Cure time before painting drywall

Oct 07, 2008 11 Replies

I did something unusual for me. . . . Actually read the paint can before priming my newly installed drywall. It says I should wait 30 days for the wall to cure. I've never done that and never had a problem. I've always just waited for the shade of moisture to disappear from the mud and then painted. Never have had a problem with wear or cohesion. What am I missing?



Dennis


The fact that a lawyer wrote the warning???

Lou

I've never waited that long either with good results even when I used the heavy (green pail) mud. Run a dehumidifier in the room for 5 days if not sure.

I've seen standard 30 day cure advice for new plaster and masonry. Is this a latex primer specifically for new drywall? Oil base? Brand?

I have never had a problem where regular, pre-mixed mud was used.

I have experienced some minor problems when the setting type mud was used. I suspect that a wait time for that is advisable.

For sure I know you need to let new plaster cure. Maybe not the full 30 but at least 14 days of dry air.

Colbyt

If mud is thoroughly dry go for it, maybe less than a day , depends on temp-humidity conditions. 30 days is for real plaster and concrete not USG drywall compound.

PVA latex drywall primer from Ace Hardware

Since my experience on and off for 25 years tells me not to worry about it, and others have similar experience, that's what I'll do. I'll wait a couple days for good measure.

Thanks, All.

Dennis

If it's been sanded, and smoothed, then it's dry enough to paint.

s

Waiting 30 days for a "cure" is absolutely ridiculous, especially since normal air-dry joint compound doesn't "cure" anyway. It doens't matter though, because if anything the curing type of joint compound can be painted over even faster - that is part of the point of it.

Anyway, I'd definitely wait a little long for the "shade of moisture" to disappear. I'd wait until it was really dry, normally at least 24 hours depending on temp and humidity. But even if you didn't wait, it shouldn't cause a problem since these are both water-based air-dry components. It would still finish drying even if painted over.

Anyway, wait a day and then go for it, less than a day if in a pinch.

Most of my projects were at a leisurely pace. I liked to let stuff dry for a long time, sometimes up to two weeks. But that was scheduling, and not intentional. As said, you can paint a lot sooner than thirty days. I like to leave it dry for at least a couple of days, more if I forget.

Steve

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