Painting newly plastered ceilings

richieboy · 13 Oct 2015 at 08:08

Morning.

Had our ceilings skimmed last week and are looking good, definitely dry now...

I'm now looking at what paint to use, and how to do it - plasterer recommended first doing a mist coat with a third ish water to paint, does everyone agree with that? A friend of mine said he used an oil based primer on his new plaster, but i'm thinking the plasterer (being a plasterer), is the man to trust.

Also, i'm not entirely sure which paint to use - i'm really trying to avoid that kind of patchy look you can get so was looking at Dulux Trade matt white paint, but read some bad reviews about bubbling and stuff so am not sure what to get. I'm beaming with pride on my lovely smooth ceilings (been waiting 7 years to do them!) and really don't want to screw up painting them!

So, can anyone recommend a good paint, ideally matt white, and whether to go for mist coat or primer?

Thanks

rossk26 · 13 Oct 2015 at 08:24

My dad's friend who's been in the trade for over 40 years plastered my house. He advised on a 50/50 mix for the first coat. Worked out a treat too, I just used standard Dulux.

Just be warned, with a watered down mix, and using a roller, it goes everywhere!! Even worse if it's a ceiling, you'll be Michael Jackson when you're done.

koooowweeee · 13 Oct 2015 at 09:49

It's bad enough painting with normal paint never mind watered down.

Buy a roller with a splatter guard.

Maccapacca · 13 Oct 2015 at 10:10

50 / 50 pee coat to start. Make sure it's very dry and you've scraped off the low spots.

Use a carrier bag on your head

£15 · 13 Oct 2015 at 10:17

If a quality finish is priority then I would be leaving it longer than a week, even if it looks dry.

Do as the plasterer advises - use a mist coat. The internet is full of 'How To...' on the matter.

You can also buy paint speciifically for new plaster.

Skiddley · 13 Oct 2015 at 11:49

Sprayed mine (entire house) with dulux super matt trade.

2x mist coats (1/3 water), 2x finish coats (1/5 water).

Look perfect.

richieboy · 13 Oct 2015 at 11:51

rossk26 said:
I just used standard Dulux.

So not worth going for trade, just the standard Dulux Pure Brillant White:

koooowweeee said:
Buy a roller with a splatter guard.

Nice idea, hadn't thought of that.

maccapacca said:
50 / 50 pee coat to start. Make sure it's very dry and you've scraped off the low spots.

Low spots?

richieboy · 13 Oct 2015 at 11:53

Skiddley said:
Sprayed mine (entire house) with dulux super matt trade.

2x mist coats (1/3 water), 2x finish coats (1/5 water).

Look perfect.

Oooh spraying is a nice idea, although when you say entire house...did you literally spray everything (as in walls) or did you have to seal/mask up everything that you didn't want to be white?

Skiddley · 13 Oct 2015 at 11:56

Both. Did walls too. But yes, had to mask. House was empty, would not do it otherwise.

Still, the paint recommendation stands. Top stuff.

a1ex2001 · 13 Oct 2015 at 12:00

I recently painted two stories of our house from fresh plaster first coat was watered down Dulux trade super matt following the instructions it was 3 parts paint to 2 parts water this was the followed up with two more coats again slightly thinned following the instructions on the ceilings and two coats of the chosen colours on the walls.

I got splattered but it's all water based so just jump in the shower afterwards, I did everything walls included with a roller on a pole to minimise being up steps!

When our builder popped back to trim some doors after the carpet was fitted he asked who had done the painting as he assumed it was a pro so it must have looked decent!

Bare plaster is easy bare wood work is much more of a pain!

richieboy · 13 Oct 2015 at 12:04

Skiddley said:
Both. Did walls too. But yes, had to mask. House was empty, would not do it otherwise.

Still, the paint recommendation stands. Top stuff.

Yeah just looked at costs to hire the stuff, think i'll go with rollers but the super matt trade paint. Thanks.

richieboy · 13 Oct 2015 at 12:05

a1ex2001 said:
I recently painted two stories of our house from fresh plaster first coat was watered down Dulux trade super matt following the instructions it was 3 parts paint to 2 parts water this was the followed up with two more coats again slightly thinned following the instructions on the ceilings and two coats of the chosen colours on the walls.

That's another recommendation for the Dulux trade stuff, it's not that much more expensive so i'll go down that route, nice one thanks.

On another note, anyone ever tried using paint pads for this sort of thing - or better to go with a very short pile roller?

ScoobyDoo · 13 Oct 2015 at 12:06

I had my whole house re-plastered. Used a water downed mix of Screwfix trade matt emulsion and it went on fine and looked great after two top coats were applied.
I dont even know what mix i used, just kept on adding water until i thought it was the right mixture!.
It's not worth spending money on dulux etc for the mist coat.
Screwfix trade has good reviews and is far cheaper.

Skiddley · 13 Oct 2015 at 12:17

richieboy said:
That's another recommendation for the Dulux trade stuff, it's not that much more expensive so i'll go down that route, nice one thanks.

On another note, anyone ever tried using paint pads for this sort of thing - or better to go with a very short pile roller?

SP roller. Check the plaster over for snots\float scrapes etc first, and wipe down with a lightly damp cloth before you paint to get any dust off.

Think I was paying about £32 per 10 ltr tub. Went through over 100 liters!

Scrutinize · 13 Oct 2015 at 13:01

So, I painted our re plastered rooms including ceilings straight up out the tub and not watered down.

Leyland trade paint and Dulux both used, worked a treat and less mess. You don't have to water it down and don't skimp on the application if you don't.

Best practice is you do, but you don't have to. I painted ours within 48hours of plastering out of necessity. Been fine for 15 months so far.

Radec · 13 Oct 2015 at 13:33

I've just whacked on the B&Q brand before to save some money. And as far as white ceilings go; Couldn't tell any difference from the more expensive paints.

BigBoy · 13 Oct 2015 at 16:50

Don't bother paying top wack for dulux trade, get to screwfix and pick up 10ltrs of Leyland trade white for £15 top noch paint, done my entire house with it (mist coats and ceilings) very good paint to used, a pleasure even!

Oh and 50/50 mist coats either spray or roller making sure it's fully dry before doing another.

setter · 13 Oct 2015 at 21:09

Id reccomend this for new ceilings.

http://m.screwfix.com/p/leyland-trade-super-leytex-matt-paint-brilliant-white-15ltr/60248

Use this all the time at work in new builds. Great coverage, easy to apply even at full strength. Though id still reccomend thinning the first coat like others have mentioned.

Radec · 13 Oct 2015 at 21:41

BigBoy said:
Don't bother paying top wack for dulux trade, get to screwfix and pick up 10ltrs of Leyland trade white for £15 top noch paint, don't my entire house with it (mist coats and ceilings) very good paint to used, a pleasure even!

Oh and 50/50 mist coats either spray or roller making sure itâ fully dry before doing another.

+1
like I said. I find some cheaper paints to actually be quite good in quality.

JAzz · 14 Oct 2015 at 14:39

richieboy said:
So not worth going for trade, just the standard Dulux Pure Brillant White:

Trade is better stuff, so you could use that for the final coat.

Painting newly plastered ceilings

Tea Drinker