Having a nightmare decorating!

[BB78]

Please help!! I’m trying to decorate my flat & its not going well.
I had a wall moved 2 months ago & have got to decorate the lounge, hall & bedroom, I’ve been doing the prep & trying to paint for over 2 weeks & I don’t seem to be any further forward.

I bought a 5ltr tin of trade (non-vinyl) emulsion which should have been enough to do a mist coat everywhere & 2 coats to all the ceilings, so far all I’ve managed is a mist coat to the walls & ceiling in the lounge & a patchy 1st coat to the lounge ceiling & I only have about a litre of paint left. I watered the paint down for the mist coat but with every hour that passes more of the plaster is showing through the mist coat, is this the fresh plaster sucking moisture? and if so is it supposed to be doing it this much? at this rate I’m going to have to do several more mist coats or undercoats before painting on the pale colour I’ve chosen. Also in the lounge only about half of the ceiling was plastered & where the new plaster meets the old ceiling you can see the join (even though I sanded it smooth) & the paint/plaster is peeling off in patches? and the paint appears to be blistering in places??

I desperately want to achieve a nice finish and seem to have spent a small fortune so far & it’s still looking crap! I’m apparently useless with a roller, its killing my shoulder, neck & arm & giving me pins & needles in my hand, the extension pole for the ceilings is about as useful as a chocolate teapot & I’ve got knackered knee’s & badly bruised shin’s making the stepladder a tool of torture.

The rooms total 30sqm, what am I doing wrong & why is this taking so long? I’ve got a new sofa being delivered Wednesday so the lounge has got to be finished & I’m having my tonsils out Friday so want the place clean & tidy so I’m not breathing in dust & crap anymore & it’s all got to be done before the new flooring is laid on the 27th! I’m sick of living out of boxes, everything feeling dirty & dusty & desperately need a rest! Am I using crap tools, should I try a paint pad instead or should I just admit defeat?

I’ve already bought the colours I want to use so can’t get the Dulux Paint Pod, are there any other paint roller/sprayer systems worth getting that will make this job easier/quicker to complete?

Are you a Painter & Decorator in the Crawley area looking for some work this week??

 

[Zampa]

Lol whats you nickname 'lucky'?

Ok...

As the mist coat on the the plaster dries the coating normally becomes more solid, not more translucent...are you sure the plaster is dry?

By how much did you thin the paint out?...shouldnt normally be any more than 25-30 depending on the brand

Its always difficult match old and new surfaces together..try filling the line with ordinary powder filler, not fine surface filler..its a pig to rub down.

What paint is flaking and blistering?..the old or the new?

Forget the paint pod its a waste of time..and if your struggling with an ordinary roller your will struggle with the paint pod

As for spraying..forget it..dont take any notice of all the videos on qvc, youll need training and a decent system for emulsion will cost you hundreds of pounds

Have you considered a brush?...a decent 4-3 inch may be better for you.

Theres no magic to using a roller, its just practice..a decent size roller and the right sleeve and get the paint consistency right and you should be ok..

Can you post pictures up?

 

[planemad]

Sorry to hear of your plight, but chin up fella.

Paint will have blistered due to plaster not being completely dry or maybe plaster sucking out the moisture to quickly out of the paint causing the pigment to sit on the surface.
I once plastered over a gloss wall, when it was time to paint I had problems with blistering.

I have painted many freshly plastered walls in my house and to be honest I just mixed up some crown white matt emulsion 50/50 with water (was runny slop) but the walls take it well.
Don't get me wrong it does look crap with a mist coat but you must remember that this coat only serves the purpose of sealing the bare plaster.

Are you trying to achieve end looking results with a mist coat?

I only put one mist coat on the walls with the 50/50 mix and leave it to dry and stabilise for a few days (rest)

Then I bang over with 1 coat of the final colour leave it to dry overnight then I do the final coat and I have never had a problem yet.

My biggest tip that I follow is to always let paint dry completely between coats I personally never do 2 coats in a day I always leave 24hrs between coats (this is personal preference)

Can you post up pics?