Can I use plaster 'mist' as bare wood undercoat? First ever decorating attempt...

Options
zoothornrollo_2
zoothornrollo_2 Posts: 315 Forumite
First Anniversary First Post Combo Breaker
edited 6 March 2017 at 3:55PM in In my home (includes DIY) MoneySaving
So our new loft space is nearly ready to decorate. We are going to paint. F&B Estate Emulsion for walls and ceiling (it's a small space), Estate Eggshell for the skirting board / architraves / doors.
To do the mist coat(s) for the plaster I'll just get some cheap white emulsion. Will this do as an undercoat for the wooden areas, assuming I have primed them first - ie., can I just slap it on all over, without masking the wood?
Also re. the new, bare wood, do I need to sand first? And in between coats?
Any other decorating tips for total beginners would be appreciated.
«1

Comments

  • AndyMc.....
    AndyMc..... Posts: 3,248 Forumite
    Combo Breaker First Post
    Options
    You'd be better off using undercoat or primer undercoat for the woodwork.
  • Horseygirl123
    Horseygirl123 Posts: 301 Forumite
    Options
    zoothornrollo wrote: »
    So our new loft space is nearly ready to decorate. We are going to paint. F&B Estate Emulsion for walls and ceiling (it's a small space), Estate Eggshell for the skirting board / architraves / doors.
    To do the mist coat(s) for the plaster I'll just get some cheap white emulsion. Will this do as an undercoat for the wooden areas, assuming I have primed them first - ie., can I just slap it on all over, without masking the wood?
    Also re. the new, bare wood, do I need to sand first? And in between coats?
    Any other decorating tips for total beginners would be appreciated.

    As a Farrow and Ball fan, this is my experience. I would buy Dulux Trade Matt White and dilute for a mist coat. Then I'd give another coat of Dulux before even thinking about using the f&b emulsion. When I first used f&b I ended up putting several costs of emulsion on as the colour was showing through. Cost me a fortune. Cheap white emulsion isn't worth it imo.

    Caulk and sand any rough new wood. You will need to use f&b primer (make sure you get the right colour one). One or two coats of primer followed by two coats of eggshell. That's the downside of f&b paint. So many blooming coats of paint.

    I emulsion walls taking paint just over the woodwork, then I paint the woodwork. I don't usually sand between coats as at that point I'm so cheesed off with it all. You should really sand with fine grade sandpaper before the final coat.

    I use top quality brushes and rollers and this makes a huge difference.
  • TheCyclingProgrammer
    TheCyclingProgrammer Posts: 3,702 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post Photogenic
    Options
    Use the right thing for the job - whatever finish paint you're using, trade emulsion is for walls, not priming and undercoating woodwork. I can recommend Leyland acrylic primer/undercoat - two coats of that, light sanding between coats and two coats of your chosen top-coat. As for whether or not you should use F&B primer with their paints, I suspect its unnecessary, but YMMV. I've not used F&B but Little Greene Intelligent Eggshell went over the Leyland acrylic primer/undercoat just fine.
  • zoothornrollo_2
    zoothornrollo_2 Posts: 315 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post Combo Breaker
    Options
    Horseygirl123 wrote: »
    As a Farrow and Ball fan, this is my experience. I would buy Dulux Trade Matt White and dilute for a mist coat. Then I'd give another coat of Dulux before even thinking about using the f&b emulsion. When I first used f&b I ended up putting several costs of emulsion on as the colour was showing through. Cost me a fortune. Cheap white emulsion isn't worth it imo.

    Caulk and sand any rough new wood. You will need to use f&b primer (make sure you get the right colour one). One or two coats of primer followed by two coats of eggshell. That's the downside of f&b paint. So many blooming coats of paint.

    I emulsion walls taking paint just over the woodwork, then I paint the woodwork. I don't usually sand between coats as at that point I'm so cheesed off with it all. You should really sand with fine grade sandpaper before the final coat.

    I use top quality brushes and rollers and this makes a huge difference.

    Thanks a lot, V useful.
    Any views on the difference between f&b's estate and modern emulsions - we are considering using the latter for greater durability / practicality?
  • zoothornrollo_2
    zoothornrollo_2 Posts: 315 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post Combo Breaker
    Options
    PS. When you say two coats of the dulux do you mean two coats of mist or one mist and one undiluted?
  • TheCyclingProgrammer
    TheCyclingProgrammer Posts: 3,702 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post Photogenic
    Options
    As I said before I've not used F&B but their estate and modern emulsions are equivalent to Little Greene's normal and intelligent emulsion. We have the intelligent emulsion in our hall stairs and landing and I'm glad we do - most marks wipe off really easily and it's still really low sheen and flat looking. It's not scrubbable though - if you have to scrub to remove a mark it will leave a noticeable change in sheen as it damages the paint surface. I imagine it will be the same with F&B.
  • Horseygirl123
    Horseygirl123 Posts: 301 Forumite
    Options
    zoothornrollo wrote: »
    Thanks a lot, V useful.
    Any views on the difference between f&b's estate and modern emulsions - we are considering using the latter for greater durability / practicality?

    I used the modern emulsion in our hall and kitchen. I used the estate emulsion in the bathroom and bedrooms. I do prefer the very slightly more Matt finish of the estate emulsion but there's not that much in it. Practically the modern emulsion cleans very well. I have gently dabbed marks off the estate emulsion with no removal of colour but I wouldn't like to do much more than that. I always save some paint in jam jars to touch up stubborn marks. If I had young children then definitely moden emulsion.

    For new plaster I used a mist coat, one full coat of undiluted dulux trade, then a couple of f&b top coats.
  • zoothornrollo_2
    zoothornrollo_2 Posts: 315 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post Combo Breaker
    Options
    TheCyclingProgrammer wrote: »
    As I said before I've not used F&B but their estate and modern emulsions are equivalent to Little Greene's normal and intelligent emulsion. We have the intelligent emulsion in our hall stairs and landing and I'm glad we do - most marks wipe off really easily and it's still really low sheen and flat looking. It's not scrubbable though - if you have to scrub to remove a mark it will leave a noticeable change in sheen as it damages the paint surface. I imagine it will be the same with F&B.

    Thanks TCP
  • zoothornrollo_2
    zoothornrollo_2 Posts: 315 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post Combo Breaker
    Options
    Horseygirl123 wrote: »
    I used the modern emulsion in our hall and kitchen. I used the estate emulsion in the bathroom and bedrooms. I do prefer the very slightly more Matt finish of the estate emulsion but there's not that much in it. Practically the modern emulsion cleans very well. I have gently dabbed marks off the estate emulsion with no removal of colour but I wouldn't like to do much more than that. I always save some paint in jam jars to touch up stubborn marks. If I had young children then definitely moden emulsion.

    For new plaster I used a mist coat, one full coat of undiluted dulux trade, then a couple of f&b top coats.

    OK great - and finally re. a 'cheap white emulsion' - are you saying don't go cheaper than Dulux, even for the mist / undercoat? i.e., don't go for some own-brand bargain basement stuff? I wouldn't have thought it made much difference for undercoats?
    Thanks again
  • Horseygirl123
    Horseygirl123 Posts: 301 Forumite
    Options
    zoothornrollo wrote: »
    OK great - and finally re. a 'cheap white emulsion' - are you saying don't go cheaper than Dulux, even for the mist / undercoat? i.e., don't go for some own-brand bargain basement stuff? I wouldn't have thought it made much difference for undercoats?
    Thanks again

    My husband bought some Crown emulsion from Homebase. Coverage was awful. I was using a pale colour over previous deep yellow. It took two coats of crown emulsion and even then it was patchy. I've just done the hall and just one coat of dulux Trade Matt White completely covered the previous colour. So imo it's not worth the time and effort using cheap emulsion. We have a Dulux decorator centre 5 minutes away so always go there. The man who works there says there is a difference in quality between the Dulux sold in b&q, homebase etc, and Dulux Trade only sold at the Decorator centre.
This discussion has been closed.
★ ★ ★ Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 343.2K Banking & Borrowing
  • 250.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 449.7K Spending & Discounts
  • 235.3K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 608.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 173.1K Life & Family
  • 247.9K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 15.9K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards