Is it time for the professional painters or can you DIY?

The majority of people live in a property which will need painting.  At various times throughout a building's life, the exterior will become faded and flaky.  The interior may not suffer so badly and may be repainted on a whim rather than a necessity.  Painting is a task which appears very easy to do and most DIY minded people will achieve a decent result.  However, sometimes professional painters are the only way to go.  There are a few reasons for this:

Preparation is harder than it looks

In order to achieve the best finish it is essential to undertake the correct preparation.  This is in fact the largest part of the task.  The obvious first step is to protect the furnishings.  If possible move them out of the room.  If this is not possible gather them all together in the centre and cover them with a dust sheet.  This is something you can do even if you have professional painters coming in.

Next you will need to wash the floor and walls to ensure there is no dirt under the new paint.  It is then essential to check the walls for blemishes.  If you find any, they will need to be filled and sanded.  It is about this point you will realise that the professional painters might have been a good idea.  The sanding has to ensure the wall is completely smooth to avoid blemishes.  You will then need to tape all the places you do not wish to get paint on.  Finally you will need to prime the wall before putting on your top coat.

Achieving that perfect finish

Having followed the above steps you should have a well prepared surface with a lovely coat of paint.  For this to have been achieved you will have needed to take care applying the paint.  If you have seen professional painters at work, you will have seen their technique to ensure a smooth finish.  Paint is always applied in one direction, even on the tricky cutting in parts. A perfectionist streak helps ensure good results.

Time and expense

At first you will assume it is cheaper to do the work yourself.  It is, after all, only a couple of tins of paint.  Once you have tackled the job, you will realise there can be a lot of time involved in preparation and finishing a room.  It might well be that your time is more effectively utilised elsewhere.  Equally the finished job may not be as good as you had hoped or have cost considerably more than expected due to complications.  Suddenly the cost of professional painters does not seem so high.

Whilst it is quite possible to paint any part of your property yourself the time and expense involved must be weighed against the use of professional painters.  A professional painter knows how to achieve the job with the minimum fuss and intrusion.  This will probably be the best solution in the majority of cases.