Painting in a (fairly) new build

[Webby54]

Hi,

We've been in our house now for a couple of years. All the walls are magnolia (I think) and the paint work is awful. It's such a thin coat and in places it looks like you can see through it. Rubbing it with a damp cloth takes the paint off.

We now want to paint a room (well, one for now). Should I do anything special to prepare or can I treat the paint that's there as an undercoat and go ahead and apply 2 coats of matt emulsion?

Need any more info?

Cheers,

Lee

Edit: The house is over 5 yrs old

 

[LJW61]

Its probably contract emusion on there at the moment..
Just re-coat with trade vinyl matt , not wishy-washy DIY store stuff though

 

[Robbie uk]

The paint thats on will be a contract matt, these have no vinyl in them and as such are not waterproof and cant be wiped with a damp cloth. Give the walls a good rub down and apply two coats of decent vinyl matt, soft sheen or silk finish.

 

[Webby54]

The paint thats on will be a contract matt, these have no vinyl in them and as such are not waterproof and cant be wiped with a damp cloth. Give the walls a good rub down and apply two coats of decent vinyl matt, soft sheen or silk finish.

A rub down? What with, a cloth?


Thanks

 

[LJW61]

HeHe... No, oxide paper , if the walls are pretty good then 80 or 100 grit

 

[Robbie uk]

HA HA ! As above. get the green stuff on a roll, it lasts for ages.

 

[Webby54]

and what does this rubbing down do? What am I looking to achieve?

Cheers

 

[LJW61]

Just to prep the surface really, remove any loose paint dried-in dust, drips etc.