Painting Bare Plaster

[LookingOptimistic]

Can anyone give me some good brand named emulsion for painting bare plaster?

Is there any which anyone has tried where they didn't have to water down to do firsf mist coat?

I have two new rooms to do all walls and ceiling (not very big) and remember how annoying the mist coats were when did kitchen and another room.

Thanks :)

Try a Valspar water based primer, used it on a bathroom and its worked very well.

Screwfix new plaster paint.

@GPTec1 Do you know how many litres you used for your bathroom? Did you water it down or just paint in on from tin?

@Volterra I looked at this one but seems to be sold out of most places i look.

You must mist coat it !! Cost me a huge amount of money 4 weeks after painting bare plaster and it bubbled. The whole room had to be sanded, coated then painted.
Use the cheapest white emulsion watered down and it dries pretty much straight away.

You have to either mist coat the wall OR apply new plaster paint.

Basically freshly dried plaster is a dry sponge and it’ll absorb paint like crazy in a random fashion so it’ll be patchy - in short you will not get a good finish plus it is extremely likely to peel off if you scuff it even a teeny bit. Oh and never ever ever apply diluted PVA to ‘seal’ new plaster.

I've not tried it yet but the plasterer told me to do a mist coat with Leyland emulsion. It's just a cheap trade paint that I think I bought from either Wickes or B&Q. I'll try and find the link in a minute.

I googled it and a few people have recommended it. I've never been in the position of having to do a mist coat before and now I've got a huge extension to do. I keep dithering about whether just to use the Leyland or whether I should dilute it before using it. Plasterer (who did an AMAZING job) is adamant that Leyland can be used as is for a mist coat.

As it happens, I already had some Leyland white paint that I bought so it would be very useful if I could use this as a mist coat......

Ah interestingly I just had a look at the Leyland website and they actually say that this paint can be used on new plaster as it's breathable.

This is the one I have so I might give it a go! Much easier than the mess of diluting it down.

https://leylandtrade.com/products/walls-and-ceilings/Super-Leytex-Matt

@SpidersAreShitheads Ah thats good to know, since that ones available at B&Q.

@Needlepointy @MidlandCatGirl Yes, which is why i have before now but i was very dissappointed when i did mist coat (watered down emulsion) in room next to kitchen, same paint i used in kitchen and it went peely edging door frame.

Just makes no sense when i did same ratio water to paint. I guess sometimes it just can fail.

I was told to do 2 coats, the painter who did mine did 2 and its not bubbled or peeled 6 months later

@Needlepointy I will admit i can't remember if i did 1 or 2 mist coats before coloured emulsion as it was 3 years ago 😂i guess it could have been the issue.

I feel like i want to give the leyland layex paint a go though.

Give the walls a light sand before you mist coat it. Then two coats of emulsion.

I think I’m going to give it a go too @LookingOptimistic.

The paint manufacturer says it can be used on bare plaster because it’s breathable and that sounds like a more scientific approach than watering paint down and hoping the ratio is ok which is what I was planning to do before!

Also the plasterer specifically recommended it too - all our other trades who have been in have commented on what an excellent plastering job it is, so I’m inclined to think he’s pretty good at his job. So I’m happy to accept his recommendation, especially as it tallies with what Leyland say too.

Leyland super latex. I get it from Screwfix. There’s no need to mist coat.

@SpidersAreShitheads @KoalaKube That's settled then, i will buy the Leyland Latex paint today and let you know how i get on (although i won't be able to paint till Wednesday, as floor tiler in first).

I like wickes paint for new plaster, whatever paint you do use add some water to the first coat

@LookingOptimistic Still got some left from a 2.5l tin, applied with a roller, walls and ceiling, maybe 14sqm in total coverage, one coat, almost 3 years ago and finish is perfect using a micro porous paint.

One thing, make sure the plaster is totally dry, we used a small heater over a few days to dry out slowly, wash the walls down first to ensure there is no dust, that is prob why people have poor results sometimes whatever they use.

I've used "trade" emulsion (wicks etc) watered down with no issues.

If it's a large area, it's well worth considering a paint sprayer. It does mean loads of masking up, (masking tape with attached sheet, brilliant!)

but you can spray a entire room in 30 minutes, which you'll probably need to do 4 coats (2 mist, 2 top) is much quicker than a roller, the finish is much better too. (Paint sprayer)

Trust me it's a game changer!

@GPTec1 Cool, thanks :)

@Dbank Ah that seems like a really good idea, i think i might just get that paint sprayer! These are not the only two rooms that will ever need painting, so think its a good investment really.

I use Armstead contract emulsion, watered down as per manufacturers' instructions for new plaster, or claypaint, watered down as per manufacturer's instructions for new plaster. Never had any trouble with either. There is nothing unscientific about watering down paint, BTW.

One warning though, don't put watered down paint back in the tin, or store it, unless you plan to use it very soon, it goes off and it stinks.

I never spray paint inside a house- I'd roller a mist coat. If you must spay, you really must follow the manufacturer's instructions (yes, again) on how to do it and what protection to use. Use the type of mask filter they specify. Never spray without wearing the right mask.

Why sand it? I never have. I suppose if you had lousy plasterer you might have to in places.

Aah it was me who made the comment about being a scientific way.

Just to expand on that a little, as it maybe sounds insulting and it wasn't meant to be.

When I was researching mist coats no one could seem to agree on the correct ratio for diluting the paint. Experts were contradicting each other and there were forums full of professional painters/decorators arguing about how much to dilute it. Even on here there are threads with different recommendations from experienced posters.

I looked up the paint that you recommended and the manufacturer says to dilute it with "up to" one part water to five parts paint. I find these kinds of instructions impossible to follow!! What does "up to" actually mean? What happens if I put less water in and not the full 1/5 ratio - because saying "up to" implies you might sometimes need less than the full 1/5 ratio??

For full transparency, I am autistic and I really struggle with instructions that aren't clear. So when there are instructions that imply 1/5 might not be the exact correct ratio, and when there are experts disagreeing with each other, it just all becomes confusing and I end up paralysed by indecision!

If I water the paint down, I'll just be taking a punt that I've done the right ratio of paint to water - so that's what I meant about preferring to use breathable paint that's designed for the purpose. Not having to guess feels more "scientific" to me - but I do appreciate that's because I struggle with ambiguity probably more than most! Being able to buy a paint that I can just use out of the tin means I don't spend ages agonising over how to dilute it 😅

Also, I've never had to deal with new plaster before and now I've got an absolute ton of it. Once I've done something once and know what I'm doing, I'm fine. If my lovely, now-departed dad was still around he would have known the right way to dilute it and would have told me exactly what to do. You're obviously a bit of a pro at this (genuine compliment, not sarcasm!) so I just wanted to say I wasn't implying that your way is shit, it's just too confusing for my brain!