Deep cleaning before or after painting

[Akk223]

Hi

For the past 6 months my house has underwent substantial renovation work which is now coming to a completion stage. Involved in that process was demolishing walls, inserting steel beams, laying new flooring throughout including screening the floor.

At present the carpenter is finishing laying the engineered wood flooring through the downstairs rooms. Before this was started, the painter had underprimed the walls as all the walls had been skimmed. The carpenter is due to finish this week and I have a few questions for which I need your advice:

1. The house is full of dust due to the works. Should the house undergo a deep clean before or after the painting has been done? Please note that the kitchen does not get installed until next month so it is just the walls, ceiling, Windows and floors.

2. I have 12 doors which I have decided need to be painted in Galliant Grey (Dulux) should the doors be painted before the are hanged or can the painting be done after they have been hanged.

3. The painter believes that he can paint the entire house in 4 doors (12 hour shift) by himself. Is this possible, when there there are 4 double bedrooms, a 20ft lounge, study, 3 bathrooms, utility, 2 hallways, and a very large kitchen and diner?

4. I want to paint my front door but was thinking of getting the front door stripped at the first instance. It is an original 1930's front door. Can you recommend if this can be done by the painter or should I get a specialist company to do this.

Many thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Doggit]

If you do a general clean the house before painting it, then there's less dust getting on to the walls, and the painter won't be having to clean away dust on the floor before he can paint the skirting boards. You can do a more thorough deep clean after everything is finished.

Stick the doors on a trestle, and make sure all the tops and bottoms are painted and sealed before they are hung. If not, moisture gets in, and they swell in the winter; it'll also be easier to paint the hinge side of the door at this stage, than after they've been hung.

If he can paint that lot on 4 days, then he's damn quick, or damn sloppy. Check how many coats he's doing on the walls door etc, and that you expect the work finished to a set standard rather than 2 quick coats that don't cover properly. If you want the job done properly, allow leeway rather than tie him to a price, and then get annoyed if things aren't perfect - and see if you can check some of his other jobs.

If you get the door stripped by a professional company, they tend to dip the doors, and that can weaken the glue joints. The painter will either use a notromors type stripper, or sand it down (or a combination of both).

 

[misterhelpful]

Doggit is on the mark there. Cleaning too deeply will be pointless because the decorator will inevitably create some dust, unless he's not doing his job properly, although he should clean it up afterwards. The amount of time he has stated for doing the job suggests he's pushing it to get a decent looking finish. We could all paint that amount in four days, in an empty house, but we wouldn't all be happy with our finished product. As suggested, make sure you know what you are getting before accepting the price and time frame.
Also, if your carpenter is finishing off this week, I'm assuming there is woodwork to be painted/stained (although possibly not). If there is more woodwork than just the doors for the decorator to do, then I would also presume there will still be a fair bit of prep work involved with that, unless your chippy is a perfectionist.

Stripping/dipping door can be a time consuming/risky job - you have the problem of failing joints if dipped, although this will solve the problem of removing potentially hazardous lead paint, from a 1930's door. As well as the glue issue, if you take the door to be dipped, it will leave you the problem of a big hole in your house to secure until it is ready to be put back. I'd go down the liquid stripping route, or heat gun if used correctly with (possibly) lead paint, for just one door.

 

[WabbitPoo]

I'd have wanted the painting done before that lovely floor is installed....just saying

 

[Doggit]

I can understand where you're coming from, but it might be worth investing in some floor protector film so that things get done in the right order. Dust sheets move, but whilst putting down surface protector film can be a bit time consuming, it does exactly what it says on the tin - so to speak.