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Original poster

Painting onto new plaster - advice

14 replies

bitzermaloney · 30/03/2011 14:46

I've had conflicting advice about what to put on new plaster. Someone has said I should use 'obliterating emulsion' watered down, maybe a couple of coats, before painting any colour on.

Someone else also told me never to use any paint straight from the tin, but always to water it down a bit.

Lots of you know about this kind of thing... so how much do I water down the first emulsion stuff, and how do I know if I need another coat of it before putting the colour on? And do I really water down all the paint, even the final coat? If so how much?

OP posts:
Kandinsky · 30/03/2011 14:57

If you are not sure you can buy "new plaster paint." it is a lot more expensive than watering down regular emulsion but so much easier to paint on as it doesn't spray around so much.

NorbertDentressangle · 30/03/2011 15:00

We've always used watered down emulsion but I'm afraid I can't remember the ratio.

DP has recently worked on a house where the owner hadn't watered down the paint and said it came away from the wall in big chunks that you could just peel off.

ViolaTricolor · 30/03/2011 15:05

We did our whole house with watered down bog standard white emulsion. Our plasterer told us that the consistency should be 'like milk', which was perfect. If it's thicker than that it will 'bobble' and sit in chunks. Like Kandinsky says, the watered down emulsion can be a bit messy, but it's a tried and tested method and it's cheap.

The watered down coat is called a 'mist coat', so if you're googling this try using that term.

TrollyDolly1 · 30/03/2011 15:06

I am no expert but, we have just had a new kitchen extension and it was all plastered beautifully. DP announced one Saturday that he was going to paint it with his parents (we were living with my Mum and Dad whilst all the work was going on). Although not in the painting and decorating trade exactly my Dad know's alot of people in the trade IYKWIM. He told my DP time and time again to water down the paint - to do it in stages. So, firstly do watered down emulsion, using alot of water, let it dry, then slightly less water etc etc untill just using pure emulsion. He had learnt the lesson the hard way, he hadn't watered down enough in his bathroom and the paint is almost constantly peeling, no matter what they do. So anyway, DP comes home pleased as punch saying "oh my Dad say's the watering down is wholely unnessesary and we have used pure emulsion - it has covered well". Fast forward a week and guess what? Paint peeling left, right and centre! I would water down as much as possible, let dry, then repeat using less and less water. HTH

TheVisitor · 30/03/2011 15:06

Watered down PVA is a good base coat to seal the plaster.

AMumInScotland · 30/03/2011 15:11

www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/paintnewplaster.htm here's some info - it suggests 4 parts paint to 1 of water, and it says you are likely to see/hear the plaster sucking it in!

I wouldn't water down the paint apart from that sealing layer, it won't cover nearly as well if you thin it down, and then you'll end up needing more layers to get the coverage.

BlingLoving · 30/03/2011 15:12

Now I'm stressed. I carefully read our DIY manual and the back of the emulsion paint tin and they said we didn't need to water it down if the plaster was dry and not too hot. They recommended doing a pre-coat of watered down (10% water) if it was an outside wall, very humid, or very hot.

I guess we have a few weeks ot see how it goes...

CaptainNancy · 30/03/2011 15:14

roffle at 'kandinsky' giving advice on paint!

ViolaTricolor · 30/03/2011 15:14

I think we did water down our second coat a bit -- the plaster is incredibly absorbent and it just went on better that way.

Original poster
bitzermaloney · 30/03/2011 19:18

Brilliant, thanks for all the responses. Feel a lot more confident now!

OP posts:
CointreauVersial · 30/03/2011 21:53

On our new plaster we used roughly 50:50 water to emulsion on the first coat (mist coat). You don't need fancy paint - just use the colour you are planning to paint.

It dried almost instantly as the plaster soaked up the moisture, and we had no problems painting with undiluted emulsion on top.

Painting the ceiling with watered-down paint is seriously messy, though! All runs down your arms - eww!

shinydiscoball · 30/03/2011 22:16

We've just had the spare room plastered - we used B+Q trade paint for plaster, only £17ish for 15 litres, it gives a lovely finish and no faffing about mixing water with emulsion :)

purepurple · 31/03/2011 08:01

We always use watered down PVA to seal bare plaster before we put any paint on. Never had any problems yet and we are in our fourth house.

pinkhebe · 31/03/2011 08:03

we just used cheap white emulsion Blush but it's given a really good finish. Dh is a manager of a diy chain and is a bit of a stickler...

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