UKH

Do not what ever you do pick up the paint can and shake it to mix it instead of stirring.

If you do as I did yesterday in my eagerness not to have another thing to clean then you will find all he old bits of paint in the can go in the paint and the surface you end up with after painting your ceiling is akin to the surface of the moon.

Arse. serves me right for being lazy i've now got to sand it and put 2 coats on from a new tin of paint

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Also don't open the tin while it's perched on the top of the stepladder and empty it all over the carpet....

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Don't wrap everything I'm newspaper and then put a firework in a ton of paint to paint the room.

In reply to balmybaldwin:


Thanks. That's very helpful. Also, DO NOT violently shake a giant tin of paint unless you are sure the top is firmly on. I have done this. Result = paint splattered absolutely everywhere.

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Do not go fast round a tight bend with a 5 litre plastic pot of emulsion in your boot....

In reply to balmybaldwin:

If you store the paint tins upside down you don't get bits, so they don't ever get in your paint.

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Do not ever buy B&Q extra thick lining paper, it drinks paint like mad. I feel like Sisyphus painting our bedroom at the moment. Every time I paint a bit I look round thirty seconds later and it's a bare patch - some bits are up to 5 coats.

In reply to Lemony:

You sure it's the paper and not the wall behind it?

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Do not call into Homebase on way home from family do wearing best jeans and allow wife to lift can of paint off shelf.

In doing so, she somehow managed to dislodge the can of paint below it off the shelf, which hit the floor, burst open and splashed the better part of 5l of Dulux's finest white emulsion all over the floor, my shoes, both trouser legs and another customer. Didn't get a drop on her!

The staff were pretty good about it and efficient at getting the spill contained and it eventually cleaned off my trousers and shoes when we got home.

Had to be firm with the other customer and tell him we weren't going to buy him a new pair of shoes to replace his clearly knackered DIY shoes for a few spots of paint that wiped off easily!

In reply to LastBoyScout:

Some I learned from my father.....

Don't make a homemade paint stirrer with an unprotected blade that runs at several 1000 rpm

Check which are the old pair of tights before straining bits out of the paint

In reply to balmybaldwin:

When buying multiple cans check the batch numbers match up. The might look the same colour in the can but once on the wall you *will* notice the difference...

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Clingfilm is your friend to wrap brushes and even trays when you don't finish in one day.

In reply to balmybaldwin:

if you're using a 2 part paint with xylene activator make sure you've got total ventilation!

In reply to balmybaldwin:

...and if you paint three of your walls white, and then pour the blue paint into a new paint tray for the fourth wall, then leave the room for a tea, then come back to find your cat standing in the tray up to here ankles in blue paint, do not shout "AAAH YA FOOCKAH GEDDOUT THA FOOCKING TRAY" because inevitably, she will get out the tray, but will manage to spray half the tray of blue paint around the white parts of the wall.

In reply to Lemony:

Sounds like you need to dilute your first coat, like you would with new plaster.

In reply to Jim C:
Now that's a good tip. Unless the lid falls off when you pick up the tin...

In reply to balmybaldwin:

My top tip is, get someone else to do the painting for you............

In reply to ThunderCat:

I'm not sure there is a good way to deal with that situation.

In reply to balmybaldwin:

1. Don't attempt to prise the stuck lid off an aerosol can of black car touch-up paint with a screwdriver.

A mate did that in the family kitchen, and punctured the can, which emptied itself in a nanosecond. First thing in the firing line was his dad, who, on removing his glasses, looked like someone from the black & white minstrel show.

2. If you knock a couple of litres of paint over on the new bathroom carpet, don't panic & try to get it up with the hoover.

My beloved mother, bless her.

In reply to Chris Harris:

In reply to Deadeye:


The guy who did my bathroom did that.

In reply to balmybaldwin:

Get a decorator to do it.