I am new to this forum so hi to everyone and I would be grateful if someone could help with the problem I have.
About six months ago I had a professional company to fit a brand new swanky bathroom for me and I decided I didn't want floor to ceiling tiling so had the walls left bare, new plaster (skim), except for the obvious necessary areas for tiling. I told the fitter to leave the walls for me to paint as I felt this was a job I could manage and I would enjoy putting the finishing touches so to speak.
The fitter did offer to prepare the mist coat for me on the walls and ceiling and to put the final coat of white matt emulsion (provided by me) on the ceiling, which would make the job considerably easier for me to manage, as I'm not as fit as I was, and I gratefully accepted.
I have always considered myself good at DIY and a mist coat to me is a cheap white matt emulsion watered down 5 to 1 with just that, water.
He said he had added PVA to a white trade emulsion, don't know if he added any water. I'd never heard of this being done but I assumed he knew what he was doing and I didn't touch the walls for many months afterwards as I was ill.
At the beginning of this week I started trying to paint the walls in a good quality coloured matt emulsion suitable for bathrooms. However the paint was not covering well and the majority was streaking or sliding off the paint and pva mix beneath, despite several coats.
Things went from bad to worse when two days ago I had the idea of buying the same colour normal matt emulsion to paint on to try to give the surface a bit of 'grip' before I was going to overpaint again with the better quality stuff and it did seem to cover much better.
Today I decided to have a look at what paint he'd used to mix the pva with as he had left the tub by mistake after he finished the job and I find that it is a trade emulsion but it's vinyl silk!
I have always been told never to use vinyl silk to paint bare plaster walls and so suspecting what would happen I went back to the walls with a dampened cloth and sure enough the last paint I have used simply washes off so presumably would the ceiling emulsion but I haven't dared try that!
I've done a bit of research on the internet and I realise now that it's not a good idea to use pva on bare plaster and I would guess that together with the vinyl silk emulsion I've got a double whammy!
Question is, what do I do now?
I don't want the problems I've been reading about on the internet where paint cracks or peels/blisters off somewhere down the line and I don't want a 'sticking plaster' job done either. I need to solve the problem properly now.
Interestingly the young man who did the job is to call back again on Monday to put a new handle on the shower cubicle for me hence my asking the questions now.
I would be grateful for your advice.
About six months ago I had a professional company to fit a brand new swanky bathroom for me and I decided I didn't want floor to ceiling tiling so had the walls left bare, new plaster (skim), except for the obvious necessary areas for tiling. I told the fitter to leave the walls for me to paint as I felt this was a job I could manage and I would enjoy putting the finishing touches so to speak.
The fitter did offer to prepare the mist coat for me on the walls and ceiling and to put the final coat of white matt emulsion (provided by me) on the ceiling, which would make the job considerably easier for me to manage, as I'm not as fit as I was, and I gratefully accepted.
I have always considered myself good at DIY and a mist coat to me is a cheap white matt emulsion watered down 5 to 1 with just that, water.
He said he had added PVA to a white trade emulsion, don't know if he added any water. I'd never heard of this being done but I assumed he knew what he was doing and I didn't touch the walls for many months afterwards as I was ill.
At the beginning of this week I started trying to paint the walls in a good quality coloured matt emulsion suitable for bathrooms. However the paint was not covering well and the majority was streaking or sliding off the paint and pva mix beneath, despite several coats.
Things went from bad to worse when two days ago I had the idea of buying the same colour normal matt emulsion to paint on to try to give the surface a bit of 'grip' before I was going to overpaint again with the better quality stuff and it did seem to cover much better.
Today I decided to have a look at what paint he'd used to mix the pva with as he had left the tub by mistake after he finished the job and I find that it is a trade emulsion but it's vinyl silk!
I have always been told never to use vinyl silk to paint bare plaster walls and so suspecting what would happen I went back to the walls with a dampened cloth and sure enough the last paint I have used simply washes off so presumably would the ceiling emulsion but I haven't dared try that!
I've done a bit of research on the internet and I realise now that it's not a good idea to use pva on bare plaster and I would guess that together with the vinyl silk emulsion I've got a double whammy!
Question is, what do I do now?
I don't want the problems I've been reading about on the internet where paint cracks or peels/blisters off somewhere down the line and I don't want a 'sticking plaster' job done either. I need to solve the problem properly now.
Interestingly the young man who did the job is to call back again on Monday to put a new handle on the shower cubicle for me hence my asking the questions now.
I would be grateful for your advice.