Painting Your Own Apartment

[pmacay]

Hello Group!

We’ve been in our apartment over 13 years now, DIOS, time flies. I’d like to repaint the place ourselves and I’m hoping for some advice on others who have attempted their own painting projects.

In the USA we have TSP / Trisodium Phosphate to clean the walls and prepare it for painting. I just googled TSP and found this home made cleaner for cleaning walls.

A gallon of warm (not hot) water and mix in one cup vinegar, one cup ammonia, and 1/4 cup baking soda. Put on your rubber gloves and stir it all up.

I’m guessing they don’t have TSP here but I’m wondering if anyone has found it. I also found a painter who said that ammonia on the walls can alter the color of the paint, so you if you use ammonia to clean the walls you really need to wash it off good before painting. Another reason I’d like to find TSP.

Is there a special spackle for patching cracks in the plaster/concrete/brick walls they have here? None of our walls are dry rock, it’s all the standard brick and plaster that is common here so I’m wondering if there is any secret to patching up these kind of walls before painting.

The original paint that was put on was water based, not oil. I intend on using water based again, but is it necessary to sand the entire wall surface before repainting? I know that is common practice here, but is it really necessary to create all that dust?

An Argentine friend recommended something called “sellador” which is kind of a sticky gluish primer that you use first for the next coat of finish paint to adhere too.

Is there anything like “plastic wood” to patch cracks in wood before repainting? 13 years ago the remodel was new and they used a lot of new wood which has over the years shrunk and separated.

Thanks for any advice.

Pete & Ron

 

[garryl]

Plaster is common in the hardware store. The key is to find out what your current paint is, is it latex or oil based? You need to use the same.
Oil based paint is more common in Argentina (it seems), that is why the paint peels all the time. You need to scrape the peeled paint, use plaster to fill holes and scars. Argentines use the old fashion way, they sand off the old wall a little bit, then apply the primer and paint. Primer is not necessary if not new wall. good luck.

 

[RodalfoWalsh]

http://articulo.mercadolibre.com.ar/MLA-609625164-fosfato-trisodico-dodecahidratado-grado-tecnico-bolsa-x-1-kg-_JM

Tsp, available on mercado libre and most large hardware stores

 

[RichardP]

Local painters like to use selladores and fijadores but if the walls are in pretty good shape, it's not necessary. If you have stains (water, nicotine, grease) they can bleed through latex and should be sealed. Spackling is called "induido" here and it sands down after drying nicely for a smooth finish when filling in minor holes and cracks. Your doors and trim may be oil based enamel (esmalte) paint which is more durable and requires some sanding for good bond when repainting. For the separation in wood, you can get latex or silicone caulking.

Sherwin Williams has operated in Argentina for generations and has an OK product by local standards.

 

[gpop]

TSP, wood filler putty.

It's always a good idea to at least lightly sand especially with glossy paints to give the new paint something to grip onto. An orbital sander with a vacuum attachment would reduce your dust cleanup and make short(er) work. Enduido is generally used to patch up dings in the wall, but watch out for the cracks: 13 years old it's probably still "settling", cracks may continue. If the cracks are really pronounced, then you will have to widen the crack before you spackle it to make sure the material really gets in there. I've even used excess drywal joint compound as it's ready-mixed and widely available now.

The wood putty will fill in imperfections, scratches, small holes, and smallish cracks, it is not for big gashes. Get a color that is closest to your finish, sand, and restain the area.

 

[cbphoto]

Painting is at least 70% preparation (sanding, caulking, filling etc..)
If your walls have peeling paint and or cracks... best 1st to scrape loose paint off. If cracks are larger, take a blade and make and enlarge a channel (like a v).. fill with a small beed of caulking.. once dry float with 1st coat of fast drying plaster (5 minute)..making sure to not leave a lump, then one more coat of light plaster (easily sandable)
Then give a very light sand to all the walls (best with a pole attachment)
I also caulk the seem between wall and ceiling which makes for a nicer and easier line to cut (painting) afterwords.
Follow this with a single coat (rolled) of primer on the whole wall.
Then you can paint out walls with latex paint.. 1st cut all corners and around all trim (angled brush) then rolling vertically (with each roll lightly overlapping adjacent)
2 coats.. and you shouldn't have cracks or peeling paint for many years to come

 

[Roxana]

There are sales often in the main stores that sell paint around town, like prestigio, rex, del centro or yanina.

 

[UK Man]

My house decoration experiences are many I'm not happy to say.

It's an old house so the brick walls, even the internal ones, are forever needing attention due to damp patches that come out the plaster. I used to quite like decorating but I got disheartened when I saw my toil being spoiled so quickly. I'd need to paint the walls every two years to have them in immaculate condition so I find it much easier just to rearrange the furniture to hide the blemishes rather than get the paint brush out again.

In the UK I could get the roller out and have a room painted within an afternoon. Here with the high ceilings and all the rigmarole of doing all preparation that I've been told has to be done it takes me about 4 days. I don't like having a painter and decorator faffing about in the house for days on end so I shall continue to do it myself. If we stay here permanently I've told the wife we'll have to get a more modern house or else.

It's also so flippin' expensive here for all the stuff needed.