Painting & decorating, answered

Yes. Previously painted surfaces should be cleaned with sugar soap to strip grease, dust and grime that stop paint bonding — a core prep step under AS/NZS 2311 — then rinsed and dried fully. Skipping it is a leading cause of early peeling. New plasterboard generally doesn't need washing.

Flexible acrylic gap-filler and caulk seal the cracks at cornices, skirtings and trim joins, block draughts and moisture, and give crisp, finished lines. Painting over open gaps looks unfinished and lets fine cracks reappear. Caulk needs roughly an hour to skin over before topcoating — it's a hallmark of proper prep.

It depends on the surface. Bare or new substrates — fresh plasterboard, timber, render, patched repairs, big colour changes, stains or glossy surfaces — need a primer, sealer or undercoat for adhesion and even coverage. Sound, previously painted walls in good condition can often go straight to topcoats.

If the wallpaper is firmly stuck, intact and mould-free it can be sealed with an appropriate primer and painted. Peeling, bubbling or mouldy paper should be removed first — painting over it traps the problem, and seams may telegraph through. Removal usually gives the more durable, professional result.

That patchy look is “flashing” — touch-ups differ in sheen, texture and age from the surrounding paint. Matte and low-sheen hide it better than gloss, but after about six months even the original tin won't match. The reliable fix is recoating the whole wall corner-to-corner rather than spot-dabbing.

Both meet AS/NZS 2311 when done well. Spraying is faster and ideal for ceilings, textured surfaces and whole-house jobs; brush-and-roll gives more control and pushes paint into the surface. Many painters spray then back-roll to guarantee adhesion. The method should be set out in your written quote, not assumed.

General Australian guidance: flat or matte on ceilings; low-sheen in living areas, hallways and bedrooms (forgiving on imperfections); satin or semi-gloss in kitchens, bathrooms and laundries for moisture resistance and wipe-ability; and semi-gloss or gloss on doors, skirtings and trims for durability. Mixing sheens within a room is normal.

Ceiling paint is thicker, so it drips and splatters less overhead, and is almost always flat to hide imperfections. Wall paint is thinner, comes in more sheens and is more washable. You can use wall paint on a ceiling, but expect more drips and more glare — better to use the right product per surface.

Deep colours have less hiding pigment, so they usually need an extra coat for even coverage, and a tinted undercoat helps. On exteriors they absorb more UV and heat, which accelerates fade and stresses the surface. Heat-reflective “cool colour” versions of dark shades reduce that on Melbourne's sun-facing walls.

Paint forms a thick film that seals out moisture and UV and lasts several years; stain penetrates the timber, shows the grain and protects more gently. In Australia's high-UV climate, stains and oils typically need recoating every one to three years, while quality exterior paint lasts longer but is harder to strip later.

Yes — purpose-made tile-and-laminate products work on laminate, melamine and ceramic. Success is all in the prep: degrease with sugar soap, lightly sand, apply a laminate primer, then thin, even coats with full drying between. A clear protective topcoat adds durability against chips and scratches.

Compare scope, not just price. A proper quote shows an ABN, the scope per area, the prep steps (wash, fill, sand, prime), the exact paint brand and product, the number of coats, and the warranty. A vague one-liner or a price far below the others usually signals skipped prep, cheaper paint or fewer coats.

Painting on its own isn't a registered building-practitioner trade in Victoria, so a painter-only doesn't strictly need registration. Registration applies where domestic building work exceeds $10,000 and spans more than one trade. Either way, always confirm a valid ABN and public liability insurance — your real protections if something goes wrong.

As a guide, Australian topcoats cover roughly 16 m² per litre and primers around 12–14 m² per litre, per coat. Divide the surface area by the coverage rate, then multiply by the number of coats. Dark colours, porous surfaces and rough render all use more. Manufacturer paint calculators give a quick estimate.

Water-based acrylics are usually recoatable in about two to four hours; oil-based generally needs around 24 hours. Always follow the tin's stated recoat time — recoating too soon traps solvent and ruins the finish. Melbourne's cooler, more humid conditions lengthen these times, so we allow more drying in winter.

“Dry to touch” (a couple of hours) just means the surface feels firm. “Cured” means the film has fully hardened — typically up to about 21 days for water-based and 30 for oil-based. Until it's cured the paint stays soft, so avoid scrubbing, hanging items or heavy contact, and wash walls only once fully cured.

It depends on size, prep and access, but as a guide a standard interior repaint runs about three to five days and a full exterior about one to two weeks including prep and drying. Heavy prep — scraping, filling, scaffolding — and Melbourne weather add time. Exteriors are far more weather-dependent than interiors.

Exterior painting works best between about 10°C and 30°C surface and air temperature, with humidity ideally under about 60%. That's why Melbourne's reliable exterior season is roughly October to April. In winter, cold surfaces and trapped moisture stop proper curing and adhesion, and after rain we allow a day or two for surfaces to dry.

Under AS/NZS 2311, bare new surfaces — plasterboard, timber, metal — should receive three coats: a primer or sealer plus two topcoats, applied to the manufacturer's specs. Many builder base specs cut this to save cost, so check the painting specification before you sign, as it's very hard to challenge after handover.

Painting generally happens after plastering, cornices and trim or skirting installation, but before flooring, final fit-off and joinery, so painters can work freely without marking finished surfaces. In kitchen and bathroom renovations painting is among the last steps, and fresh render must cure — commonly about four weeks — before it's painted.