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This page offers do it yourself painting tips for a variety of difficult or unusual surfaces including cabinets, paneling, wallpaper, high ceilings and bathrooms.
Determine if the cabinet finish is real wood, simulated wood or some other material such as painted MDF. Lightly sand natural wood and MDF and prime with alkyd undercoat. Wipe simulated wood with denatured alcohol and prime with a shellac-based primer/sealer. To prevent peeling and damage from scratches, use alkyd-based paint to finish coat cabinets. Don't use latex paint, it will scratch off cabinet surfaces that see high traffic.
If you're using a color other than white, tinting the primer to closely match the finish paint color will make finish coating easier.
Apply the paint with a small sausage roller and brush. Paint corners and edges first with the brush and then roll the wide spaces with the roller. Don't overfill the roller to avoid roller marks.
When painting both sides of cabinet doors remove them from the casings and remove all hardware including hinges and handles. Sand both sides of the doors and wipe off all the dust. To minimize handling, apply the primer and finish paint on one side, letting each coat dry, before flipping them to do the other. Before leaving each coat to dry, check for runs under the edges and brush them out. Apply a second top coat if necessary before flipping the doors over to paint the other side. Let the finish coat dry 12 to 24 hours. Install the hardware and hang the doors.
Wipe simulated wood paneling with denatured alcohol and prime with a shellac-based primer/sealer before finish coating with latex or alkyd wall paint. Real wood paneling should be lightly sanded with medium grit sandpaper and primed with an alkyd undercoat. Finish coat with latex or alkyd wall paint. When coating large surfaces like walls with shellac primer or alkyd paints, wear a painter's respirator and ventilate the room to avoid breathing the fumes.
Prime wallpaper before applying any finish paint. Check to see what type of wallpaper you're dealing with, vinyl or paper wallpaper.See Wallpaper Removal for help. Vinyl wallpaper should be primed with a sellac-based primer/sealer. This will help to ensure that the finish paint coat will bond well with the wallpaper. Use interior latex or alkyd wall paint for finish coating.
Paper wallpaper will have to be primed with two coats of alkyd or shellac-based primer to ensure latex paint will not penetrate and cause it to bubble or pucker. If you're using alkyd-based finish paint it will be self-priming. Just apply two coats to ensure good coverage. When coating large wall areas with shellac primer or alkyd paints, wear a painter's respirator and ventilate the room to avoid breathing the fumes.
To paint high ceilings white with an accent color on the walls see: Painting High Ceilings, these instructions are for painting one color on both ceilings and walls. Using one color for both will make painting high ceilings, such as with stairwells, easier because it's possible to paint the corners between wall and ceiling from the floor. If you must have a white ceiling with an accent color on the walls, a ladder will be required to do the job. See Painting High Ceilings for help.
Use flat latex paint for this project to improve the results. If you're choosing the colors for the job use one that closely matches the existing color to make coverage easier. Use a roller extension pole long enough to reach to the ceiling. Twelve feet is usually the limit for painting extension poles but this is enough for most situations.
Fill a paint brush with the wall paint and tape it to the end of the extension pole using masking tape. Set the brush so the threads on the pole press against the metal band around the bristles. Wrap the tape a few times around the brush and pole near the tip of the brush handle. Wrap a few turns of tape around the brush and pole a few inches farther up the handle to hold it in two places.
Extend the pole and start at the farthest corner, brushing the paint on as far as it will go. When the paint runs out, compress the pole to pull the brush in and fill it with more paint. Carefully dip the brush into the paint can while still attached to the pole. Tap it on the sides of the can to stop drips. Extend the pole and coat more of the corner. Paint all the high corners along the ceiling and down the walls to a point where they can be reached from the floor. Let the corners dry and apply a second coat if necessary. Roll the ceiling first and then the walls using the 12 foot extension. Use a shorter pole as you work your way down to finish painting the walls. See Paint Rolling Techniques for more about rolling paint.
Bathrooms can be a problem if moisture constantly forms on the walls from hot showers, etc. If this is the case and the existing paint is mildewed or peeling, these issues should be resolved before any paint is applied. Kill mildew with a 10% bleach water solution using the process, Killing Mildew before Painting.
Peeling paint on bathroom walls is usually caused by moisture between the paint coat and the wall surface. Scrape off all loose, peeling paint and wall material; seal the surface with a shellac-based primer/sealer and repair the damaged wall material. See Repairing Water Damage, Skim Coating Techniques and the other wall repair articles at Drywall and Plaster for repair help before painting.
When the walls are ready, prime any wall repairs with flat latex paint or latex primer before applying semi-gloss or other shiny paint. In bathrooms with a chronic moisture problem where previous wall damage has occurred, use alkyd-based finish paint to help block future moisture penetration. In bathrooms with recurring mildew, mix a mildew retardant, available at paint stores, into the finish coating.
In bathrooms that don't have an existing moisture problem it's best to use latex paint on drywall and plaster walls and ceilings. Contrary to popular belief, latex paint does not peel when exposed to moisture. Latex actually breathes much better than alkyd or oil paints, particularly flat latex. This breathing allows water vapor to move thru the paint coat and wall material preventing trapped moisture from causing a peeling problem. See Paint Brushing and Paint Roller Techniques for application help and Paint Coatings Defined for more about paint coatings.