Ceiling before paint

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stripped off wood chip and about ten layers of white emulsion from a 50's ceiling (PB)
Using the steamer, I have got all of a coat of white paint off as well.
There is now a patchy yello/buff coating on top of the blue grey plaster finish

I "could" try to steam the rest off, or apply something like zinnser?
(I don't want to sand because of the mess)
Which one?
I will be using screwfix Matt white emulsion as a finish

Ta
 
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Sounds to me like a large water stain rather than distemper. Water stains "bleed" through emulsion

If you try to roll emulsion over distemper the distemper reactivates and the roller ends up pulling the paint back off.

If it is a water stain, I would use a shellac based paint such as Zinsser BIN or Blockaid by Smith and Rodgers.

Either of the above will additionally seal distemper.

Be advised that shellac paints dry very fast and smells of alcohol. The small disiates after about 20 minutes. Brushes and rollers can be cleaned with household ammonia. The ammonia breaks the paint down rather than simply diluting it. You can emulsion over it after about 30-45 minutes.

A cheaper option would be oil based undercoat but it will smell for longer and you will need to leave it for a day or two before you can emulsion over it. If you apply the emulsion too soon you will get fisheyes- pools in the emulsion paint where the paint pushes away to let the solvents in the UC to evaporate.

Using the above paints or any other sealing paint will however result in the emulsion taking longer to dry. Ordinarily, (in the absence of sealing paints) you can apply the second coat of emulsion after 3 to 4 hours, you may need to wait 6 to 8 hours (depending on humidity/airflow) once you have used a sealing/barrier coat.
 
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Thanks

Not a water stain, the paint under the woodchip comes off with a wide bladed scrapper but the stuff in question stays in the main. I applied a bit more steam and used one of those stainless steel pot scourers and it comes off reasonably easily- I scrapped a bit as well.

Only problem is that I've been at it for ages, it's bloody hot so close to the ceiling and last night I looked like ken Dodd with all of the steam getting into my hair. Plus every other time time I rearrange the steamer "plate" I slosh booing water on my torso.

The room is about 5M square
I might try zip tying some scourers to a T piece on a hoover so I can control the stuff that comes off.
 
I stand corrected.

FWIW, in the past I have mixed up wallpaper paste and applied that to distemper. The paste retains its moisture for a long time and reativates the distemper. I have then scraped off both simultaneously. It is messy but dust free.
 
Might give it a go tomorrow- thanks again
I'm bloody sick of doing it.
 
Seems to me like it would be not only a less time consuming pig of a job but a much more permanent and better finish to either line it or skim it with plaster!!
 
Not really. There is a load of furniture in the room, recently refurbed parquet and the ceiling is in perfect condition.
Skimming makes a real mess - far more than the existing
 
Lining it would work the paste will seal the dusty surface but it depends how keen you are on papering ceilings and you still need to paint.
 
A good Decorator would be able to line a ceiling in half a day, (approx £100 and provided Room cleared entirely) then you can paint it a couple of days later which again, half a day, problem solved.
 
FFS WHY NOT? Been a Decorator for 35 years (now retired) and used this method literally hundreds of times and never had 1 single problem. If you research it you,ll find that even Uni- Bond states it can be used on porous dusty surfaces as a Primer! as with most things, there are different opinions but i,ll always go with what i know has worked for me and the many cuctomers and Contractors that i have done work for and NEVER had to go back to put something right.
 
FFS WHY NOT? Been a Decorator for 35 years (now retired) and used this method literally hundreds of times and never had 1 single problem. If you research it you,ll find that even Uni- Bond states it can be used on porous dusty surfaces as a Primer! as with most things, there are different opinions but i,ll always go with what i know has worked for me and the many cuctomers and Contractors that i have done work for and NEVER had to go back to put something right.

PVA will not seal distemper.

Apropos JohnD's post, I suspect that he thought you meant use PVA over the new plaster prior to painting (rather than prior to the lining paper).

Personally, I prefer to use wallpaper paste to size wall/ceilings. I did use PVA years ago but found that in the event that you end up with any grit in the PVA (from the horsehair plaster), it is more difficult to sand it away than if you used wallpaper size.

Additionally, dilute PVA is much messier to apply and any splashes are more difficult to remove than size, but every man to his own.
 

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