- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time
- A weekend for an average room
- Parts
- $80 – $200
- To hire out
- $400 – $900 per room
Painting is the most commonly attempted DIY job and the one where the gap between amateur and professional shows most clearly. That gap is almost entirely preparation. The rolling is the easy part, and it is what everyone wants to start with.
A room you prepare properly and paint adequately will look better than one you prepare badly and paint beautifully. Budget your time accordingly: roughly two thirds of the job happens before the first coat.
How to tell this is your problem
- Tired or marked walls
- A colour you have stopped liking
- Patchy sheen where previous repairs were never primed
- Peeling or flaking, usually in a bathroom or kitchen
Should you do this yourself?
Yes, for ordinary walls and ceilings at normal height. It is slow rather than difficult. Where it stops being sensible is high stairwells, extensive damaged plaster, or lead paint in a pre-1980 home.
Stop and call someone if
- The existing paint is flaking off in sheets. Something underneath has failed and painting over it will not hold.
- The home is pre-1980 and you would be sanding old paintwork, which can disturb lead.
- You would be working above a stairwell or at a height needing more than a standard step ladder.
- There is mould rather than just staining. Painting over it does not kill it.
What you need
Tools
- Roller frame and sleeves
Sleeve nap matters more than the frame: short nap for smooth walls, longer for texture. Cheap sleeves shed fibres into the finish.
- Angled sash brush, 2 to 2.5 inch
For cutting in. An angled brush lets you run a line along the ceiling without tape once you have the knack.
- Extension pole
Saves the ladder and gives a more even coat, because you roll with your body rather than your arm.
- Filling knife and sanding sponge
The preparation tools. If they stay clean, you have not prepared.
- Drop sheets
Canvas rather than plastic. Plastic slips underfoot and spilled paint sits wet on top of it.
Materials
- Filler
For nail holes and dents. Lightweight interior filler sands easily and does not shrink much.
- Primer
Needed over filler, bare surfaces, stains and any big colour change. Skipping it is why patches show through afterwards.
- Paint
Buy on the product line rather than the brand. Two tins from the same maker can behave completely differently; the line is what tells you about coverage and durability.
- Caulk
A thin bead along trim where it meets the wall. This single step is most of what makes a room look professionally finished.
Step by step
- 1
Clear and protect
Furniture out or into the middle and covered. Drop sheets down. Remove switch and socket plates rather than cutting around them - it takes five minutes and is instantly visible in the result.
- 2
Wash the walls
Especially kitchens and bathrooms, where an invisible film of grease will stop paint bonding. Sugar soap and a rinse. Let it dry fully.
- 3
Fill, sand, caulk
Fill every hole and dent, sand flush, then run caulk along the gap where trim meets wall. Wipe the bead with a damp finger for a clean line. This is the stage that separates a decent job from an obviously amateur one.
- 4
Prime what needs it
Filler, bare patches, stains, and anywhere the colour is changing dramatically. Spot-priming is fine; whole-wall priming is only needed over bare or problem surfaces.
- 5
Cut in, then roll - ceiling first
Brush a band along edges and corners, then roll while that band is still wet so the two blend. Work ceiling, then walls, then trim last. Doing trim first guarantees you will splash it.
- 6
Two coats, properly dry between
Respect the drying time on the tin rather than the touch test. Rolling a second coat onto paint that is dry to the touch but not cured drags the first coat off and leaves patches.
Mistakes that cost money
- Starting to roll before preparing. It is the most enjoyable part and doing it first guarantees a mediocre result.
- Skipping caulk at the trim line. Nothing else gives such a large visible improvement for so little work.
- Painting over grease in a kitchen, which peels within months no matter how good the paint.
- Cheap roller sleeves that shed fibres into the wet coat, leaving fluff embedded in the finish.
- Painting a bathroom without addressing why it was peeling, which is usually ventilation.
When to call a professional
Call a painter for high stairwells or anything needing scaffolding, for extensive damaged plaster, for pre-1980 homes where old paint would need sanding, or where mould is present rather than staining - that needs the moisture source fixed first, and painting over it achieves nothing.
Hiring a painter
What Ontario requires, how to verify it, and what the work should cost.