Where am I going wrong? Help please!

[voicey]

We've just finished building an extension at the back of our house and I've been trying to decorate it for the last week. The room is 4.5m wide by about 8m long with bifold doors across the width of one of the shorter walls. Both the ceiling and walls were freshly plastered.

My first coat was a 50:50 mix emulsion and water. I have then put on three further coats of paint. My problem is that I'm getting lines between the areas that I paint. On the ceiling I am painting about a 1.5m strip along the shorter length moving down the room. Despite overlapping each strip by about a foot I can still see where the strips have been painted.

I also getting the same effect on the walls. If I look at the surface face on it looks great but as soon as you look along the surface it looks terrible.

I am using Harris rollers (medium pile) and Wickes Trade Flat Matt paint.

Before I go any further I thought I'd ask for advice - whats the best way of covering the ceiling so the finish is acceptable?

Cheers...

Untitled

• voicey
• 27 May 2013
• 1

Untitled

• voicey
• 27 May 2013
• 1

 

[madder]

It is quite hard to tell by those pictures. Are you an experienced painter? I don't want to suggest something that might seem insulting if you are an experienced painter, but if you are an experienced painter then you would have waited for the plaster to dry out completely before painting it, right? The reason I ask this is because the first picture looks like the lines may have been from damp plaster? Of course, they could also be from an uneven finish? But if it is an uneven finish then it is quite bad and may require flush filling.
Failing that, it could also be a very thirsty wall/ceiling. Thirsty walls dry very quickly and dry joints can cause poor paint finish.
Another thing to consider is sanding down the surfaces between coats of paint. It might help.
Apologies if my reply is stating obvious things that you know already, but it does look troublesome and I am genuinely trying to help.

 

[voicey]

It is quite hard to tell by those pictures. Are you an experienced painter? I don't want to suggest something that might seem insulting if you are an experienced painter, but if you are an experienced painter then you would have waited for the plaster to dry out completely before painting it, right? The reason I ask this is because the first picture looks like the lines may have been from damp plaster? Of course, they could also be from an uneven finish? But if it is an uneven finish then it is quite bad and may require flush filling.
Failing that, it could also be a very thirsty wall/ceiling. Thirsty walls dry very quickly and dry joints can cause poor paint finish.
Another thing to consider is sanding down the surfaces between coats of paint. It might help.
Apologies if my reply is stating obvious things that you know already, but it does look troublesome and I am genuinely trying to help.

Thank you for the response. I am not an experianced painter, just a DIY'r.

The plaster was left to dry for over three weeks so it shouldn't be that. The plaster finish was also very smooth not least as the ceiling was torn down and re-boarded.

I think it might be the paint drying out - the ceiling is pretty big and I'm painting it on my own. I've taken real care to ensure I had good coverage with a nice finish/no splatter but that was at the expense of speed - it took me over 3 hours to do one coat of the ceiling!

My plan is to buy some quality paint (probably Dulux Supermatt) and have a go on a smaller wall by keeping a wet edge. If that works then I can do the other walls on my own and then get some help in for the ceiling.

Would it be worth add a small amount of water to keep the paint wet for longer?

 

[madder]

It is quite hard to tell by those pictures. Are you an experienced painter? I don't want to suggest something that might seem insulting if you are an experienced painter, but if you are an experienced painter then you would have waited for the plaster to dry out completely before painting it, right? The reason I ask this is because the first picture looks like the lines may have been from damp plaster? Of course, they could also be from an uneven finish? But if it is an uneven finish then it is quite bad and may require flush filling.
Failing that, it could also be a very thirsty wall/ceiling. Thirsty walls dry very quickly and dry joints can cause poor paint finish.
Another thing to consider is sanding down the surfaces between coats of paint. It might help.
Apologies if my reply is stating obvious things that you know already, but it does look troublesome and I am genuinely trying to help.

Thank you for the response. I am not an experianced painter, just a DIY'r.

The plaster was left to dry for over three weeks so it shouldn't be that. The plaster finish was also very smooth not least as the ceiling was torn down and re-boarded.

I think it might be the paint drying out - the ceiling is pretty big and I'm painting it on my own. I've taken real care to ensure I had good coverage with a nice finish/no splatter but that was at the expense of speed - it took me over 3 hours to do one coat of the ceiling!

My plan is to buy some quality paint (probably Dulux Supermatt) and have a go on a smaller wall by keeping a wet edge. If that works then I can do the other walls on my own and then get some help in for the ceiling.

Would it be worth add a small amount of water to keep the paint wet for longer?

Probably is the drying joints if the ceiling is that big. Also be careful to make sure the roller doesn't leave any 'gather' of paint, as if that happens, and it may have already happened, you will have to smooth it out again(with sand paper or a decorators knife) before you can get a proper finish. Letting the paint out a little with water is optional at this stage. If you have enough help it shouldn't matter either way. Just make sure you make a good plan to keep joints wet as you all go along!

 

[maltaron]

It may just require patience and a lot of paint. I have just done a similar job on a 10m x 3.5m ceiling and it took 5 coats of Dulux Trade Vinyl Silk on top of the mist to get a decent finish.

 

[voicey]

We have success of sorts! I switched to Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt (the shop only had SuperMatt in Magnolia). I managed to do a wall on my own one evening last week by keeping a wet edge and working quickly from one side to the other. Once it was dry and I was satisfied with the finish I decided to go ahead and do the whole room. I cut in the corners on Friday night and then did all the walls on my own on Saturday.

Sunday morning I had the help of the father in law - what a disaster that was! The plan was to take half the ceiling each and with poles (and the floor cleared) work from one end of the room, keeping a wet edge. The downfall was that he forgot to bring his glasses and only told me once we'd started. We got the ceiling done but it was a right mess. After he was sent to the pub and I'd had some lunch I decided to tackle it myself - it couldn't get any worse!

I added about 250ml of water to 8 litres of paint and immediately felt the difference - the paint flowed a lot easier onto the ceiling. I worked quickly with a roller on a pole and covered the ceiling in under an hour.

It's not perfect but it's acceptable. Once the furniture is in, the pictures have been hung and the pendants installed I think it wont be noticeable at all. I'm certainly not putting any more paint on - it's had one mist coat and six further coats!

I will try and get some pictures up. Thanks for all the help...