painting on fresh plaster

[goaten2000]

Hi Everyone

We just had our kitchen plastered and it looks great. Do we need to do anything to the plaster before painting, i.e. apply a PVA/water mix or anything? Or can we just paint straight onto the plaster?

Cheers
G

 

[RigidRaider]

You can paint straight onto plaster if you want but you won't enjoy it! Make life much easier by coating the plaster with a 50/50 mix of PVA and water (or whatever the label recommends) before starting. It will dry fast. Don't overcoat onto any existing PVA though or the second coat will peel off later. Don't ask me how I know.

If you have coving it will be specially thirsty so PVA is definitely a good idea.

If you are in the North West you can buy cheap PVA from BCR, Building Chemical Research in Bury.

 

[goaten2000]

what would happen then if I painted straight onto plaster? only reason I ask is cos some people I've spoken to have told us to paint straight onto plaster with a 50/50 paint / water mix, and some have said to PVA first

 

[RigidRaider]

The first coat just soaks straight in and subsequent coats are hard work. If you PVA first you'll be amazed at the difference and the ease of painting.

And yes, some people do mix paint and PVA for the first coat.

One thing I would add - don't buy cheap white emulsion, it simply isn't worth it. We buy all our paint from Little Green Paint Company www.thelittlegreene.com as the quality is excellent. The local stockist is happy to drop a bit of extra titanium dioxide into the paint for us as well, which makes it really super-white.

 

[Zampa]

Sorry to disagree but personally id say never ever paint over PVA like that

All you need to do is thin down the first coat of emulsion by 20-30%

Painting over PVA could result in it blowing very easy...its a old wives tales and you wont find it on any paint manufacturers technical data sheets either.

 

[confidentincompetent]

Cough//////\\\\\\\ splutter you got there before me zampa
Struth 50/50 pva on hot! plaster what a mess that would be....

 

[RigidRaider]

What do you mean by hot plaster? Do you mean still drying? We have only ever decorated on plaster that's well dried. To be honest I can't remember the ratio we used, it was as recommended on the PVA label, but we found that with plaster around 2 weeks old, fresh paint was a complete pain in the wotsit because the plaster just gobbled it up. On the coving it was even worse, with the first and any subsequent coats. The next room we did, we applied dilute PVA first, allowed it to dry and found that the paint went on like a dream. Didn't peel or flake EXCEPT in the place where the plasterer had PVAd the joint between two jobs (big ceiling) and we accidentally overcoated with more PVA. In these areas the fresh PVA peeled off as we applied paint.

 

[Third_Eye]

PVA is flexible & when made wet again then it turns back into "wet" PVA. PVA "can" be used but you need to where & when it can be used on porous surfaces. However, if PVA is used to thick then there can be problems in the 'longer term', when used in a painting process. In my opinion, putting PVA on new plaster is piontless. All you need to do is coat new plaster with an recomended emulsion as advized by paint makers, and coat the new plaster with that product i.e. Dulux Supermatt etc......as Supermatt is not flexible.........................

 

[Zampa]

I also think a slightly porous surface is a bit of an advantage it draws in the paint thus making it cover quicker and easier.

Same deal with coving...id rather it soak in a little and cover than be skidding around all over the place...its hard enough to get it to cover in two at the best of times, I just odnt dig why manufaturers dont make coving white in the first place.

Same goes for pressed pael door...why are they always tey dirty greeny grey colour when most people paint em white enyway...its a real close thing trying to get them to cover in two.

 

[confidentincompetent]

What do you mean by hot plaster? Do you mean still drying? We have only ever decorated on plaster that's well dried. To be honest I can't remember the ratio we used, it was as recommended on the PVA label, but we found that with plaster around 2 weeks old, fresh paint was a complete pain in the wotsit because the plaster just gobbled it up. On the coving it was even worse, with the first and any subsequent .

HOT =highly porous.. as zampa & t/eye say you need the emulsion to sink into the plaster. if you put pva on its like barrier cream lol. Ok in the short term but will give problems when redecorating later.. I've painted miles of fresh plaster, blocks of flats etc and a mist coat and one more thicker coat was the way to go... If the first coat seems gobby. thin down more.. the next coat will go on like a dream ...

 

[confidentincompetent]

I also think a slightly porous surface is a bit of an advantage it draws in the paint thus making it cover quicker and easier.

Same deal with coving...id rather it soak in a little and cover than be skidding around all over the place...its hard enough to get it to cover in two at the best of times, I just odnt dig why manufaturers dont make coving white in the first place.

Same goes for pressed pael door...why are they always tey dirty greeny grey colour when most people paint em white enyway...its a real close thing trying to get them to cover in two.

Had the same problem recently zampa with those horrid textured doors..and they wanted gloss not satinwood duhhh . Forgive me but after i primed the edges I wacked two coats of gloss onto the green primer...and missed the undercoat... yes I know lol.. They came up very good.. ..

 

[Zampa]

I wacked two coats of gloss onto the green primer...and missed the undercoat

tutututututututtutututututt!

Also most as bad as my coat of white emulsion followed by a coat of gloss onto bare old galvanised windows!

Well..it was a friday afternoon!

Any other confessions chaps?..chapess's