Is the plaster sealer sold in bottles and tins, eg B&Q Interior Plaster Sealer, just an expensive way of buying water with a bit of PVA mixed in? Couldn't I just use say a 1:3 PVA:water mix? Would one coat be enough on new plaster before painting?
I recently coated a whole, newly-plastered house with 1:4 PVA at the behest of the plasterer, and it was a disaster. It rendered the surface impermeable, sort of non-stick, and the newly applied emulsion could be scraped off with fingernails after it had dried. Next time I'll use diluted, cheap white emulsion as I always have in the past.
David
In message , Lobster writes
Yep, I always use diluted white emulsion for the sealing coat. i've noticed that where PVA is on the wall (the plasterers used it when doing coving) that the film of the paint layer seems very thin with no covering power so it looks like you'd need another coat anyway.
I note on the Dulux Trade emulsion they just say to seal bare plaster with dilute emulsion, it's only on the tins of 'consumer' paint that they seem to mention the plaster sealer.
Use Dulux Trade White Supermatt, diluted 25% water, 75% paint. Follow by 2 coats of coloured Dulux Trade Supermatt. This paint is specifically formulated to enable new plaster to breathe. Personally, I wouldn't use anything PVA, or even use a standard vinyl emulsion.
In message , Lobster writes
Why do we have to do this anyway? I've just had new french doors fitted to the lounge and have never painted over fresh plaster before. Unfortunately I was halfway through painting the new plaster before I remembered most people apply dilute emulsion to seal it. I still have the rest of the new conservatory to paint so will go the dilute route with that, but the small bit I did with full strength emulsion seems fine - so why use dilute at all?
The paint will come off in great sheets if the plaster isn't prepared properly first. Not sure how long it will take, but it happened in a house I moved into. Stripping the remains of the paint left pristine plaster underneath!
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