TOP TIPS! What are your top tips that you CAN share?

[Jaeger_S2k]

Just to start it off.....

If I am doing a complete room and the carpet is being trashed, I ask for it to be left in place until I've finished.

All I do is cut the carpet about 5 to 6 inches off the skirting around the room and remove the cutting.

Leaving the carpet down keeps a lot of dust down and soaks up any water or paint spills. It also makes it a bit more comfortable and doesn't echo as much.

Once you've finished remove the carpet (this is for the DIY'rs, I usually leave it for the carpet fitters, but if I do lift it. I roll it up and it takes all your mess with it, not that I'm messy!) and you'll have left a room with virtually nothing on the floor (bar the outer edge).

Top Tip

[Puma]

I LOVE

Sticky roll matting for hallways and taping off every flipping millimeter - you can leave it down over night after a quick sweep and at the end of the job, lift it up IMMACULATE.

Keep an eye on the end of the job you don't leave a LONG endless cleaning, snaggy exit, have a clean up at afternoon tea break. Then quick exit, and smile.

Square metal filler blades - still using long handled ones? - then change now or forever live in shame!!!!

Take it all in your stride. (ha!)

Easy one filler two part - easiest to sand and cheapest, from ebay.

I have to say I recently found long term exposure to white spirit fumes causes brain damage, this info is really hidden away, though have added it to wikipedia recently. All pigments and fumes (even white) - wear appropriate mask. Good carbon filter masks (vaguely comfy esp with talc on skin) from Protec.

Trying very hard this year to be eco and low odour all the way

Found Johnstones acrylic satinwood quite impressive.

[Have Brush Will Travel]

PAPERING..

Mark out your papering table along one edge in inches or 100mm increments..it saves a lot of wrestling with a tape measure..

DONT ever try to thicken up a thin paste mix by adding more flakes to it..they solidify into lumps and the whole thing looks apple turnover mix!
Just mix up an extra thick batch (5 litres of water to one trade size bag) and add the thinner stuff to it

Cant afford a decent paperhaing brush?...use a long pile roller sleeve instead..just as good..and if you dampen the sleeve it will help keep the face of the paper clean and free from paste..

Buy a scalpel knife with curves blades for intricate cutting around mouldings etc..

When lining a wall...you only have to leave a 1mm gap in the joints if you are papering overing it...if its being painted then butt itt...it avoids having to fill them..but if you are in this situation...paint the wall first, thinning the first coat by about 20% to cope with the absorbent surface of the lining paper then fill (it will stop you scratching the face of the lining paper) then fill...then touch up the filler using a radiator roller (you'l have the same finish as opposed to using a brush) then rub down the whole wall with fine 120 grade abrasive paper..then paint the second coat

Keep a pack of acrylic artist colours on hand for any small tears or white joints...(you can get a box of 12 from Tesco for about a fiver)

ALWAYS set a room out first before you start papering so you dont end up having to infil little strips at the end of a wall

[royaloakcarpentry]

If you have to paint behind pipes, put some newspaper around them so you don't get paint on them. Slide the paper up them as you go.

Cut lining paper in with stanley knife. make sure blade is changed regularly or you will tear the paper. Miles quicker than using scissors.

Don't buy the plastic pasting table that looks like a patio table.......when you lift it to move it, the legs fall out!!!!!

[fordy]

Only use two sides of the kettle to wipe your brush off, then when u put it in to rest you dont have any on the handle. Sounds obvious but is a good habit to get into!

[Have Brush Will Travel]

Put a good dollop of pva in with your wallpaper paste mix..about half a litre for every 5

[bobbie-dazzler]

Using decorators calk down the internal corners when papering with heavy embossed wallpaper, the paper sticks well and looks very neat.

If you are hanging a coloured finish paper, and you can see the white butt line, buy a wallpaper pen and fill in, or buy a paint pot sample of same colour, get a J cloth and gently dab down the lines, blending as you go along.

Spotting big lumps of sanded filler with diluted PVA before you paper, this will give the filler a hard shell effect, and prevent the filler crumbling underneath the paste.

When caulking, and to prevent caulking crazing, apply thinned Undercoat on top, leave to dry, thyen emulsion as usual.

[wine~o]

Baby wipes are brilliant for removing emulsion and gloss from fingers/brush handles/hard surfaces...more likely to come on "offer" at the supermarket than decorators wipes at the sheds..

[Puma]

Gloves used to be hopeless, sweaty latex things or overly heavy numbers, Travis Perkins (and elsewhere) do these very light weight, very comfortable grey rubber gloves with a cloth backing. They SAVE TIME as you don't have to worry about sticky handles or endlessly wiping hands etc

Rubber filling buckets - crack out the filler when dry

Use a ton of paste for wallpapering

Spatch for cutting in sometimes helps

Covering colours of the same tone (as well as colour) is easier to do

[Have Brush Will Travel]

Using decorators calk down the internal corners when papering with heavy embossed wallpaper, the paper sticks well and looks very neat.

If you are hanging a coloured finish paper, and you can see the white butt line, buy a wallpaper pen and fill in, or buy a paint pot sample of same colour, get a J cloth and gently dab down the lines, blending as you go along.

Spotting big lumps of sanded filler with diluted PVA before you paper, this will give the filler a hard shell effect, and prevent the filler crumbling underneath the paste.

When caulking, and to prevent caulking crazing, apply thinned Undercoat on top, leave to dry, thyen emulsion as usual.

Cheat!!!!

Tututututututututututut!!!

And now the public will know how we make em look so good!

[Have Brush Will Travel]

Getting the same colour mix up for an undercoat as the gloss...or using Eggshellor satin finish thats the same colour instead..(inside)

[inverdecor]

Using decorators calk down the internal corners when papering with heavy embossed wallpaper, the paper sticks well and looks very neat.

If you are hanging a coloured finish paper, and you can see the white butt line, buy a wallpaper pen and fill in, or buy a paint pot sample of same colour, get a J cloth and gently dab down the lines, blending as you go along.

Spotting big lumps of sanded filler with diluted PVA before you paper, this will give the filler a hard shell effect, and prevent the filler crumbling underneath the paste.

When caulking, and to prevent caulking crazing, apply thinned Undercoat on top, leave to dry, thyen emulsion as usual.

Cheat!!!!

Tututututututututututut!!!

And now the public will know how we make em look so good!

I've been doing this for years also

[inverdecor]

After you've cleaned you paint back into the tin a very small amount of white spirit over the top will stop it from skinning over

[thescruff]

If you shake the tin and store it upside down it wont skin over.

[bronz]

BIN spray is available and super handy. Ditto Cover Stain.

A mist coat of undercoat and spirit is primer (still surprisingly unknown to lots of people).