Newly skimmed plaster - slight hairline cracks - painting?

debbie42

Just had my walls skimmed (few weeks ago now), and whilst painting I noticed a few very minor hairline cracks. Is there anything I should do to these or just paint over them?

paullwill8

Fistly make sure your first 2 coats of paint are watered down by 20% water and use matt, not silk or soft sheen. Then apply two further coats un-diluted. If the cracks are very fine and you are using a decent quality emulsion then they will dissapear.

misgrace

debbie42 wrote: »

Just had my walls skimmed (few weeks ago now), and whilst painting I noticed a few very minor hairline cracks. Is there anything I should do to these or just paint over them?

Hi debbie, is this in connection with your 'vinyl paint post', is the hairline cracks, in the bare plaster, or in hairline cracks 'crazing' in the painted plaster?

debbie42

misgrace wrote: »

Hi debbie, is this in connection with your 'vinyl paint post', is the hairline cracks, in the bare plaster, or in hairline cracks 'crazing' in the painted plaster?

It's not crazing (phew!). It's just a couple of very fine cracks around the corner of the door frame. I noticed it before painting.

I did sand down all the walls in the end and have just painted my first watered down coat of topcoat, yesterday. I didn't manage to sand the ceiling as well as I would have liked, as it was just too awkward. The rest wasn't as bad as I feared, with my sander, though it was very dusty!

I'm going to leave it for a week before putting on the next (final, hopefully) coat. The finish looks good at the moment, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

debbie42

paullwill8 wrote: »

Fistly make sure your first 2 coats of paint are watered down by 20% water and use matt, not silk or soft sheen. Then apply two further coats un-diluted. If the cracks are very fine and you are using a decent quality emulsion then they will dissapear.

Bit late for the first suggestion, but thanks anyway! I did use Matt, but unfortunately it was Vinyl.

misgrace

Hi debbie,

Thats not too bad if there is only a few, and TBH 99% of all new plaster has hairline cracks.
If they are fine then dont worry, just lightly sand and paint.

A good few coats of paint will hide them, and they probably wont get any wider either, well at least not for a few years.:D