In commencing to re-paint a house, begin in the upper rooms, first washing off the ceilings, then stripping off the paper from the walls by applying water just where it is wanted, allowing sufficient time for it to soak, and removing a piece at a time. If a little soda or lime has been put in the water so as to more easily remove the paper, wash the work with dilute caustic soda. Contagious matter and certain insects are frequently retained in the paper, and the caustic soda acts as a disinfectant. Repair the bad places with plaster and whiting; and it is sometimes desirable to coat with size to stop suction, and to put on lining-paper to make a sound job and hold the plaster together. The next job is to clearcole the ceiling. Put some whiting in a pail, cover with water till the lime in the whiting is slaked, pour off the water, and thoroughly mix in some hot size and add colour at the same time, if the ceiling is to be coloured, or a little black if the ceiling is to be quite white. The black removes the yellow tone or raw appearance of the white. Strain the colour through canvas before using. The first coat for the ceiling is used thin and hot; the second is used with the chilled colour, so that it will go on thick.

Do not lay the colour off, as in oil-painting, but put it on with short strokes, in varying directions, so that the light from the windows will not catch the lines likely to be made by strokes of the brush. The distemper has to be put on full, as contrasted with oil-colour, which has to be spread. When the ceiling and walls have been repaired, and the ceiling coloured, the paintwork is washed and rubbed with pumice-stone and soda-water, bad places being afterwards filled up with putty. Sometimes panels have to be filled up with distemper, and rubbed down with a flat cork covered with glasspaper. This latter is hard work if there was too much size in the distemper. When the filling-up has been brought to a surface, it should have a coat of paint, which should be nearly all oil. Door frames, window frames and sashes, and all wood mouldings, should have their corners scraped and brushed out. The mantelpieces should be well washed with strong soda- and lime-water, which should be kept on for a time so that it may penetrate. The mantelpieces can then be washed off with clean water and allowed to dry. Having got the woodwork to a fairly level face, coat it with colour. Colour the door frames first, and then the edges and panels of the door.

After laying off the latter, commence the rest of the door at the middle upright stiles, afterwards doing the cross stiles. Finish by squaring off the two outside stiles, always remembering that the object is so to put on colour that an even smooth surface is obtained quickly. Be careful of the glasspaper, and bear in mind that its purpose is to make smooth, not to take off paint. Also remember that a brush mark in the first coat will show in the last one. Commence priming and painting at the right-hand corner of the house, doors, rooms, and windows, working to the left all through the house. If convenient, leave the staircase to the last, previous to preparing the skirting, for which sienna is the best pigment, as it does not show the damage as much as other colors. The staircase stringing may be painted plain, coloured, or it may be grained and varnished. If the outside doors are much cracked or blistered, the old paint must be removed. This may be done by brushing on a solution of 2 lb. of washing soda in 3 gal. of water, thickened with lime dissolved in hot water. "When softened, the paint is scraped off, or, instead, the paint may be burnt off with a flame. The flame is the better method, as the soda-water may leave moisture, which is the cause of blisters.

In painting street doors, precautions should be taken against subsequent blistering. On this account, it is wiser not to use water or any stripping material whatever on the door, but to burn off the paint with flame. Keep the brushes in oil overnight - not in water. Of course oil, as far as possible, should be kept out of the colour, as that, as well as water, will cause blistering under the action of the sun. In preparing the front of a house for repainting, begin at the right-hand side, and clean out the spouting, windows, etc.; continue in the same way to the bottom, rubbing downwards. Commence painting at the spouting, window sashes, and panes. Then work down the front with a coat of priming, taking doors and shutters in due course. For a black and dirty compo. front, it is best to stain the lead with black to a light grey, as the next coat will give it a solid appearance. In mixing colour for outdoor work, use principally or wholly boiled oil, unless it be for decorative parts of the house, when the ordinary method may be employed.

The compo. front may be repaired in places if necessary with Parian cement, as this can be smoothed off and painted immediately.