New Builds, Hand-Overs & Renovations
When it comes to building your home, your builder will generally have their trades complete the exterior, the interior ceilings and doors & frames.
Upon Hand-Over, it will be up to you to decide if you would like to use the builder's trades to complete your interior walls or whether you consult another painting service such as Hallmark Painting Services. And the first thing you will be wanting to consider is colour choice.
As painters, when it comes to selecting the colours for the interior of a property we would always recommend that you choose something that will marry up with the rest of the finishes in your newly built home.
As a rule of thumb, place your colour swatches against your kitchen cupboards and flooring, as this is always the best place to start to see if your desired colour is going to coincide with your existing finishes.
Once you have selected your colour, it's time to make sure the "shade" is just right. You can check this by holding that swatch up to one of the darkest walls in the house (such as a hallway that does not see much natural light). This will show you the "darkest" that your colour will look and especially even more so on those gloomy winter days.
Next, take your swatch and hold it up to one of the lightest walls in the house (preferably in a living area, with full sun shinning against it). This will show you the "lightest" that your colour will look and you can then determine if your desired colour is now right for you.
If you are still unsure, keep in mind that the "shade" of your colour can be made either lighter or darker by 25% increments. So if your in love with something but the initial colour just isn't quite working, then it can be adjusted to suit your needs.
I'd always recommend a trip to your local Bunnings store, as they have a great wall to look through and those colours (no matter from which range - whether it be Dulux, Wattyl, etc) can be tinted and mixed into your paint product of choice.
When it comes to applying your top coats of paint, your finish is only going to be as good as your base coat!
Over here in Perth, your interior walls are either going to be finished with "White Set" Cement or "Paperface Gyprock", depending on what your building and whether or not you have internal brick/wooden stud walls.
Usually for our homes, 90% of the time it will be "White Set".
When you walk through your new home, if you were to run your hands along the walls you would see a slightly chalky residue and this is why your walls need to be sealed with a proper oil-base undercoat prior to being painted (if you are working with "Paperface Gyprock" then you would use an acrylic sealer undercoat).
Working with oil-base wall sealer can be quite hazardous. It does have quite a strong smell to it and it must be applied correctly and whilst wearing the correct protective equipment. Ideally, even if you wanted to paint your house as a DIY, I would strongly recommend hiring a professional painter to come through and apply this initial base coat for you.
I have heard many times that some people believe that this oil-base sealer base coat is not a requirement and this could not be further from the truth. You see to begin with, this product is made to bind the lime within the "White Set" and if this is not done properly, your top coats will have nothing to adhere to.
Chances are, you have probably walked into someone's house before and noticed "blistering or flaking" paint and even what I like to refer to as "spider web cracking" on the walls. These problems usually won't be noticed straight away, but it will not take long for them to appear and once they do, there is not much you can do but to keep "bandaid" fixing certain areas at a time.
As professionals, we would recommend a Premium "Interior Matt" for your final top coats of paint. This allows for a softer finish, allowing for more of the colour to be seen and less of that reflective "sheen" (meaning shine) that usually appears when using other finishes such as a "low-sheen".
Unlike "Low-Sheen", "Interior Matt" is by far the better choice. It's just as durable, still washable, and you can easily touch it up without any "flashing" should you scuff or hit a wall whilst living in your new home.
With all paints, your level of "sheen" is your "shine". Gloss paints have the highest level of "sheen" and are perfect for your trims, doors & door frames. "Low-Sheen" is another option for consideration, however you will see more of that shiny reflection on your walls in the natural light and this can sometimes take away from the "feel" of the room that you are trying to create.
You have to remember that paint creates mood. Colours affect us all in different ways and therefore just as they are important, so to is having the right finish on your walls.
Hopefully by now this information has given you a better sense of what happens upon having your new interior walls painted after Hand-Over.
As this is just a summary of the work involved, feel free to reach out if you have any questions as we would be more than happy to assist.