Anyone got any advice for..................

[Dizzylizzy]

I am decorating and having a bit of trouble cutting in, the walls are bare plaster and where i cut in it is darker, has anyone any tips on how to combat this, I am using a roller and a silk emulsion

Probably hasn;t dried out as much as the other plaster - have you had it plastered just??
Should be ok - can't see why it would stay darker???

It's best not to paint until the plaster is fully dried out.

try using paint pads for the whole wall and the cutting in - we used them on a newly plastered area and it was fab. you can get them in most diy places - much less messy than a roller too. happy decorating!

shouldnt you use a paint brush (not wide) to cut the corners in and then roller up to them.

Hiya, Yes the walls have just been plastered, but they have dried out fully as the carpenter has been and put the new skirting boards and architrives on, the cutting is was done using a pad and then the rest done with a roller, I haven't done it and not had this problem before, it was dh trying to help, luckily its only a basecoat and I will be doing the main colour as hubby is a bit slap happy sometimes .

Don't really know what to do as it is quite noticable, when I do the main coat I might just do it with a brush, what do you think?

If the plaster is new, you'll probably need more coats than usual, as it's more porous, so soaks up the first few layers of paint.

I painted the first few coats on new plaster just with white as it sucked it in like you wouldnt believe, is that an option or too late?

did i read somewhere that you mix pva glue with the first coat of paint?
or did i dream that?
wouldnt be surprised...

The carpenter having been and put on skirting boards doesn't mean the plaster is dry. It can take weeks to dry out properly. If you try to paint before it's completely dry you won't get good results.

Once it is dry, begin with a coat of paint that's watered down a bit. Let this dry very thoroughly, it acts as a seal to stop the next coat sinking into the plaster. Then you will need at least 3 coats of emulsion to cover new plaster.

popsy, yes, you can mix pva with the paint, or just use a thin coat of watered down pva to seal the bare plaster.

We found two coats of Farrow and Ball gave a great result on bare plaster. We didn't seal it. I'm lazy and impatient though.

Buy some stablising solution - it comes in a container like engine oil. It is THE BEST thing on new plaster - it seals it, stops it dusting, and means the plaster doesn't slurp up the paint. (I think it is actually something like pva glue very diluted but you know it is the right proportions and it keeps well.)

A 2.5L can costs £11 at B & Q - here . It is well worth it for what it saves in paint and time later. (It is a bit messy though because it is thin, you need to put dust sheets down.)

Ok, here's the scoop. Dh is a plasterer by trade. He says, you need to let a newly plastered wall dry until it's all light colored (ie no wet patches) and this should only take 3 or 4 days if it's inside a heated house. Then, the first coat of paint should be a very watered down coat (dh said 50/50 water to paint). This is because the fresh plaster will suck the water out of the paint and just leave pigment which will eventually flake off. You will need to put on at least two more coats of paint after this first primer coat.

I've just had a load of plastering done at home last weekend and have been told let in dry but give it a couple of coats of cheap emulsion before you paint in properly. IYKWIM.