How long to wait until mist coat?

dpm_dpmartin · 19 Nov 2015

Just in the process of having the house plastered after a rewire... not every wall is being done completely, but obviously there's a lot of work.

Plasterer has advised that we wait "at least a week" before we go in with our roller and brushes.

I'd kinda hoped we could start quicker, but will take sensible advice so as not to cock it up. But my follow-on question is simply this... the Plasterer said "at least a week" and then said "maybe more depending on weather / environment / heat in the house etc." so that gives me the feeling it's more of a suck-it-and-see thing...

...can you tell plaster is ready to be painted on with a damp meter... your fingers... or your eye?

Obviously it's not just a static function of time passing-by.

joe-90 · 19 Nov 2015

When it's pale pink it's good to go. Water down your first coat. If you are going for a vinyl finish then use a vinyl mist coat. The instructions are on the back of the tin.

britishboy7 · 24 Nov 2015

Sorry to jump in this thread but I've just had 2 rooms skimmed too, and was wondering the mix ratio for paint to water for the mist-coat please?

And should I do anything to prep the walls before the mist coat? Guy at work says to sand over them with fine paper?

roy c · 24 Nov 2015

50 /50 will be ok If the plasterer has done his job right there is no need to sand it..Dont know where these guys get the idea you have to sand it first. He must be thinkin the walls are made of wood!!!!!

britishboy7 · 24 Nov 2015

roy c said:
50 /50 will be ok If the plasterer has done his job right there is no need to sand it..Dont know where these guys get the idea you have to sand it first. He must be thinkin the walls are made of wood!!!!!

Thanks Roy, i did wonder about the sanding, i painted an entire flat 12 years ago after it was skimmed and dont remember sanding it down
Thanks again

dpm_dpmartin · 24 Nov 2015

I was only going to add 10% water to my mist coat. I do not know why I thought that would be alright, I'm not basing it on anything apart from something I probably read somewhere. I see 50% written above. Big difference between the two proportions, obviously.

britishboy7 · 24 Nov 2015

dpm, after I asked I read the Wiki's at the top of the page, and on the 'plastering' one at the bottom it says a mixture of 1:1 water/emulsion, so looks like its 50/50 mix.

dpm_dpmartin · 24 Nov 2015

Good. It'll go further...

I'll take it right back to 100% water if I can get my mist coat and use less paint.

joe-90 · 24 Nov 2015

When you've done your mist coat, then thin the next coats too. 25% water and two or three quick coats looks way better than one thick one that looks like orange peel.

roy c · 24 Nov 2015

Now I have just converted a room in my house to a wash and drying room and storage and generally a spare room (to fill with more (Stuff!!) I have dot and dabbed outer walls with Poly/backed p/board and ordinary board on stud walls. and cross battened the ceiling and boarded that. On the ceiling I put two coats of Dulux Bathroom + Brilliant white (un diluted) and 3 coats of Armstead Vinyl soft sheen Egyptian Cotton on the walls and I put it straight on from out the tin!! and had no probs with it,,,, So there you go

Chud · 30 Nov 2015

Oh and if you're not already aware for god sake use trade paint e.g. Dulux Trade, Crown Trade, Leyland etc.

If you use consumer paint off the shelf from the shops you'll probably end up having to do twice as many coats.

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How long to wait until mist coat?

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