Hallway Progress - More Paint Stripping and Splash Coat

As I hadn't managed to get all the paint stripping of the architraves done before the plastering was done (see the post about that here), I had to finish it before painting.  I didn't want to run the risk of the emulsion on the wall blistering if I had painted the walls first.

I waited a few weeks for the plaster to be really dry, as I was worried the heat gun might cause it to crack.  It was generally fine, but there was one area which it cracked - eek! :(

I still have more to do around the door stops, I only did the edges next to the plaster, as I'm going to be honest, I was itching to get the paint on the wall!

So for fresh plaster, you have to paint on what is called a splash coat.  This is typically a watered-down emulsion coat, as the plaster will be really thirsty.  The plaster drinks in the water and it's a good starter coat before you put your more expensive colour coat on.  I generally use cheap white matt emulsion paint, but you can use any matt emulsion - just make sure you don't use vinyl emulsion.

I probably watered it down 50/50 to start with, so half paint half water.  The paint doesn't always mix well with water though - it takes a while to get it consistently mixed.  I actually used a whisk to get it all mixed - not conventional, but it got the job done!

The 50/50 mix was waaaay too much water!  So this happened...

Then I read the instructions on the paint tin, and it said 20% watered down on fresh plaster.  I measured out the paint to water ratio using a plastic cup and that worked well.

After I got the ratio right it went on much cleaner!

I did all this while the hubby was out so I had to leave the corners that I couldn't get to with the roller on an extension pole.  When he got home we got the ladder out and got those bits done.

I still need to sort the area of the loft hatch out.  I will actually change the loft hatch, but it's the area around it that will need a bit if thought and work.

There was one area of the ceiling down stairs that didn't take the paint too well - I'm not quite sure what was up with the plaster, but I wasn't particularly impressed with it.

Again, some more work required to this patch to sort it out.

What projects are you making progress with?

Dining Chair Overhaul

I wanted some nice chairs to go with our lovely new table.  The ones we had were nice enough, but they didn't quite go.

So I bought these four chairs on Gumtree for £25:

Very tired looking.  And mouldy! So I gave them a good scrub down with some hot soapy water and left them to dry in the sun.

Because there was mould on the chairs, I was a bit concerned about the padding.  So I decided to take that out too.

The old tacks didn't come out.  They were pretty rusty.  But it was ok,

I got some new upholstery foam from the local market.  I went for a sheet 1.5" thick, although I think retrospectively that was probably a bit too thick.  It very easy to cut, by just using a bread knife:

I put one coat of Zinsser Primer on (left over from the interior door renovation) and then one coat of Johnstone's Brilliant White Eggshell (also left over from other projects).

For some reason the eggshell took absolutely ages to dry - probably 2.5days until it was completely dry.  I have no idea why, but it got there in the end.  Each chair also took ages to actually paint, maybe 1.5-2 hours per chair, per coat.  It was worth it though.

I bought some lovely flowery fabric, and a superb staple gun to reupholster the seat.

It did take two to stretch and staple the fabric though.

And there we have it.  4 lovely chairs, from drab and mouldy, to fab and flowery :)

Total cost of project:

Chairs = £25

Paint = Leftover

Upholstery foam = £13

Fabric = £10

Staple gun  & staples = £13

TOTAL = £61