The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California

Interior Decorating

Make frequent use of the dusting brush during the preparatory work. All paintwork that has been cleaned down to the bare wood should receive the treatment given to new timber. This consists of coating all knots that have been bare with a patent knotting and following this the bare wood should be given a good coat of priming paint. The paint should be laid on carefully the longest way of the work and care should be taken to cover every part of the wood with the priming coat. This coat of paint should be left to thoroughly dry before the next part of the work is done. Complete directions for painting are given later in the book.

After the priming coat of paint has dried, all holes or cracks in the woodwork should be stopped by filling them with putty pressed well into the wood with a putty knife. It is necessary to completely fill any crevices with putty, and it is bad practice merely to press the putty lightly into the repair. Force the putty well home and then smooth the surface with the flat of the putty knife and finally brush over the repair with a dusting brush to give the putty a smooth finish.

Always use putty that is fresh and soft. It will be found false economy to use putty that has been stored for some time and which has started to set off. Ordinary glazier's putty may be used for stopping but if the putty is mixed with a little whitelead it will make a much more efficient stopping. Only a very small amount of whitelead is required. In some cases plastic wood may be used as an alternative to putty, especially on the edges of doors where the repair may be subject to some hard wear. Another method of stopping holes and cracks is to use a patent filler of the type supplied as a powder which is used by mixing it with water. These powder fillers are extremely effective and dry very hard.

Distempering

So far as the interior decorator is concerned, 'distempering' includes the use of oil-bound and powder distempers, wash- able water paints, various types of ceiling washes and emulsion paints. There are many kinds of distempers, most of which are known by trade names and these are usually composed of colouring pigments which are contained in a medium such as glue, water and linseed oil. The distempers are purchased in tins and are thinned down by using water or petrifying fluid according to the makers' instructions. Most amateur decorators make distemper too thin. This is a mistake. In most cases the old surface can be completely covered by the application of two coats of distemper which should not be mixed too thinly.