Drying plaster quickly for most coat

[WhoFedTheFish]

Room walls and ceiling plastering completed this evening.

ideally need to be able to do a mist coat on Wednesday

top tips please…!

would a space heater hire be a good idea?

am I mad to think this is doable?

if you’re in the UK at this time of year I’d say yes , undoable.
Rather than heat , can you get your hands on a dehumidifier or two?

100% get a dehumidifier, rent one and run it 24 hours

Get some ordinary fans (not fan heaters) and set them to blow on the walls. The moving air accelerates evaporation.

You then have to get rid of the water vapour in the air. Unless it is really (frosty) cold, ventilation will do it. Open windows and doors upstairs and down. Water vapour is lighter than air so will rise through the house and escape. At night or when unattended open the loft hatch.

You can paint new plaster when it is uniformly pink. Brown patches are wet.

Dulux Trade Supermatt is a non-vinyl porous matt emulsion that allows water vapour to escape so the plaster can keep drying. It is not very durable but you can paint over if with ordinary emulsion once the wall is dry. It would be a good choice for your mist and initial coats. White is cheapest and fine for mist and first, but you can have any colour mixed if you want. Some other brands are available but read the label carefully.

As long as the windows mist up overnight, the plaster is still drying. Ceilings dry first because they are thin. Plaster on new or repaired brickwork is slowest.

You must ventilate out the damp air.

If using a dehumidifier, close the windows or they will try to dehumidify the world.

I'm sure I saw a home renovation program where they plastered in the morning, then painted in the afternoon with no mist coat. I'm sure you'll be fine!

In reality you don't stand a chance, just live with bare plaster until mid-January, let it dry naturally and slowly. This is why dry-lining is so popular with the big builders.

Dehumidifier

but this is something both worth rushing may initially look fine the paint can start lifting

I left mine to dry for 6 months (the entire wall was dry except for a few damp patches) before painting- you’re asking for trouble painting plaster that hasn’t properly dried out.

I’d avoid rushing to get the plaster dried out. I see issues a lot in my profession with home owners who have done that. Take your time - it’s better in the long run

Thanks all - appreciated

have gone for a couple of massive heaters and open windows. It had dried out a lot today but will give it a full day tomorrow and see where we are then….

Post some pics please

I recently had my kitchen replastered including the ceiling. 3 weeks was recommended to dry but I am leaving it to he painted until after Christmas so 6 weeks as I want it to be totally dry to be painted may seem extreme but it’s a costly job so rather wait. Mist coat then painted.

Be careful of drying it out too quickly or the plaster can crack

exactly this
forced drying is not good for plaster
you may want colour for Christmas but it would be better to let it dry naturally and live with unpainted than have to redo the plaster when it cracks

As previously said and backed by others, the longer you can leave it the better. You could end up spending more to repair issues that could have been avoided.