Associate
Joined
8 Aug 2020
Posts
8
I’ve now finished caulking up all the holes, which there were too many.
I’m now gonna paint this as an accent colour to match my draw as grey but how do I paint it?
What type of paint do I use to paint this. At the moment I have some spare woodworks paint.
Also do I need to sandpaper it to make it smooth or shall I leave it how it is?
Sorry if I may sound dumb as I’m new to this all and I’m 16.
Pictures:
1:
1um4Uxv.jpg
2:
sS6AvB8.jpg
3:
SJkgjlH.jpg
Also the wall on picture 3 will be painted grey
If theres anything else I maybe doing wrong please inform me
Also the caulking job may look a bit messy as some of the holes were very large and I couldn’t really glue it together ish
Thanks everyone for the help!
 
Soldato
Joined
6 Dec 2005
Posts
5,182
Location
Cambridge, UK.
Some of your caulking looks quite neat. You can use a putty knife or a small trowel (triangle shaped) to get in the corners to help work it in and smooth it out.

I can't quite see what you've taken a picture of. Can you take another pic of the room slightly zoomed out a bit? What is the bit of wood for? Sanding it depends on your preference, you might struggle to get a good finish on it all over.
 
Soldato
Joined
23 Nov 2019
Posts
3,307
Some caulks can be painted on directly. If in doubt use a shellac primer. They work with anything usually apart from hot metal (radiators etc). You can then overpaint with either waterbased or solvent based paint. Shellac will also help stop that waterstain reappearing, which will happen if you use a waterbased paint over the top of it without a barrier layer. As to whether you sand it, do you mean the wood? I would just leave it as it is and paint it, but if it really annoys as a halfway you could try using a super/ultra-matt finish (very low reflectivity to mask irregularities). I would just use it on the wood though, not the whole ceiling. Otherwise pick a satinwood and off you go.

This badger: https://www.screwfix.com/p/zinsser-b-i-n-shellac-based-primer-sealer-1ltr/29661

Edit: When you say you used caulk to fill the holes - do you mean in the wood? Better is to use wood filler or wood repair epoxy for that. Similarly polyfiller for minor plaster repairs, or bonding plaster and polyfiller for larger voids. Use caulk for joints and small gaps. Decorators caulk can usually be sanded. Flexible mastic for movement joints eg between different materials, usually can't be sanded, and needs to be smoothed while wet.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
8 Aug 2020
Posts
8
Sorry for the late reply I received the emails on junk.
Basically when I was filling some of the cracks and gaps I think the insulation foam (yellow dried spongy) I don’t really know what it is was sticking out. And when I tried to fill the gap the foam then was pushed back I think the gap went up-to the actual roof I think so the hole was a bit too large to join.
So I just joined the foam together on the ceiling and just caulked on top of the foam.

Here’s one picture:
ponjSa1.jpg
Wasn’t sure at all what to do so I just caulked into it a bit and filled it until it came a bit out

Also this support beam( I think) was cracked and soft so I scraped it and all this came off

FnKx0hf.jpg

8YmnMm0r.jpg
I have no idea what it is but I think it was soft because there was a leak there from last month which was just repaired.
I scraped it off as it was brownish and soft and some dust pieces came off and some hard pieces like some kind of flour concrete came off
Then I just caulked on top of it a bit just to conceal everything off.

And for the paint I think I might just paint over it and leave it how it is I don’t see a point in sand papering it or anything
 
Soldato
Joined
23 Nov 2019
Posts
3,307
ah that is expanding foam. Used in the right way it's a useful tool, but in the wrong way it does more harm than good. Don't push it, just get a sharp knife like a scalpel or stanley knife and cut it back trim, or just shallow of the wall. Then using a caulk or flexible sealant over the top (as you've done). Smooth the surface of the caulk using a wet finger (gloved) or a smoothing blade/spatula. It's a lot easier than sanding (and flexible ones don't sand really). The bits on the wall surface can be removed either by scraping (not sanding, use a paint scraping tool) or using a foam remover (acetone based IIRC but don't quote me on that). It's bad workmanship as whoever did it ought to have stuck some newspaper and masking tape around in anticipation of the foam bubbling out. You can then scoop over any large over-fill at the time and leave the longer term swelling to take place without worrying about it mucking up the wall surface. Still, that ship has sailed.

I notice the foam is yellow, so it's a basic one. If the hole goes into the roof or another room where you wanted fire separation you'd need a fire rated foam and they tend to be pink/red in colour (not saying you do need that, but just in case).

When you say "repaired"... what exactly had happened that needed repairing? Had the end of the timber rotted leaving a hole? Had the wall masonry crumbled? There's repaired and then there's simply "filled a hole with something" and this is potentially in the latter camp.
 
Associate
OP
Joined
8 Aug 2020
Posts
8
Yeah the actual slate on the roof was damaged and there was also a hole there so they patched it up and replaced the skates. The water was seeping through on heavy rain however normal rain didn’t really do much
The water going through I’m guessing started rotting or did something on that wall . I don’t really 100% know what happened but all I know is that the roofers patched a hole up and did something else as my dad did that stuff
 
Soldato
Joined
23 Nov 2019
Posts
3,307
if the end of your timber purlin is rotten (it looks like a purlin - ie a timber beam propping the roof rafters) and has lost a chunk of its cross section then you might want to get an engineer to do a quick check it still has enough strength (if one hasn't done so already).

With the roof made good I would have been inclined to leave the void open to breathe and let the moisture dry out before filling it with foam that will act like a sponge and trap moisture in the area. That will just help propagate any damp problems. Ok, it's a bit annoying short term, but better than a long term damp/rot problem. Same goes for the wall plaster. Give it time to dry out. If it was a long term leak this can take a while, and is best done before you try and paint over it, otherwise you lock the moisture in.

Filling the void is done now so not a lot you can do, though squirty foam can be raked out easily enough if required. I'd suggest getting a damp meter to check the plaster and timber moisture content in that area, and then further along the purlin. Provided the moisture content stays low enough rot is unlikely to be a problem. Your engineer can advise you further. If moisture levels are sensible and the plaster etc is dried out then priming with shellac and painting as above should be good to help stop mould or old water stain coming through. You could also consider a bathroom/kitchen grade paint for added resistance if the area is regularly getting condensation.
 
Caporegime
Joined
21 Jun 2006
Posts
38,372
Polyfilla for walls surely? Caulking is for small tiny gaps.

Paint wise johnstones is good and cheap. B and m is usually cheap enough. Buy some Harris brushes and some rollers and some frog tape and go to town.

YouTube is your friend. Type in how to paint a wall and job done.
 
Soldato
Joined
23 Nov 2019
Posts
3,307
I think their issue is not how to Paint but how to smooth of the large chunk of expanding foam overspill that some body thought was a good idea to build up a timber section and wall void. Then how to prepare the resultant surface of the foam for over painting. Setting aside whether the foam was the right thing to use the surface can be dressed with decorators caulk in the cracks and junctions and as you say polyfiller for large flat surfaces. Problem is applying it and smoothing it without crushing the foam. Using a wet blade to apply and wet smoothing rather than trying to sand after the event will probably yield best results.
 
Back
Top Bottom