Hi - I want to rip the wall paper and paint the house to 'modernise' a bit... (80s house)
now I've been told that the door frame/window frames are rimu - so just wondering if it's worth keeping the timber look or paint over with (most likely white)
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What would you prefer?
I sanded, primed, and then painted mine all white with Dulux aquaenamel, and am very glad I did. But that's because it works well with my now light grey walls.
Hard to say without knowing what you like and what wall colours and curtains you've chosen etc.
If the rimu was in great condition, well worth checking it out. Strip and sand a length. Do they have samples of stain? If so, pop it on. What are the doors? Painted walls, Rimu door frames and a non rimu/wood door might look odd.
Personally, white is modern, goes with anything, and has a clean look.
are they already painted? its gonna be one hell of a job stripping the paint and cleaning them up before you paint them.
mdf: I think it's a crime to paint over Rimu. But just a personal opinion.
If you wanted to keep the wood look you'd varnish (amber) or polyurethane (clear). Stain is more to colour wood than finish it.
I do agree, but it seems the doors are not real wood?
Jase2985:
are they already painted? its gonna be one hell of a job stripping the paint and cleaning them up before you paint them.
If an 80's house, it may have oil based paint, in which case a heat gun is great for that. But if its acrylic, a heat gun wont work it will just burn it and not take it off. Paint stripper goop works well but unsure on acrylic. Sanding them back, ouch
You'd have to be VERY careful stripping the paint - one slip and you have a big gauge. Someone may have filled and painted for that reason.
I'd just paint it a nice clean white.
On the door frames it's personal choice as to what 'look' you want. Yes it will be a lot of work to restore natural timber but if that's the look you are after it's worth it. Also great for resale. There are plenty of products that can help remove paint but at the end of the day it still requires a lot of patience and elbow-grease.
Painting walls after stripping paper can be a big job, but again if that's the look you want...
You can expect to need some plastering work and you also need to seal the wall typically with pigment sealer (they don't call it "pig" sealer for nothing - it's horrible stuff!), then paint away.
Figure out how much time you expect it to take, then double it.
Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation
Im of mixed opinions. 1 its rimu it seems wasted to paint. But I hate the raw wood look on skirting/architraves/doors/ceilings.
I recently renovated my 80s house, had dark stained skirting/architraves/doors. I painted them white or replaced them and painted white. No more wallpaper (easier to replace the gib and insulate than strip most walls). I added paneling to most rooms (plywood v groove (looks like tounge and groove)) with a nice dado rail. Thats painted white too. Replaced the spindle banister with a pine square one (also white).
Chances are Ill keep all that stuff white while im here (next 30-50 years probably). just repaint the walls different colours as styles change (most rooms are different colours, I got tired of everything grey at my old house).
Hi All - thanks for all your replies :)
So yes my personal preference is to paint them white (currently it is oiled I think - looks like decent condition to me).
But because they're in good condition I just wondered is it better to keep them (as knowing it will be harder to 'strip them back' later on down the track).
But again - I think it will look odd with painted walls and then wooden frame look... so have really mixed feelings.
Below are the pictures..
Yeah I am with mdf on this. It would be a crime to paint that timber. Get some natural/earthy paintwork going and some brownish tone carpet and that place will be rocking with that brickwork.
Dump that purple crap like right now! (IMO)
Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation
I'll third that.
The orange-ish rimu would probably look better with wall colour that wasn't so neutral / cream. I'd probably get rid of that brown aluminium front door too - or get it reglazed, possibly painted, and lose the security sticker.
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