Eden Renovations

House Refurbishment 1

Painting and decorating

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Thorough preparation of all surfaces is a vital first step we take in redecoration. Preparation means removing dirt, grease and loose or talking finishes, as well as repairing serious deterioration such as cracks, holes, corrosion and decay. It is not only old surfaces that need attention. New timber must be sealed for protection, and priming is necessary to ensure a surface is in a suitable condition to accept finish.

 

Painting internal walls and ceilings

Painting-and-DecoratingUnless your house is newly build, most of the interior walls and ceiling will be plastered and probably papered or painted too. Our preparation varies, but the methods for painting them are identical and they can be considered smooth surfaces in terms of painting coverage. Emulsion paint, in its many forms, is the most practical finish we use for interior walls and ceilings – but we also use an acrylic or solvent-based paint on wall-fixed joinery such as skirting, architraves and picture rail.

We also create paint effects such as applying “on” effects, creating “off” effects, stencilling or distressing.

Painting woodwork

As each kind of wood has its own grain pattern and different rate of absorption; and some species include knots and may ooze resin, we use the adequate techniques and tools for each type of wood.

In these categories, painting the woodwork, we also:

1). Staining wood;

2). Applying varnish and lacquer (oil varnishes, acrylic varnishes, cold-cure lacquer)

3). Oiling wood ;

4). Waxing wood ;

A way to decorate a room is also by using mouldings: picture rails, dado (chair) rails, wood (or PVC) paneling, skirting boards and architraves with different shapes and sizes.

Painting exterior masonry

Painting exterior surfaces requires similar tools and techniques that we used for interior painting. However, we choose the materials for their greater durability as masonry painting has  to last up to 10 years and on wooden windows up to 5 years before re-coating is necessary.

Before we starting to paint, all surfaces are filled and sanded, but often, additional preparation is required. We are also specialised in treating vegetative growth and rot.

Plastering & Dry lining

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Applying undercoat plaster, one-coat and topcoat

Internal masonry walls usually need plastering before decorating, though natural stone or brick can be left exposed. Finishing (topcoat) plaster cannot be applied directly to masonry: it requires a “background” of cement-based render, undercoat or bonding plaster.

We use the traditional way of covering the walls, plastering is useful for large repairs or when matching existing plastered walls. It can be also cost-effective than buying large quantities of plasterboard. Covering  a whole room? Then consider dry lining, whereby plasterboard itself is used as the decorative surface and we fill the joints between boards with jointing compound and smooth sanding after.

Bonding coat is an undercoat plaster that we use for nun-porous background and, patching old masonry, engineering bricks or patching old laths, but not before applying a consistent coat of PVA to the surface.

plasteringUndercoat plaster we use it for semi-porous background such as bricks and building blocks and as a complete base coat for finishing plaster.

The render, a mix of sand and cement, we use it for internal masonry as an alternative to undercoat plaster, despite the fact that is difficult to apply, we use it when waterproofing is necessary, mixed with additives that increase this capability.

We use the one-coat plaster to internal walls and ceilings, over the undercoat plaster or plasterboards.

The finishing plaster is the topcoat plaster that we use it to form the final surface to be decorated. We usually apply 2 coat of 2mm to achieve the best finish.

Lime plaster is the most common wall plaster covering before the advent of gypsum-based plaster. We use it for repairs in period properties as the lime plaster allows the wall to “breath” more than a gypsum-based plaster.

We also use textured coating, which is not a plaster in the traditional sense, but has similarities in that it is a commonly used ceiling and occasionally wall covering. We use it as a topcoat in a such way that it creates textures rather than a smooth finish.

The decorative plaster is the top professional finish plaster, made from ground marble, it provides a matt, coloured finish which ends with a polish.