Paint job on an extremely dirty room

Hi All

I've been nominated to paint the interior of an old garage..... Anyway the ceiling and walls are extremely grimy and dirty with old flaking paint. Any good tips on cleaning them before lashing on the paint? Tips on cleaning agents, tools (brushes,sponges etc) would be appreciated.

Scrape off all loose paint with a steel blade stripping knife, you can get one on a pole for ceilings and other hard to reach areas. Stubborn areas can be wire brushed or sanded. Once you've removed all unsound, flaking paint wash down with a sugar soap solution (using a sponge), rinse off with cold water. When dry you can start painting. As for paint choice- it depends on the wall finish and the ex. paint surface. If the ex. surface is oil finished you'll have to stick with oil based- eggshell is tough and washable. Any powdery areas should be primed with an alkali resisting primer before decoration. Otherwise any water based, wipeable finish is the easiset option. There are some hard wearing acrylic emulsions available which are tougher than conventional vinyl emulsions. Dulux have an excellent technical advisory service and are very happy to advise on unusual or challenging decoration jobs.

Thanks Carpenter, what is this suger/soap solution? how do you mix it?

I can address the last question re: Sugar soap.

You can buy it ready mixed in liquid form or far cheaper in packet form. The instructions are on the box and very simple to use. I picked up a packet in B&Q it was less than EUR 10 put I can't recall the precise price.

Cheers,
MAJJ

Sugar soap is good for degreasing surfaces prior to painting or can be used to brighten up grimy/ dull paintwork. 500 grammes shouldn't cost much more than €4 or so. Washing soda (cheaper alternative) is good for cleaning greasy surfaces also and is available in most supermarkets.