Painting after plastering

[SiG]

How soon can I paint after a skim coat of plaster and do I need to do anything to seal the plaster first?

Thanks in anticipations Simon.

[Phil Anthropist]

This time of the year (still cold) then to be on the safe side I would allow up to 2 weeks to dry properly, and prime with diluted emulsion as stated on the can.

Phil

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[SiG]

Thanks Phil ! I just wondered because I've been watching them on DIY SOS and they seem to plaster then paint as soon as it seems touch dry !

Thanx Simon :-)

[EricP]

Hence you sometimes hear the words: "It fell down a fortnight after they finished".

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

Use a one coat paint and make the first coat diluted and then a normal coat can be applied 24 hours after the plaster has dried.

[Andrew Gabriel]

You can buy paint specially for this purpose (although I doubt very much that's what they actually use on such programmes). It's a very porous emulsion paint.

[Rob graham]

Well, I did this about 20 years ago and it's still OK! Been overpainted since.

Rob Graham

[Dan Evans]

I'd leave it a week - but depends on how dry it looks. Depends on how thick the coat is. If just a skim (1/4"), 3-4 days may be enough. Turn the heating up or get a small fan heater in there for a few days if you want to speed it up.

Don't paint before its fully dry - I did once and it left a strange unattractive finish on the final coat of paint, even after repainting.

To prime, just use watered-down emulsion. Probably get away with normal emulsion if you only want to do one coat.

--Dan.

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

Wrong! never ever speed up the drying process of a skimmed plastered wall with a blower heater or any other form of heating as this will result in the plaster cracking the plaster is also known to crack on old crumbly wall type plaster.

[Dan Evans]