painting on bare plaster

[Gatekeeper]

Re tiling out bathroom and ended up stripping the existing paint of the walls back to bare plaster. Bathroom paint so quite plasticky and it came off in large pieces- very easy and very satisfying.

Question is- is this still classed as 'new' plaster and be treated accordingly with mist coats etc or can I get away with just going straight for the 'hard' stuff

Armstead Contract emulsion is what I use for a first coat direct on dry modern plaster (new modern plaster too, but that does need a little time to dry first). I don't use PVA or anything of that sort. If it's a bathroom, and you plan to use eggshell or some water-resistant paint, I think you'd get a better 'key' if you used something like that. Ask at your local decorator's merchant, they will tell you what brands they have that will do the job. The reason your plasticky paint came off so easily is that it wasn't well adhered! New plaster should be left a while to continue drying out before the base coat- and after the base coat too, before you put a water resistant paint on top. How much drying before the first coat, I'd always ask the plasterer, as it depends whether it's a skim on plasterboard, which dries quickly, or traditional full thickness plaster, which takes a LONG time.
For old-style lime plaster, stick to clay paint or limewash.

thank you

Good luck with the job. I wish my house was so far forward I was thinking of such things!