Paint for new plaster

[SteveEB]

I've had the walls in my lounge re-plastered (skimmed over artex) 4 weeks ago and have bought some Dulux Supermatt to paint them. However, I've been told that Supermatt is not very hard wearing and will mark up much more easily than normal matt paint. I'd rather not have to re- paint them sooner than absolutely necessary so was wondering whether to wait a bit longer for the walls to dry out (the plasterer says 6 weeks). What do you think? Is Supermatt ok? Or do I really need to wait before using normal paint? I'd appreciate your advice.

Steve

[Andrew Gabriel]

If it was just a skim coat, I would say wait for a week after it looks dry (gone back light colour). If it was a scratch (under-) coat too, then I would wait longer. Matt paint can breathe, but if you are using a silk or gloss paint, then it's even more important that the plaster is fully dry.

You need to use a special first coat on bare plaster, otherwise the first coat will likely come off, usually when you are putting the second coat on or shortly after you've finished the painting. You can get special paints for this, but watered down matt emulsion works very well too. Don't use PVA though.

[Beemer]

Steve,

I have just finished painting my new extension with Dulux new plaster paint. It goes on very well with either roller or brush and has very good covering power. Yes it does mark easily and you cannot wet it to remove marks as it disolves easily. Lastly I was aware that this is very expensive paint.

regards,

Beemer