Using PVA on painted walls?

[Deleted User]

The walls in our new place were painted by previous tenant about a month ago before he moved out. Problem is I think the walls were v dirty before he painted them because there are darker patches coming through the magnolia matt paint he used. (he was a heavy smoker).

The walls are plastered with a few layers of paint under what he's just applied. It's not damp or anything like that (Thankfully!)

A friend suggested using 50% - 50% PVA and water mix to wipe the walls down as they are, then repainting in same matt magnolia.

Does this sound right?

I'm on a v tight budget I can't afford to get a decorator so will have to use my v limited painting skills to sort it out.

Also there's really nasty tobacco stained gloss paint on the doors etc. How best to prepare them before painting with white satin or gloss paint?

Any advice will be great, thanks in advance

nickj_2

to start with - don't go down the pva route unless you want your paint to peel off
start off by washing paint down with sugar soap , do a test patch of emulsion , if the stains comes thru then you will , if you want to do a decent job , have to seal the stains with a solvent based undercoat or zinsser bullseye 123 http://www.zinsseruk.com/shop/Product.aspx?cId=130&pgId=355&tId=Overview
this shouldseal the stains. if you don't do this then the stains will just keep coming back

DVardysShadow

nickj wrote: »

to start with - don't go down the pva route unless you want your paint to peel off
start off by washing paint down with sugar soap , do a test patch of emulsion , if the stains comes thru then you will , if you want to do a decent job , have to seal the stains with a solvent based undercoat or zinsser bullseye 123 http://www.zinsseruk.com/shop/Product.aspx?cId=130&pgId=355&tId=Overview
this shouldseal the stains. if you don't do this then the stains will just keep coming back

I agree, although now the paint is over the stain, it is probably too late to use sugar soap. Before the paint went on, sugar soap would have cleared things very nicely. I would go straight to sealing it and not bother with sugar soap now.

[Deleted User]

Thanks! Just read the info, this looks perfect it's £25ish which seems v reasonable to do the job properly

Can I use sugar soap to wash down the wood work prior to sanding painting with gloss or satin?

cheers!

Chunks

Sugar soap works great on most cleaning jobs (beware it can be hard on the skin). I wouldn't mind betting that it will remove the emulsion the smoking guy applied (since he overpainted on a dirty surface).

Absolutely nothing wrong with the previous advice but since sugar soap is cheap (powder - mix up your own) I would give it a go (do a test and see how hard it is). Might save a bob or two...

nickj_2

if you can get it , try this , it's much better than sugar soap http://www.homecareessentials.co.uk/acatalog/3Removal_of_Heavy_Soiling_from_Paintwork.html