Are you about to paint one or more rooms and cannot (or would rather not) move out? This guide explains how to prepare the space, what order to work in, how long to wait between steps, and what the technical data sheets say about ventilation and smell. It also covers the ladder, which is where the greatest physical risk lies for anyone painting at home.
Updated on 3 November 2026. General information, not a substitute for an assessment by a professional.
The essentials
- The data sheets we read give minimum waits between coats of 3 to 6 hours, at 20 or 23 °C. With a primer, painting one room will not fit into a morning.
- All of them ask for air above 5 °C (one asks for 8 °C and another 10 °C) and relative humidity below 80 %. On rainy or foggy days, postpone.
- The sheets say to use the paint and primer in well-ventilated places. The VOC values declared for the paints we read run from 1 to 6 g/L, and for primers from 18 to 30 g/L.
- Painting while you live in the house is possible if you seal off the room being worked on and let it dry before using it again. Households with babies, asthmatics or pets should be more cautious. We found no official rules for this case.
- The ladder is the biggest physical risk. Use it only for short jobs and never stand on the top three rungs.
Before you start: empty and protect
Take out of the room everything you can. What stays, push to the middle and cover with plastic or sheets. Protect the floor and cover sockets and switches, after turning the power off at the consumer unit.
This is common practice. The data sheets do not describe protecting furniture, so there is no official figure to quote. What the sheets do say is that the surface must be dry, firm and free of dust and grease. So clean the walls and ceiling before opening the tin. See peeling paint and stains for the most common defects.
Order of work
None of the sheets we read fixes an order. The usual practice is to work downwards: ceiling, walls, skirting boards, doors and frames. That way drips from above do not spoil finished work. For ceiling technique, read painting ceilings: technique and stains.
| Step | Time given on the data sheet |
|---|---|
| Repair filler (CIN Hantek) | Hardens in about 24 hours, layers of 1 to 2 mm |
| Stain-blocking primer (CIN Aqua Primer) | Touch dry in 1 hour |
| Stain-blocking primer (CIN Stop Manchas) | Touch dry in about 4 hours, recoat after about 6 hours |
| Primer for plasterboard (CIN EP/GC 300) | Touch dry in about 30 minutes |
| Paint (CIN Vinylmatt) | Touch dry in about 30 minutes, recoat after 3 to 4 hours |
| Paint (CIN Wet on Wet) | Recoat wet on wet or after 6 hours |
| Paint (Barbot Branco Total) | Touch dry in 1 hour, through-dry in 4 hours, recoat after at least 4 hours |
The CIN sheets measure at 20 °C and 60 % relative humidity, and Barbot’s at 23 °C and 55 %. In a cold or damp house the times grow longer, but the sheets do not say by how much. Always follow the sheet for your product.
One more wait goes unseen. The Vinylmatt sheet says to wait 28 days before washing a painted wall, and then only with a soft cloth and neutral detergent. Until then, avoid scrubbing.
How long it takes
We found no official source for how long a paint job lasts. What we can do is add up the sheets’ minimum times. In a bedroom with a stain-blocking primer (about 6 hours) and two coats of paint (3 to 4 hours between them), the minimum span from start to finish exceeds ten hours, before any preparation. The sum is ours, not the maker’s. To know how many litres to buy, use the calculator or the guide how much paint do I need.
Painting while living there
What the sources allow us to say:
- Ventilation. The CIN sheets say to use the products only in well-ventilated places. This applies during application and drying.
- Smell and VOCs. The law limits the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in paints (Directive 2004/42/EC). For matt interior wall paints the EU limit is 30 g/L. The maximum values declared on the sheets we read: Barbot Branco Total 1 g/L, CIN Wet on Wet 5 g/L, Vinylmatt 6 g/L, Barbot Extrapaint 15 g/L. For primers, Cinolite HP 18 g/L, EP/GC 300 22 g/L, Aqua Primer 30 g/L. Barbot describes Branco Total as “odourless”, which is the maker’s claim.
- Children and protection. The sheets ask you to avoid contact with eyes and skin, wear gloves and goggles, and keep products away from children.
- Cold and damp air. Opening windows helps ventilation, but cold, damp outdoor air can push the room outside what the sheets ask for (above 5 °C, below 80 % humidity). We found no source that settles this. Pick a dry, mild day.
If there is mould or damp, fix the cause first. See mould on walls. In practice, people who stay at home usually paint one room at a time and sleep in another. That is common sense, not an official rule.
The ladder
A document from the Occupational Health and Safety Office of the Azores regional government says hand ladders should be used only for occasional, short jobs, standing on a solid, level, stable base. It says to keep three points of contact (two hands and one foot, or two feet and one hand), carry tools in a bag and never put your feet on the top three rungs. Details for ceiling work are in the ceiling guide.
Step by step
- Choose the day: dry, above 5 °C, humidity below 80 %.
- Empty and protect the room. Switch the power off for the sockets you will cover.
- Clean dust and grease and repair holes and cracks.
- Apply the primer the sheet specifies and wait the time it gives.
- Paint the ceiling, then the walls, then skirting boards and doors.
- Ventilate, and use the room again only once it is touch dry and free of a strong smell.
- Keep tins, data sheets and the invoice. On a quote, ask in writing what the preparation includes: how to compare quotes.
What we could not confirm
- Official rules for painting while occupying the home, or for babies, pregnant women or people with breathing problems. We found no text from ACT, DGS or EU-OSHA on household painting.
- The real duration of a paint job and how long the smell lasts. These depend on the product, temperature and ventilation.
- How to protect furniture: common practice, no technical source.
- The order ceiling, walls, skirting boards: usual practice, not in the data sheets.
- Drying times outside 20 to 23 °C.
Sources (read on 3 November 2026)
- Governo dos Açores, Gabinete de Segurança e Saúde no Trabalho, Trabalhos em altura: utilização de andaimes e de escadas, undated (section on hand ladders and stepladders).
- CIN, Vinylmatt data sheet 10-250, revision July 2026 (conditions, times, VOC, note on washing after 28 days).
- CIN, Wet on Wet data sheet 21-450, revision August 2026 (uses, drying, VOC, conditions).
- CIN, Aqua Primer 12-830, February 2020; Primário Stop Manchas 45-335, July 2013; Primário EP/GC 300 10-600, January 2024; Cinolite HP 10-850 (VOC, drying, conditions); Hantek 15-950, January 2019 (hardening).
- Barbot, data sheet 1743 Branco Total, 28/02/2025, rev. 01; 1272 Extrapaint, 19/09/2023, rev. 04 (times, VOC, conditions).
- Directive 2004/42/EC and Decree-Law 181/2006: VOC limit cited through the CIN data sheets and our guide which paint for each room, not read directly.