help with paint types and what to use on walls from a newbie

[seetal]

Please excuse my lack of knowledge on this

We are in the process of having our house replastered and painted. Some walls are being skimmed and some went down to wall and had plaster from there.

Once applied and I assume dry, the builders applied contract matt, the cheapest stuff. We didn't know that they were going to do this as originally we had asked for a bit of quality. Anyway this has been done. What we didn't realise was that contract matt marks so easily.

I understand that you can apply a vinyl emulsion of top of this that is a little harder wearing i.e. can still wipe it so to this end are thinking of giving everything a once over with dulux trade vinyl matt. Is this a sensible idea?

From what I understand, the couple of coats of contract matt would act as a primer or undercoat and the vinyl matt would then count as a top coat. However, how long should we leave the plaster before we apply any vinyl on it.

Also where paint has been applied to walls that have only been smoothed down as the walls were deemed to be in good enough condition, hairline cracks have started to appear. Any suggestions as to cause?

Thanks for any info

 

[blightymam]

Hello!

Will try and explain:

Fresh plaster skim takes a few days to dry naturally and is ok to paint as soon as it turns a pale pink all over. If you've gone down to bare brick on other walls and had hardwall & skim done then this can take a lot longer to dry. I can't remember if I left our new hardwall/skim plaster 3 or 4 weeks before I painted.

Mist coat should always be applied on fresh, dry plaster, which is matt paint watered down. Then two coats of whatever paint you want on top and job done.

Vinyl paint can be applied as soon as the mist coat is dry. Doesn't really matter if it's matt or vinyl, both are water based emulsions and can be used over each other ok. I would recommend two coats, rather than a 'once over' because all paint when changed type or colour should get two coats for an even and good result.

Contract matt paint = Fine. Good paint, thicker than normal and yes, really flat matt paint will mark easily. More the type of paint, rather than quality is an issue here.

As for the cracks, not sure. Perhaps not as sound as first thought? Talk to your decorator about a possible solution.. Cheers