Advice on painting walls please

[gracewoods]

If a new houses walls were not sealed and printed on using standard dulux would that be why now I am trying to paint on top of that paint it seems to be not covering well? As in I am needed multiple coats just to cover magnolia with white? Should I use some kind of sealant as a primer to then hopefully need only one coat of paint?
Many thanks

 

[JohnD]

if you mean the internal plaster on a fairly new house, they are often painted with Dulux Trade Supermatt or similar, which is a non-vinyl emulsion which is porous and allows the new, damp plaster to "breathe" and water vapour to escape.

it is very good for that purpose but is not very durable and can rub off if you try to scrub it.

It can be redecorated by painting over with an ordinary vinyl emulsion. Major brands are fine but "value" or "essential" cheap lines are often very watery. make sure you stir your paint very thoroughly as the pigment will sink to the bottom of the tin.

You do not need a sealant.

Never allow anybody to put glue on a surface which you hope one day to paint.


What do you mean by "standard dulux?"

 

[gracewoods]

I don't think they used trade, they used standard dulux. I'm just wondering why it would be so difficult paint over the paint they used unless it was the reason i thought of above? It seems to be extremely hard to just cover up magnolia with white. Its like its just soaking unto the walls. Builders did a very rushed poor job in first place so im assuming maybe they didn't seal or prep the walls like they should of. Should use some kind of primer or sealant on them to then allow me to paint Judy one coat on? Thanks

 

[JohnD]

bare plaster is "sealed" by applying one or more coats of emusion thinned with 10-20% water. It soaks into the srface and disappears. You can tell when you have successfully sealed the surface because the wall no longer sucks the moisture off your brush. Further coats will lie on the surface rather than soaking in.

What brand of paint have you bought?