Emulsion paining can be a tiresome job, especially when you have to do more than a couple of coats to get an even coverage. So image your fury when you have to start the job from scratch and apply further coats because of a problem with the paint.

Although it was more common a few years ago, many people still suffer from wall odour phenomenom. This is when for some unexplicable reason the wall starts to smell after it’s been painted. And we don’t mean a a faint paint smell, we mean a putrid smell that resembles cat pi**. Paint manufacturer’s are stepping back from the problem and saying an unfortunate reaction with a mould on the wall is the cause.

We are not amused.

You can’t even stop the smell by applying another coat, the only way to stop it is by first applying a coat of plaster sealer on the paint then painting the walls again. This stops the smell coming through. And can mean around three additional coats of paint and one very annoyed customer and one very annoyed painter.

Has anyone else experienced this? We’d like to hear your thoughts.

When applying emulsion paint to a wall the most common method now seems to be the roller. However, you can use a brush and a pad as well. Here’s why we think the roller is best.

Paint brush

Even using the largest paint brush, it can take quite a long time to paint a room, add to that the potential for unevenness of paint coverage and all those hairs which come out of the brush and you’ll see why the paint brush is no longer loved.

Paint pad

Paint pads were introduced a few years ago and are simply a sponge with small bristles which transfer the paint from the pad to the wall. Painting with a pad is much quicker than painting with a brush, but again you can get an uneven coverage.

Paint roller

The paint roller is our favourite because of the even coverage you get on the wall. The finish is also good with a very slight bobbled effect and no brush stroke marks. You just have to make allowances for the extra mess.

We’ve all been there - we have to do a painting job and we have to do it quickly. Whether for business or pleasure, most of the painting jobs we do all have to be done with a degree of perfection. And you can get this easily and quickly if you follow the seven step guide:

1) Bare wood needs to be primed and undercoated. You can get an all-in-one product that should do the job
2) The surface should be sanded to remove roughness and any unevenness.
3) The undercoat can then be applied.
4) The surface can be sanded again.
5) The surface can get a top coat of paint.
6) The surface can get a final light sand.
7) the final layer of top coat can be aplied

When you’re doing any DIY you need to make sure that you get things right from the start. If you start the job in a bad frame of mind you’ll find that the job will take longer and it will usually be a shoddier job than if you spend a little time and attention to detail.

As an estimate we’d say that approximately 50% of the work you do in any DIY job is preparation work. This includes things such as stripping wallpaper, sanding woodwork, removing old fixtures and fittings or even just moving furniture around.

If you take your time during this preparation process you’ll often find that the level of finish you get is much better too.