Painting Fresh Plaster

[Soup]

My garage conversion is nearly completed ( hoorahhh !!! ) and I'm getting ready to paint the freshly plastered walls. I've never actually painted fresh plaster only ever painted on previously primed and painted walls.

What is the best way to prepare the walls and what is the best way to prime them ?

Myself, I would give them a good clean with sugar soap then apply a watered down emulsion as the base layer then 2 coats of normal emulsion or would it be better to use a specific primer taking into account I have quite a large area ( approx 49 sqm of wall ).

 

[Soup]

I've had a nose throughthe site and found a couple of posts relating to fresh plaster. I think i'll get the Dulux Plaster Sealer and slop that on.

Seem a good idea ?

 

[2scoops0406]

Waste of money, simply use 10:1 watered down PVA, you don't need sugar soap, this is to remove old wallpaper glue prior to painting.... obviously you won't have any of that.

 

[DAZB]

You can buy emulsion specifically for fresh plaster nowadays. The PVA advice is the best way to seal the walls and two coats of the fresh plaster emulsion will be fine.

 

[benjiman]

What does the pva mix do? I have newly plastered walls that need painting. However I heard that new plaster may crack over time as it settles or something. This can take 6 months or more. Then the cracks should be filled and then the wall painted so no cracks appear.

Will the pva mix stop crack appearing in the future if I were to paint these newly plastered walls now?

 

[TexMex]

What does the pva mix do?

PVA "seals" the surface and therefore prevents excessive suction of moisture out of whatever you put on afterwards. It also bonds residual dust particles to the surface, which would otherwise prevent good adhesion.

I heard that new plaster may crack over time

Only if it wasn't applied properly in the first place. (Mix was too wet, applied too thick, or wrong type of plaster used for the job).

Will the pva mix stop crack appearing in the future

If it's going to crack, pva won't stop it. If the cracks are because the background is too absorbtive, then PVA may have prevented it, if you put it on before the plaster.

 

[lauren_haney]

when i paint fresh plaster i just water down some emulsion. seems to work fine and havent had no problems

 

[Graeme M]

Do you just use normal emulsion watered down as the base primer coat?
What mixture of wateraint?
How long should the plaster be left after skimming before priming?

What was the mention earlier of PVA about?

Thanks

 

[Thermo]

save your money. you only need a mist coat of emulsion on it. get some emulsion and water it down and give it time to dry out before the next coats.

Thermo

 

[Graeme M]

Cheers Thermo

How much water do I use to water it down?

 

[Wobbley1]

We've used 50:50 matt and water.

Another tip is if you mix a little PVA with emulsion and run it along the edges of your coving it seems to crack less.