Question for the decorators?

So we have new plaster on new plasterboard on new walls in a new extension. New is the topic of the day...
Plaster's been on for two weeks and the summer sun has dried it all out nicely, but the walls have a serious veneer of wood-dust as a result of the other kitchen work.

So, I think I'm going to;

1. Wipe all the walls down with a damp cloth (not a wet one!)
2. Paint with a mist coat of 50/50 water and matt emulsion
3. Let it dry
4. Two coats of matt emulsion (white)

Is that the plan? Any other tips?

that is perfect 3 coats is even better especially on the ceilings

get good quality paint too

'kin hate painting ceilings. My wimpy arms get tired after the first three minutes.

But - you're right - better to get it done right now, before the skirts, worktops and floor is in!

Cheers, cheffy

Quote: 123hotchef wrote in post #3

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get good quality paint too

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Roger that

But I read to buy any old crap for the mist coat, though?

don't forget the pics

I've been doing daily shots of the outside build so I can do a time-lapse video

Will try to get some pics of the inside during the process. If anyone has ever tried to photograph rooms you'll realise that even a typical "wide angle" 28mm lens doesn't get the full pic. When we sold our house I borrowed a mate's £2k Nikon D1 and 8mm lens to do the pics - made all the rooms seem so much larger

tell me about it so hard to photo rooms.
need 4 pics one from each corner.

is painting plaster and being plastered different? Cos I am slowly getting plastered!!

me too

good job we aint clay shooting Lee!!

Quote: 123hotchef wrote in post #11

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me too

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hee hee cunning plan as baldrick would say!!

Don't you paint it first with a 50/50 mix of water and pva.

Or am I thinking of something else...?

Quote: paulw wrote in post #12

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good job we aint clay shooting Lee!!

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no pva just paint and water pva would mess up the finish

Yeah - "the internet" had some folks talking water and PVA but a lot more people screaming "Noooooooo....."

So water and matt emulsion it is.

Quote: 123hotchef wrote in post #16

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Quote: paulw wrote in post #12

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good job we aint clay shooting Lee!!

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wrong answer we might hit something if we were!

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Quote: ColinTheCop wrote in post #15

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Don't you paint it first with a 50/50 mix of water and pva.

Or am I thinking of something else...?

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Cool - so as I was at post #1 ^^^^ and buy decent paint for the real coats?
And don't forget the roof...

Quote: skotl wrote in post #4

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'kin hate painting ceilings. My wimpy arms get tired after the first three minutes.

But - you're right - better to get it done right now, before the skirts, worktops and floor is in!

Cheers, cheffy

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I'm in awe of plasterers, Daz. Honestly - no taking the p*** - I can turn my hand to woodwork, electrical and the odd bit of car-tinkering. And I can polyfilla a 3" hole.
But watching the guys swathe over entire walls and ceilings and it coming out completely smooth and flat is incredible.

A real art

Firstly, I'd expect your plasterer has sealed the skim coat with a good 'polishing coat'. The 'polishing coat' prevents dust and any other cr*p sucking into the walls. To touch the wall should feel like glass and you should see refection in it. If not and the finish is matt and dull but smooth that is good also, you have to wipe it with a 'DRY' cloth. freshly plastered walls should ideally be a matt smooth finish. I take from your first post the walls suction has sucked every bit of 'dust' into it!?

If he final 'polishing coat' has been over polished and is very shiny the paint/water mixture or pva/water mix will slide and have trouble absorbing into the wall. You'll have to liberally build a couple or more coats before the neat emulsion.

I have tried lots of different methods to seal walls and after 25+ years as a fully qualified plasterer I still use a mixture of 5:1 water/pva x 2 coats. It is most effective IMO and costs you less than cheap paints. Other may disagree, it is my opinion only.

I have just built and painted the loft (3 x bedrooms, shower room and stairway) all painted in Crown white matt emulsion (15ltr). I tried the 50:50 cheap emulsion / water, (Not cheap, Crown white matt emulsion again...) IMO its a false economy; I painted the stairway / downstairs dining room and it took forever and a lot of paint. It wasn't cheap either, the internal corners had more watered down coats and they looked grey in comparison to the rest of the walls.

Take from what you read and if anything I have added helps you = result.

Thanks Paul.

The finish is smooth and glasslike. The dust that's on it is not from the plaster, but very fine wood-dust from the other work that's been going on in the same area (everything else, including this laptop, is coated in it too!).
Do you think I should dry or damp wipe that dust off, then?

Assuming the dust is wood, then, do you still think it's worth going 5::1 water::pva? More than happy to try the expert's advice