Ceiling painted, but looks grainy, like sandpaper

[Banditman]

I had my living room ceiling re plastered a couple of weeks ago, and last weekend attempted to paint it. Apparently it is no longer recommended to seal it with a PVA mix, just apply a coat of watered down emulsion with a roller, so I did. It dried in a couple of minutes, but I kept to the recommended times. the next few coats dried just as quickly, and there were lots of rough patches which looked awful during daylight hours, so I went out and bought some paint to cover imperfections, and that was no use either. Since then I have hand painted the ceiling with a brush to try and cover up these rough patches but it dried even worse.

Does anyone have any ideas what is causing this and how to fix it, I have painted douzens of ceilings before and this has never happened before.

 

[Richard C]

Apparently it is no longer recommended to seal it with a PVA mix, just apply a coat of watered down emulsion with a roller, so I did.

It’s never been recommended to prime new plaster with PVA; only the misinformed do it & then your paint will not cover properly & won’t adhere!

It dried in a couple of minutes, but I kept to the recommended times. the next few coats dried just as quickly, and there were lots of rough patches which looked awful during daylight hours, so I went out and bought some paint to cover imperfections, and that was no use either. Since then I have hand painted the ceiling with a brush to try and cover up these rough patches but it dried even worse.

Does anyone have any ideas what is causing this and how to fix it, I have painted douzens of ceilings before and this has never happened before.

For mist/priming coats, use ordinary matt white emulsion thinned 25-30%; apply 2-3 coats in quick succession before the previous has dried. Leave the mist coats to dry out overnight before applying your chosen finish; I usually water this down by around 5% as well. Not sure what you can do with it now or if it’ll ever look any good without stripping back & starting again.

 

[TheDec]

Banditman,

Would it be possible for you to post a few pics, these would prove very helpful. If you have in the past painted many ceilings then I would doubt this to be poor application, I can offer you a couple of options to cure your problem as it stands it's why it has happened concerns me.

Dec

 

[roughcaster]

It might even be down to bad plastering!!

 

[Banditman]

Thanks to everyone for the quick replies, there was nothing wrong with the plastering, as I did it myself, as I am a plasterer. Looking at the ceiling the rough areas are rough to the touch, as if the ceiling has sucked all the moisture out of the paint. I have attached some photo's to my profile for anyone to look at ( I couldn't figure out how to copy them to this thread)
So far I have applied 6 coats of paint and used 15 litres of paint, which seems ridiculous for a 4m x 4m ceiling.

 

[roughcaster]

there was nothing wrong with the plastering, as I did it myself, I am a plasterer.

Well there ya go Bandit,,, blame the painter then,,, oh,, hang on a minute,,,,, that's you as well.

 

[Richard C]

I don't see how these two statements;

I had my living room ceiling re plastered a couple of weeks ago and last weekend attempted to paint it.

Apparently it is no longer recommended to seal it with a PVA mix

can possibly go with this one;

there was nothing wrong with the plastering, as I did it myself, as I am a plasterer.

 

[TheDec]

Well I have studied those pics and must admit your problem is something of a mystery, I would be interested to know what paint you applied though. It's the lighter areas that are rough that are the mystery.

Your only cure now I think would be to sand the entire area, get yourself a pole sander with some 80 grit and then at least you would be able to work from floor level, yet some face filling may be needed and if so sand and mist.

Then apply an oil based primer sealer to the entire ceiling before you emulsion, I both know and appreciate this will be a pig of a job yet the further application of a water based product would be futile.

Dec

 

[misterhelpful]

Banditman,

Did this ceiling appear in the Plastering Forum after it was skimmed a few weeks back - it looks familiar?
I know that many rooms can look the same but there seems to be a familiarity about this particular one.

 

[TheDec]

The mystery deepens.

Dec

 

[joe-90]

Looks like a texture issue due to bad plastering. The surface grains should be laying flat but they are rucked up by over polishing.

Sorry but that aint the work of a plasterer.

 

[Banditman]

There was definitely nothing wrong with the plastering, my plastering is always smooth, and I have hundreds of happy customers. I think the quickest and easiest fix here would be to re skim it and start again, rather than to start rubbing it down and using easy fill. Thanks to everyone for all your help.

 

[cumbriahandyman]

Did you put PVA in the plaster?

 

[Banditman]

No, I only ever pva the ceilings first, and as this one was on new plasterboard there was no need for any pva.

 

[misterhelpful]

...as this one was on new plasterboard there was no need for any pva.

In which case it's not the same ceiling I thought it was.

My apologies,
mrH.

As you are a plasterer I doubt this is the cause, and I'm just clutching at straws, but is it possible the plaster was out of date? I have come across out of date plaster which is so dry it ruins the paint finish, though admittedly, not to the extent we are seeing here.