USING PAINT AND VARNISH
Whether you’re painting your woodwork or using varnish and stain to enhance its natural grain pattern, thorough preparation is as important as careful application.
There’s skill involved in painting walls and ceilings too — and you can create attractive three-dimensional effects using the latest textured paints.
1. A roller is much quicker to use than a brush, but make sure you have a large enough bucket to dip the roller in. Fill this about ½ full.
2. Cut a short plank of wood to the same width as the …

Outside painting should only be done in dry weather and after at least two days without rain, fog or frost. The ideal time is late summer when the wood has had a good time to dry out and the weather is usually quite settled. Even a small amount of moisture trapped under a new paint film will vaporise, causing blisters and peeling.
For the same reason you should wait an hour after sunrise to let the dew dry out, and stop work an hour before sunset. On the other hand, don’t …

Wood has a natural beauty, but it’s often a beauty concealed by layers and layers of paint. Doors, window frames, even skirting boards and architraves can all become attractive features in themselves when stripped back to reveal the wood. Even if you prefer to repaint, using the right techniques to strip off the old will give the best possible surface on which to work.
Stripping wood of old paint or layers of ancient varnish isn’t the easiest of jobs, it’s usually only done because you’re after a natural finish, or because …

It’s best to apply a textured finish thickly; remember you will only be applying one coat and the thicker the coat the more protection it will provide for the wall or ceiling surface. Also, if you intend using a patterning tool, working on a deep, even coat of texture will give the best results. Apply the finish in bands across the room until the entire wall or ceiling is covered.
Exterior textures are normally applied with a natural bristle brush, though on smooth surfaces where you want a coarser texture you …

Textured finishes can be applied to bare or painted surfaces but the surface must be sound and, in some cases, treated. You should not, for example, think of textured finishes as a means of covering up walls which really need replastering or a ceiling which should be replaced.
All porous surfaces should first be treated with a stabilizing primer recommended by the manufacturer of the finish so that the setting of the texture material is not spoilt by suction. Surfaces requiring such treatment include brick, render, concrete, plaster and some types …