Paint – A New House

Glanced Light – Wall and Ceiling Imperfections

In certain conditions you can easily see very slight surface imperfections

This is known as ‘Glanced Light’ . . . . so what does is mean?

Well when light strikes a surface at a flat angle like in this first sketch its said to be a glancing angle.

Because of the angle any imperfections in the surface cause shadows that make the defect more obvious.

The most obvious point where you may notice glanced light is at the joints between plasterboard panels.

Its not uncommon in the joints showing up as bands of a different shade.

In full light like the second sketch these sort of imperfections are less likely to show up.

What’s Acceptable

For the typical project home any imperfection that shows in full light is unacceptable.

In glanced light you should not see screw of nail fixings although joints will most likely be faintly visible.

If you are uncertain go to your builders display house and look at how their ceiling looks.

How To Minimise Glanced Light Issues

Specification – In the old days all plasterboard had a skim coat of plaster applied over the whole surface rather than just the joints. Although you can ask for this it will be at a substantially added cost.
Workmanship – If the plasterboards are fixed with the joints running towards the windows any joint imperfections will be minimised. A skilled tradesman should then be able to make the joints and fixings holes fairly smooth.
Lighting – Pendant light fittings are better than fittings that are closer to the ceiling as they give full light. Avoid windows that go up to ceiling level.
Decoration – Matt paints are better than silk finishes. Roller applied paint is better than spray applied. Alternatively a textured finish to the ceiling will mean the texture covers the joints.

To find out more about inspecting your new house see

anewhouse PCI Guide

Getting the Colours Right

Let face it, I am a typical man and colours don’t really interest me much.

I like to limit myself to the standards of White, Black, Brown, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet.

I’m even not too sure about Indigo and Violet. . . What’s wrong with just saying Purple?

Don’t start on talking about colours like Aquamarine and Avocado as I will quickly get lost. . . and that’s before we mention the 100 different types of white, or ’50 shades of Grey!

The average project home builder has about the same sense of colour as me so if you want a particular colour here are some things you need to do:

Find out if the builder has a standard paint supplier or will allow the use of any paint manufacturer as early as possible.
Get that paint manufacturers colour charts and pick the colours and finishes (gloss, satin, matt etc) you want before the colour selection.
Make sure the full description of the colours are handed over preferably with copies of the colour cards stapled to the documents for reference.
Check the colours are correctly described in the contract documents.
Check the final finishes against the cards at the PCI inspection.

Did you finish up with a colour you hate on your house? Or just the wrong shade of white?

For similar posts see Selection

More about selecting finishes including 24 pages of Check Lists in the‘Selection / Pre-Start Guide’

DIY Painting, Is It Worth It?

Painting doesn’t seem so hard to do.

Some people say “Why not paint our new house ourselves rather than pay the builder and save money?”

Well I have done plenty of painting of individual rooms over the years but I wouldn’t attempt a new house!

A figure I have heard from an amateur doing the surface preparation and painting of ceilings and walls only (not the woodwork) is around 180 hours for a 300 square m house.

Even if you have got a 200 square house its still 120 hours before you start on the woodwork. Add the woodwork and it will probably be at least another 60 hours.

Assuming there are two of you painting for 6 hours per day that can be over 7 weekends. This consequences are:

If you want the painting doing before you move that could be paying another couple of months rent where you live. That will eat into any savings from doing it yourself.
If you do it after you move you are going to be living in a mess for around 2 months. All your spare time will be used up painting, while all the other jobs that you find when you move, will have to wait.

About the only painting I would do myself would be painting a feature wall. Even then I would have the decorator do the initial painting of the wall. This would mean:

There would be no rush to paint.
All the surface preparation would be completed.

If you are going to paint yourself here are a few hints:

Invest in some good brushes and look after them.
Don’t try painting with a brush out of a big tin of paint, drop it and it makes a huge mess! Decant it into a half litre container.
For painting large walls a roller is the way to go. I regard these as disposable as they are difficult to clean well. You can wrap it with cling film and it should be OK to use the next morning, longer and plan on using a new roller.
Get some of those disposable overalls with a hood, because you are going to spill paint, and its worse if it gets in your hair.
When you have put the top securely on a paint can store it upside down, this stops it getting a skin on the top.
Make sure you get plenty of drop sheets or builders plastic on the floor.

Tag: Paint