Painting plaster and new wood for the first time. What paint?

[PavlovtheForgetfulCat]

I am going to be painting the new loft conversion this weekend.

1. what do i prime the plaster with first? I have heard that I can use watered down emulsion as a base first then paint straight over it when dry.

1. What do I need to prime the wood with first/do I even need to? I am presuming I need a proper wood primer/undercoat?

Also, i have some wooden skirting tha needs painting which is already painted (old hallway) can I just paint with gloss straight over it? (same colour, just needs freshening).

I obviously want easy cheap and convenient, who doesn't? But I also want quality finish, with that being key as its a new room.

not sure about wood, but def aint plaster with watered down white emulsion for at least 2 coats. the white paint can be a cheap version as it will eventually be painted over with the colour you choose

my plasterer told me just yesterday that you can seal plaster with pva glue, and just roller it on.... we'll be painting in just a few weeks...[excited!]

not sure about the wood though..i think you can buy a specific undercoat which is matt, and then you gloss over that.

hth

Agree with lilymolly, I have had extensive experience of painting new plaster this year! Is the plaster definitely dry? You need to make sure it is before you start. For your first coat use watered down cheap emulsion: perhaps 20% water. It will go on very patchily and you will think you are doing the wrong thing- you are not. The plaster will soak it up. Then do another coat perhaps 10% watered down. Just use cheap MATT emulsion for these coats in plain white. (DO NOT use a vinyl or satin type finish- must be MATT!)Then do your top coats-you may need up to 3 coats.

The new wood you need to prime, then undercoat, then do your topcoats. But you can buy "primer and undercoat" for wood in one- you can use that but I would still give it two basecoats.

For the wood that's already glossed- give it a good clean, then lightly sand it and clean again. then you can just put on a fresh coat of gloss.

Hope that helps. I have done so much painting this year that I never want to look at another paintbrush or roller again!

Sorry, the aint bit, you did mean paint didn't you? I hope so or else it didn't make sense!

I am glad you agreed witht the emulsion, it was our builders who told me! Not that I am mistrusting or anything but Mners know everything

If it's new plaster I think you need to use a vinyl free emulsion as well. Usually stuff seals it so it can't fully dry out properly and may go mouldy.

There's loads of them about, and the paint machines can also mix vinyl free stuff too.

chimchar, I think the PVA glue advice is old fashioned now. We were told definitely NOT to do this. The watered down emulsion has worked very well for us and given a great finish. Plus it's much easier than messing about with glue.

Oh good, thats really useful info there fay, especially the proportions. I would be posting again asking that otherwise nearer the time!

Plaster is definitely dry, been finished for several weeks (or most of it has) I just cannot get up to it as the stairs not in yet! They go in today, so there will be some fresh plaster that will need leaving, on the staircase walls, but I can do that a bit later on once all the rest has been done.

lill interesting about the PVA glue. Apparantly the plasterer used PVA glue in some capacity when he plastered our chiney breast a couple of weeks ago? DH said something about him putting in on with pva glue? wonder what thats all about. So you just roller on the glue, then when dry paint over? Can you buy big tubs of the glue?

ok, so it needs to be:

white
watered down (20% then 10%)
Matt only
vinyl free
(cheap!)

oh how exciting!

And also, you might not know this, but for the wood, am I allowed to use the undercoat/primer/gloass myself at 24 wks pg, with a mask and good ventilation or am I going to have to let DH do it?

yes i meant PAINT

also do make sure the plaster is dry before you paint, it should be a grey colour NOT red

we have never PVA btw, and we have has almost every room in the house plastered over the last few years. We have however PVA Before plastering the walls so it sticks to the bare plaster boards, so maybe therein lies the confusion?

The wood primer/undercoat I used was water based. However, the question is "do you want to do it?" Cos if not, you have the perfect excuse!

lilly - yes, thats what our plasterer did, apparantly, pva's the walls first.

Walls are a vague pink/grey, we have watched the chimney go from being very red, to patchy red, to pink, to grey/pink!

frosty - yes I do want to do it. DHs eye for detail anal perfection is not as good as mine, and I have a steadier hand than him, and better concentration, he gets bored after half hour, I will keep going until the section I planned on is finished (pre-pg, all of the first coat, currently will do in stages)

i stand corrected!

will double check the pva advice with blokey with he comes back tomorrow!

For wood, do prime it, they sell lots of primers, it makes a huge difference and you need less paint to have flawless finish

Whatever you do remember to cover any knots in the wood with knotting solution before priming.

We forgot and are now having to repaint.

Quick hijack - Trixy - how the devil are you??? Ready to drop yet?

3 days overdue geordie and getting fed up, but our en-suite isn't anywhere near finished nearly 3 weeks after it was started (supposed to take 9 days ). Midwife reckons the adrenaline is stopping me going into labour as baby has been engaged for over 2 weeks now and she was predicting I'd go early.

trixie thank you for the advice about knotting - I would not {or knot hahaha) have done that, so that will save me a lot of time!

but the stairs are still not in, and I am thinking this weekend might not be a painting weekend ! I am so annoyed, I wanted them in by now so I can start! They are half in, there has been some major complications, ie they don't fit, and the builder is having to undo stuff to redo it all again, so will be another day at least.

But, soon enough!

Oh and good luck trixy hope it all goes well for you!

Cheers pavlov!

Had a show today so hopefully not too much longer!!

It's so frustrating when workmen take longer than you think!

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