry off properly.

✓ Remove mildrew. Wipe out mildrew using a sponge and solution that’s three to four parts water to one part bleach. Apply this solution and scrub the affected surface with a soft brush.

✓ Sanding. This step is only meant for walls with rough spots on its surface. Dull the uneven spots with a sandpaper, wipe away the dust and leave to dry. Use a fine grit sandpaper to sand the surfaces and let it dry properly.

✓ Priming. Prime the wall to get the most out of your paint. They work to disguise imperfections and create a smooth surface on which you can work on.

The quick and simple answer to this question is yes, you can definitely spray upvc windows. The upvc looks incredibly great when new and still got that fresh look and smell to it, but like every other thing, with time it begins to fade and look dull. And once it starts to look scruffy there’s no going back no matter how much you cleaned or maintained it. Now instead of going for a replacement upvc windows which can be very costly, you can spend just a fraction of the replacement cost by spraying the upvc windows. The only instance where you’d not be able to paint your upvc window is if the upvc is new or just fitted. This is largely due to the fact that a special type of upvc paint is required. The upvc paint, generally, forms a type of seal and bonds itself to the upvc window. However, it has great difficulty binding to a new upvc but as a large extent of the upvc in the UK is established rather than new, this shouldn’t be a headache for most home and property owners.

Another common reason why people decide to update their upvc with painting is due to the sheer number of colours you can incorporate in the painting. With the wide range of available colours, home owners are spoilt for choices and would opt for the colour that’ll add further accent and style to their homes. What’s more? If you don’t find the specific colour you want in your provider’s catalogue, you can always ask for a mixed colour.