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Painting the interior of a house is done in two general stages. First, paint the walls and ceiling, using either an oil or a water paint. Next, paint or varnish the woodwork, according to personal taste and the nature of the wood. PlasterBefore any type of finish can be applied to plaster walls and ceilings, the surface must be made ready. Fill all cracks and holes in the plaster with patching plaster, or linseed oil mixed with turpentine. If the walls have been previously painted, wash them down to remove grease and dirt. After the holes have been patched, touch up the patches with several coats of paint to prevent uneven absorption of the final finish. NeutralizingThe active lime contained in new plaster will have a bad effect on oil paint, so do not cover fresh plaster with an oil paint. Either leave the walls unpainted or apply a coat of water paint, which is not affected by lime, until the lime in the plaster has neutralized. If waiting for the lime to set is an inconvenience, you can neutralize it by brushing on a solution made by dissolving 3 pounds of zinc sulphate crystals in 1 gallon of water. Apply this solution to walls and ceiling and allow it to dry. Every inch of plaster must be covered with this liquid, or the paint will be damaged by the lime. In the long run, it is best to use a paint like calcimine on new walls until they have set. By doing so, you eliminate any possibility of the lime attacking the paint. Stains on old plaster caused by water or smoke should be covered with either shellac or aluminium paint to prevent the stain from showing through the new finish, giving it a blotched appearance. Removing calcimineOld calcimine on walls and ceilings must be removed before any new finish can be applied. This includes both water paint finish and oil paint. Remove the calcimine with warm water, an old brush, and a sponge. As this is messy work, it is a good idea to move all the furniture out of the room or cover it so that it will not be harmed by the water. The floors should be covered as well. Brush a small section of the wall or ceiling with the water and wipe over the area with the sponge. Repeat this process until all the old calcimine has been removed. It is important that none remain on the plaster to interfere with the new finish. Change the water in the pail at frequent intervals. Applying calcimineBefore applying calcimine, cover the surface of the plaster with sizing, so that the paint will dry to a uniform colour. Glue sizing is commonly used for calcimine and can be purchased with the paint. Mix the glue size with water and brush it over the entire wall and ceiling. Take care to cover the whole surface, because any spot missed will be apparent when the calcimine dries. If the plaster is very porous, seal it with a sealing varnish. Calcimine can be purchased, ready-mixed,
in powder form and only requires the addition of water before it is ready
for use. Follow the directions on the package carefully, as there are
some brands of calcimine which are mixed in hot water while others require
cold water. Once you start to apply calamine, finish the job as quickly as possible. Have everything ready so there will be no unnecessary interruptions, such as moving furniture or covering a portion of the floor. These matters should be accomplished before you begin painting. When doing an entire room, start with the ceiling. This will require some kind of a scaffold. An old table of sufficient height, or two stepladders with a plank between them, will serve. As it will be necessary to move the scaffold several times, do not use one that is too heavy or complicated. Calcimine should be rather thick for brushing. A second coat cannot, as a rule, be applied ; accordingly, the first coat must fully cover the plaster. If the paint is too thin, or the coat brushed out too thin, the cover will not be adequate ; this usually means removing the first coat and repainting the entire surface. Work with a full brush and work away from the light, in order that you can see whether the surface has been properly covered. Do small sections at a time, seeing that each section is joined with the previous one before beginning another. All sections must be joined before the edges dry. In this respect, it is wise to keep all doors and windows closed while painting. The draft through open doors and windows will dry certain areas of the finish, such as the edges, before the painter can join them, and this will mar the final effect. To avoid a seam between areas, make the strips narrow. In this way, you will be able to join them before they dry. When calcimining the walls, start in a top corner and work across and downward. After the calcimine has been applied, open the doors and windows to speed the drying. Do not apply a second coat. It is occasionally done but it is not a good practice, and the amateur painter ought not to attempt it.
Calcimine on paintCalcimine can be applied to a surface that has previously been covered with an oil paint. Wash the paint with water and a little washing soda to remove the dirt and cut the gloss of the paint a little. After doing this, apply a coat of glue size and then the calcimine. When using washing soda on the walls, be careful to keep it off painted trim or it will injure the finish. Other water paintsThe preparations required before other kinds of water paints can be applied to plaster are about the same as those for calcimine. As before, take care to read the directions carefully and be sure that the paint is all you think it to be. Also, remember that water paints, as a rule, are not suitable for the bathroom or kitchen. Oil paintPrepare the plaster surface for oil paint in a similar fashion. Fill the holes and cracks and give the new patches a coat of shellac to prevent the absorption of too much paint. A better method is to apply several coats of paint over the patches ; this will preclude any shiny areas. Plaster that has never been painted will be porous and absorb the paint unevenly. One of the best methods of filling the pores is to apply a coat of paint, which acts as a size coat and provides the aftercoats with a good adherent surface. Give this priming coat ample time to dry, for the final result will depend on the foundation it has provided. If a time element is involved, use a varnish sealer. Thin a good grade of varnish with turpentine so that the varnish does not have a gloss. Oil paint will not stick well to a glossy surface. You may add a small quantity of paint to the varnish to give it colour. The varnish sizing can be applied as the priming coat, and it will dry in a few days. When using a varnish size, only two coats of paint are required; but it is better to use three. Old plaster that has been painted will not need a size coat before the new finish is applied. If the old paint still has a high gloss, sand it down until the surface is rough. After this is done, clean the surface to remove all traces of dust and dirt. Smoothing wallsWalls that have a rough finish can be smoothed considerably by first sanding down the surface and then applying a coat of plastic paint to fill around the remaining high points. The sanding operation can be done by hand, but a small electric sander is a great timesaver. After the wall has been sanded, it must be washed to remove all dust, as well as any dirt or grease. Then apply the plastic paint and smooth it to give as even a surface as possible. The effectiveness of this operation depends, of course, on the roughness of the wall surface. In most cases, the surface will be smooth enough to hang wallpaper. Wall fabricsIn some cases a wall, plaster or wallboard, will be in such poor condition that it cannot be painted or papered satisfactorily. For cases of this nature, special wall fabrics can be put over the wall surface first and then finished with either paint or wallpaper. There are many kinds of these fabrics and as a general rule the preparation of the wall for them is the same as for wallpaper. The wall should be made as smooth and level as possible. Holes in the plaster should be patched and seams between sections of wallboard with patching plaster. The wall fabric is fastened to the wall with glue that is either applied to the fabric_ in the same manner as you would for wallpaper, or applied to the wall and the fabric then placed over it. The sections of the fabric are joined with a close fitting butt joint.
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