Painting is one of the few jobs where DIY makes sense — but only if you know a few rules you won't find on YouTube.
Preparation matters more than paint
Painting walls is a job many apartment owners are happy to take on — and rightly so, provided the walls are properly prepared. The key rule: paint hides colour, not imperfections.
If the skim coat wasn't sanded or there are scratches on the surface, every layer of paint — especially satin or semi-gloss — will highlight every flaw in raking light. That's why professional substrate preparation matters more than which paint you buy.
Tips for DIY painters
If you decide to paint yourself, pay attention to a few things. Roller quality: synthetic 12–18 mm nap for smooth walls, shorter for ceilings. Paint consistency: too thick leaves roller marks, too thin runs.
Order matters — always ceiling before walls, corners before flat surfaces. A good premium latex paint typically needs two coats over a white base and three when going from dark to light.
When to hire a crew
A professional painting crew makes sense for large areas, complex patterns, or decorative techniques — such as architectural concrete effect or Venetian plaster.
An experienced painter can cover 100 m² of wall in a single day, maintaining consistency and clean lines at skirting and window reveals. For comparison, an inexperienced pair usually needs two days and achieves a noticeably weaker result. Labour costs in Łódź run typically 12–20 PLN per m².
