Painting new plastered walls help

Hi,

We recently got new plastered skimmed walls and like to know does there has to be a base paint/undercoat primer first or can we paint any colour straight on these new walls?

Is there a paint that does not require undercoat base paint first?

Comments

  • spadoosh
    spadoosh Posts: 8,732 Forumite
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    You can paint straight on, it will take many coats and work out extremely expensive (coloured paint is usually a lot more expensive than white paint or basecoats).

    Theres a few different methods.

    Buy a cheap matt white paint, water it down 50/50 apply a few coats. Then top coat with a undiluted matt white paint.

    You can buy specific plaster sealers (sold as plaster sealer) just brush on and paint with whatever paint you want as the finish. (usually more expensive than the cheap white paint)

    You can use PVA although its generally been disregarded as a good idea.

    Then you can buy specfic paints that do a similar job to the cheap white paint without as many coats. Probably a little bit more expensive than the cheap white paint option. This i imagine is what your after without the need for a basecoat although the colour range will be very limited (probably just cream and white)

    Ensure the walls are fully dried out before painting. 6 weeks is usually more than long enough unless you have a particularly damp/cold house.
  • Doozergirl
    Doozergirl Posts: 33,813 Forumite
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    edited 10 January 2018 at 4:45PM
    You need an initial mist coat of your paint, watered down, so 50/50. Not a big hassle.

    If you paint straight on with the paint, the plaster sucks the moisture straight out of the paint and the first coat doesn’t adhere. It may well look good for a while or possibly start bubbling in situ if there is condensation, but when you go to paint again in future, it will almost certainly lift the first coat off the wall and ruin the lot.

    You *do not* paint straight on and you *do not* apply PVA as it behaves in the same way as painting straight on. The above post is wrong. It may appear okay to start with but it isn’t a stable first coat.

    Also, white paint is hard to cover - nearly as hard as black, so depending on what colour the room is going to be, you’re really better off just watering down the actual colour as it will start to act as a thin first coat. I’m not sure there is a true saving to be made using white anyway when it’s already half water and it does make a start on the colour of the room.
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  • martinsurrey
    martinsurrey Posts: 3,368 Forumite
    Doozergirl wrote: »
    You need an initial mist coat of your paint, watered down, so 50/50. Not a big hassle.

    If you paint straight on with the paint, the plaster sucks the moisture straight out of the paint and the first coat doesn’t adhere. It may well look good for a while or possibly start bubbling in situ if there is condensation, but when you go to paint again in future, it will almost certainly lift the first coat off the wall and ruin the lot.

    You *do not* paint straight on and you *do not* apply PVA as it behaves in the same way as painting straight on. The above post is wrong. It may appear okay to start with but it isn’t a stable first coat.

    Also, white paint is hard to cover - nearly as hard as black, so depending on what colour the room is going to be, you’re really better off just watering down the actual colour as it will start to act as a thin first coat. I’m not sure there is a true saving to be made using white anyway when it’s already half water and it does make a start on the colour of the room.

    I'll quote the right post.

    you MUST mist coat if you value a good, long term finish.

    (I however use white!)
  • EachPenny
    EachPenny Posts: 12,239 Forumite
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    Doozergirl wrote: »
    If you paint straight on with the paint, the plaster sucks the moisture straight out of the paint and the first coat doesn’t adhere. It may well look good for a while or possibly start bubbling in situ if there is condensation, but when you go to paint again in future, it will almost certainly lift the first coat off the wall and ruin the lot.

    You *do not* paint straight on and you *do not* apply PVA as it behaves in the same way as painting straight on. The above post is wrong. It may appear okay to start with but it isn’t a stable first coat.

    This ^^^ is the best advice you are going to get. It might sound like hassle doing a 'mist coat' (which is just watered down paint) but it ensures your expensive paint will stick on the wall. The hassle involved in dealing with bubbled paint if you ignore this advice is 10x anything you might experience with doing it properly.

    The other advice is make sure the plaster is properly (and evenly) dried before painting it - most people are desperate to finish the job and so apply paint when the plaster is still too wet. This also causes headaches later.
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  • I'll say what I always say in these threads.

    You do need to mist coat. The standard way is watered down contract (non-vinyl) matt. Nobody ever seems to agree on how much you should dilute it by.

    Personally, I've always found Screwfix's Bare Plaster Paint to do an excellent job and it removes the hassle of adding water and mixing and worrying about how much water to add. I've done it both ways, the bare plaster paint has always given a superior result. There's not much difference in price. You can roll it straight on, it covers brilliantly, just try not to lay it on too thick.

    I like to give it two coats. Once the first coat is on, you'll be able to do any snagging - lightly sanding any over-polished spots that the paint won't stick too, filling any bad trowel marks or small imperfections etc. as it will be much easier to see. A second coat might not always be necessary. Two coats of your top coat once it's dry.

    Never, ever, use PVA.
  • lauraland
    lauraland Posts: 1,677 Forumite

    Personally, I've always found Screwfix's Bare Plaster Paint to do an excellent job and it removes the hassle of adding water and mixing and worrying about how much water to add.

    I second this, far less messy than using watered down paint!
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  • bery_451
    bery_451 Posts: 1,814 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Any good deals at the moment with paint?
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