Plaster, painting and kitchens.

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Hello All,

First off please allow me to apologies for a question I know has been asked on here many times before. I have spent an embarrassing amount of time reading countless threads on this forum and others and have become a bit overwhelmed by the amount of information out there.

The situation: I am having a new kitchen done as well as a few other bits. We are now 4 weeks in and the builders are now plastering. I will be doing the painting myself before they come back and fit the kitchen. I have painted freshly plastered walls and ceilings before. My tactic has always been to leave the plaster to dry (about 4 weeks), then use cheapo contract emulsion as a mist coat (£10 for 10 litres in Screwfix, you know the stuff) before applying the top coats of paint. With a kitchen fit however, I am not in a position to allow 4 weeks or so for plaster to dry before cracking on with painting and then having everything fit. So my research has led me to Dulux Trade Supermatt which I understand I can apply whilst the plaster is still drying. This may sound a ridiculous question, but does this mean that the final coats of paint will be done (when the plaster has fully dried) around the newly fitted kitchen weeks or months further down the line? Is this what people do? The builder was going to do the painting himself initially so how would he have applied colour to a freshly plastered wall and ceiling without the plaster being 'fully' dry? Obviously I am not the first person to have a kitchen done(!!) but I have had a very long last few days and I am now letting this get on top of me so I have come here for your advice.

I am sorry for my very long and rambling first post but I know there is a wealth of experience on here. I have found this website to be my greatest tool during various home projects for the last 5 years and so felt the need to finally sign up and ask for help!!

Kindest regards to you all.
 
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If it's a simple skim coat of plaster, the thin final finishing layer then you should be ok to give it a mist coat after approx 4-5 days. Doing hardwall will take a lot longer to dry. Make sure the plaster is a light colour (pinky) all over before you paint and you should be ok. You don't need to wait any longer than when the mist coat is dry before painting your final coats either, certainly not weeks.

I don't know anything about painting while the plaster is wet, and I wouldn't personally do that. Oh, and I hope am not stating the obvious, please don't be tempted to speed up the plaster drying time with radiators on full or dehumidifiers as that can make the plaster crack. Left alone with a window open a smidge should do the trick :)
 
Hi blightymam and thanks for your reply.

By 'hardwall', I assume you mean where plaster has been caked (nice technical term there) on to brick / block walls in a thicker layer?
 
Hiya, yeah, hardwall, browning etc is the coat that goes directly onto bricks and is indeed much thicker and does take some time to dry. We had our spare bedroom done as all the old plaster had blown so we took it back to bare brick and I left it a month before decorating, just to be sure it was dry. So unless you had the 'caked' layer ;) then you really should be good to go within a few days. Good luck with the kitchen!
 
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I agree with blightman's advice but why are you using Supermatt? Yes it has a low latex content, thereby enabling it to be used earlier than many other paints but if we assume that your walls are sufficiently dry then you will be better off using standard matt emulsion.

I have had a couple of occasions where I used Supamatt as a base coat and things went horribly wrong. I now only ever use it on ceilings that are so high that I know that no one will ever try to clean them (the low latex content means that you cannot clean the stuff).
 
Thanks for the replies chaps.

The only reason I mentioned Dulux Trade Super Matt is because I have seen it recommended on this forum and others for use on plaster still drying. I have never used it before as I have always had plenty of time to allow plaster to thoroughly dry when doing bedrooms etc but this is a kitchen and therefore needs to be done more urgently. There has been hardwall plastering done so I'm anticipating longer drying times. I would be quite happy to use the 'Basics' contract matt emulsion from Screwfix as I always have done if it is appropriate as a mist coat in this situation? Then have the kitchen fit and then once the plaster has had sufficient time to dry, apply the top coats. I'd rather not do this as it will involve painting around a brand new kitchen!

Thanks again for your advice.
 
Thanks for the replies chaps.

The only reason I mentioned Dulux Trade Super Matt is because I have seen it recommended on this forum and others for use on plaster still drying. I have never used it before as I have always had plenty of time to allow plaster to thoroughly dry when doing bedrooms etc but this is a kitchen and therefore needs to be done more urgently. There has been hardwall plastering done so I'm anticipating longer drying times. I would be quite happy to use the 'Basics' contract matt emulsion from Screwfix as I always have done if it is appropriate as a mist coat in this situation? Then have the kitchen fit and then once the plaster has had sufficient time to dry, apply the top coats. I'd rather not do this as it will involve painting around a brand new kitchen!

Thanks again for your advice.

Provided that the walls are fairly dry, standard matt emulsions should be fine. Keep windows open to aid drying times, even if it is cold and raining outside.

the paint may be slightly softer so expect the odd touch up.

matt emulsion will allow the plaster to continue to dry, washable finishes are a no-no until the plaster had dried completely
 
Thank you again opps.

So is it normal with new kitchens that have had new plaster applied in this manner to be fit, and then paint around the units several weeks later?
 
it's not uncommon.

I frequently do the decs once all of the other trades have finished. I prefer I that way, nothing worse than trying to remove pencil markings etc.

my last kitchen job had a 5m ceiling on one side of the room, dropping down to 3.5m on the other. On that occasion I painted as much as possible prior to the fit and the came back to touch up.

Electricians don't know how to clean their hands. Tilers will rub away paint as they try to polish off their grout, and so on. Do as much as you can now but expect there to be snagging.

the poly dust sheets with the tape built in help a lot. As you apply them, they will become statically charge and cling to the surfaces. About a fiver per roll
 
I will certainly use those poly dust sheets.

Thank you very much for your time and patience with me. I have certainly undertaken far bigger projects than painting fresh plaster before. I think I have allowed myself to worry more than I need to due to the fact that this has been a very long, drawn out, highly disruptive and expensive job. I desperately don't want to make a silly mistake with painting to have a negative effect on the appearance of the finished kitchen.

Thanks to both opps and blightymam.
 

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