Basic Decorating Kit

To achieve a professional finish when painting and decorating, a few specific tools are required.

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Paintbrushes

When applying paint to window and door frames, skirting boards and round the edges of walls, a great degree of control is needed to achieve a good, accurate finish. Paintbrushes are the best tool for this, and you will need a few different sizes, depending on the intricacy of the job. Do invest in good brushes and clean them well after each use as they’ll last you a lifetime and won’t lose bristles onto your paintwork.

Paint Roller & Tray

To cover a large area with paint quickly, evenly and smoothly, you can’t beat a roller. Available in two sizes, 100mm (4in) or 228mm (9in), you can purchase replacement heads, with a range of textures depending on the coarseness of the substrate you are to paint. Choose a smooth roller for smooth interior walls. You will also need a tray designed to enable you to load the roller with paint.

Sandpaper & Block

To prepare any surface for painting and to smooth off sharp corners, sandpaper, wrapped round a block, is quick and easy to use on all but the largest areas. Sandpaper is quoted in ‘grits’, where the higher the grit, the finer the sandpaper, so choose a low grit number for coarse paper, and a high grit number for final smoothing.

Plastic Sheeting

Protect flooring and furniture from dust and spillages with plastic sheeting.

Filling Knife

Use a filling knife to achieve a smooth finish when filling in cracks or small holes in walls or wood. Also very useful for removing wallpaper.

White Spirit

When decorating with oil-based paints, white spirit is a must for thinning the paint, cleaning brushes and spillages. White spirit is also great at dissolving grease. It is INFLAMMABLE, so do not expose it to naked flames or heat.

Further information and useful links

• Basic toolbox
• Building works topics
• Painting & decorating topics

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