Painting & Decorating in Dublin

Real preparation before a drop of colour goes on

Most of the job is prep, and we treat it that way. Surfaces are washed down to cut grease and dust, cracks and nail holes are filled with the right compound (flexible filler on timber and movement joints, lightweight filler on plaster), gaps along skirting, architrave and where wall meets ceiling are run with a clean bead of decorator's caulk, then everything is sanded back smooth and dusted off. Paint sticks to a sound, clean, keyed surface and nothing else.

Primer and the right system for each surface

Bare plaster gets a thinned mist coat, new timber and bare wood get a proper primer or undercoat, and stains, water marks and patches are spot-primed with a stain block so they never bleed through. Sealing porous and patched areas first is what stops flashing, the dull and shiny patchwork you get when paint soaks in at different rates across one wall.

Clean cut-in lines and a consistent finish

Edges are cut in by hand with a quality brush and backed by low-tack tape only where it earns its place, so lines at the ceiling, skirting and around doors are sharp with no bleed. Walls and ceilings are laid off in full coats, kept to a wet edge to avoid lap marks, and given the correct number of coats for full, even coverage rather than one stretched thin coat that ghosts and patches.

Doors, skirting and trim done properly

Trim is sanded between coats and finished in a hard-wearing water-based or oil-based system that levels out, so doors, skirting and architrave dry to a smooth finish without brush ridges, runs or sticky paint that blocks against the frame. Feature walls and colour changes are set out and cut to a true line.

Careful wallpaper removal, making good and a tidy handover

Old wallpaper is scored and steamed so the adhesive releases cleanly, paste residue is washed off, and the wall is filled, sanded and sealed back to a paintable surface rather than painted straight over. Throughout, floors and furniture are covered with proper dust sheets and fittings are masked, and at the end the room is cleaned down, edges checked in daylight and any touch-ups done before we leave.

Skipping or rushing the prep, painting over dust, grease, flaking paint and unfilled cracks

The cost: The new paint never bonds, so within months it bubbles, flakes and peels and the whole wall has to be stripped back and redone, meaning you pay twice for one job

No primer or stain block on bare plaster, new timber or water-stained patches

The cost: You get flashing (dull and shiny patches across the same wall), uneven colour, and old stains bleeding straight back through the fresh paint, so a recoat is the only fix

Using cheap paint, shedding rollers and bleeding tape to keep the bid low

The cost: Streaks, roller lint stuck in the finish, ragged cut-in lines and coverage that needs four or five coats, which is exactly how a too-cheap quote turns into a poor finish and a bigger final bill

Painting straight over old wallpaper or rushing the trim instead of letting it level

The cost: Seams, wrinkles and lifting paper telegraph through the paint, and trim dries with brush ridges, runs and tacky surfaces that block the door shut, so it all gets sanded off and redone