Advice Needed - Coving & Emulsion

[CerberusSco]

My first post, so please be gentle.

I'm looking for some advice/tips regarding my coving and painting it with white emulsion. The coving around my living room ceiling is proving to be a right b****** to paint. 5 coats of emulsion and it still looks patchy as hell! It looks like the paint isn't taking too well to areas of the coving. If anyone has any ideas of what to try to get a nice even coat on the coving, then please feel free to comment.

One person told me to try a mix of PVA glue & water, wash the coving down with the mix, wait to dry and then emulsion over it. I'd be extremely grateful for any other advice or tips you kind people can give me.

Thanks.

 

[stef99]

I've never used PVA as a prep for painting. I usually use it for perparing plaster!

I've had this problem before, and yes, I had a lot of problems with it.

My solution was to litterally cake it in paint multiple times. which worked in the end, but I have no idea how many coats it took.

I also tried to get the thinkest paint I could find.

You can always wait for the paint to be semi dry before painting it again.
I did this but I can't say it definately gave me a distinct advantage.

I think I used Crown emulsion or wickes emulsion. but something like a new plaster emulsion maybe better? or someeting else thats really thick as possible.

 

[KenGMac]

CerberusSco, hi.

A question? are you trying to paint a cove, or is it a Cornice? cove being a part round, Cornice being a plaster made around or before 1910?

Whatever, have a think about either Stain-Block, or Flat, not Gloss or Eggshell Oil Paint.

The rational is that the Stain-Block or Flat Oil paint will form a thick coating of a stable colour over which you can apply some Emulsion.

I have had a similar problem, the Cornice in my front Lounge, was prior to our buying had been subjected to years of tobacco smoke then caused the Cornice to appear yellow. Could be that tobacco contamination is causing your problem.

Ken.

 

[CerberusSco]

KenGMac & stef99, thanks both for your replies.

It is definitely coving (plaster based). The other issue is, it's not tobacco staining either. However, I will give your suggestion a try. I tried the PVA method and I didn't get a result using that. Whether that's because it doesn't work or because I didn't create a good mix of it to work.

I'm going to ask a silly question, but is it worth lightly sanding the coving with a fine sandpaper before trying to apply yet another coat?

I also seem to recall we had an issue previously painting this coving. The emulsion would flake as it was drying, right around where the joins of the coving are. It's been the bane of my life has this.

Once again, thanks for your replies.

 

[geraldthehamster]

I tried the PVA method and I didn't get a result using that. Whether that's because it doesn't work or because I didn't create a good mix of it to work.

Never, ever, use PVA on a surface that is to be painted. It's the surest way to prevent the paint from adhering properly. Seriously.

Cheers
Richard

 

[CerberusSco]

Thankfully, I don't think I did it right anyway. Going to use a primer/undercoat.