Newby attempting big hall/stairway painting project

[Daisybell]

Right, here goes!

I've decided to repaint the hallway/staircase of our old house. It's a Georgian farmhouse with all the plaster decoration and was probably last painted about 30 years ago.

All the gloss needs doing and I can't guarantee its not lead paint - do I prime it rather than sand it? It won't be possible to sand the plasterwork...

Which gloss to use? It's not the end of the world if it yellows as it's an old house and so brilliant white may look too harsh anyway, although I'd like to minimise the yellowing. Which gloss gives the best balance between yellowing/ease of application? We used Johnson's in our barn conversion and that yellowed dramatically.

The hallway has been painted bottle green so may need several coats to cover it. But there is a stone effect carved into the plaster which I don't want to lose. Can anyone recommend a good covering paint?

Finally (I promise!) has anyone found a good neutral paint colour for period properties - it needs to be fairly economical as it's a big space!

Thank you!!!

 

[oldgreymouse]

daisybell, if you are trying to paint out an old farmhouse with lots of natural stone around then I would look at the grey', cream's and off whites of Farrow & Ball.

Ok, if you are just trying to cover over the green first before applying colour, then you may find it cheaper to use a quick coat of trade Dulux supermatt, or Gliddon 'Contract' matt as a cover up coat.

I have worked on several period property's, including listed buildings Grade 1, in and around the Cotswolds and find the F & B colours tone in best with all stone work.
Not the cheapest of paint but the colours are perfect for older buildings

I never use brilliant white in these houses and my clients would all want me to cut back the white with some burnt umber water colour to take the edge off the white even when used on a ceiling, so if I were you, I would not use any high bright whites and you will not then have the problem of 'yellowing'.

One paint I do keep to hand on my van for doing small patch repairs to woodwork and skirting boards in these properties, is one of the 'Homebase' paints called 'Contemporary' in satin. It is an off white.

If you are not able to sand the gloss paint because of a possibility of lead, then at least give it all a good wash with sugar soap and use one of those green scrubby pan cleaners to help key the paint.

 

[Daisybell]

Thanks very much for your reply! There's not masses of stone work around (my inlaws pebble dashed the front, and 70s chic'd the rest) but what does survive has a warm tone. I like the F&B colours, but are they hard wearing? I need it to be farmer/toddler proof!

Thanks for the comments about the white gloss - I guess what's here has aged so much that I assume it has been white, but it has now softened. We have a home base relatively near by so I'll pick up one of their cards - is that one available in large pots? Do you paint decorative plaster work in this colour too?

Thanks for the sanding tip too, that's a great idea. I wouldn't normally worry and just dive in there, but now I've got a baby I worry about these things a bit more.

 

[oldgreymouse]

Hi again daisybell, Homebase do make the 'Contemporary' in vinyl matt for walls etc and as I said it is a kind of off white.

I mainly use it when I do house repairs on white paint that has been painted on several years before. Using a new bright white just makes the repair stand out. so this make it blend in better with slightly older paint.

No off the shelf water based matt colours for walls are really too hardwearing, unless you try something like Dulux 'Diamond' matt, although you could always go over with a matt varnish to finish and this can help with fingermarks etc.

I recently had a client ask for a new bathroom to be painted in a deep purple matt colour but the fingermarks and dust showed up all over the place, even though advice had been given !!! She relented after 2 weeks and after a quick re-coat, I waited a day or so for that to dry and then applied a coat of 'Polyvine; dead flatt varnish.
http://www.polyvine.com/category/show/polyvine trade/varnishes/6

It worked a treat and I was actually back there today fitting her a copper towel rail, sprayed water all up one wall and part of the ceiling by accident, wiped it off with paper towels and it was fine, so it works.