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We have two rooms to paint in our attic. They have just been plastered and so in the next few weeks we'll be looking to paint them. I understand they need one coat to seal them and one way to do this is to you use paint that has been thinned. What's the best way to do this? Would cheap emulsion as a base coat do the same thing? What brand of paints do people recommend for the subsequent coats?
I understand they need one coat to seal them and one way to do this is to you use paint that has been thinned. What's the best way to do this?
Er, thin the paint with water. I have used any old white emulsion for the mist coat.
First coat, very watered down, second coat, less watered down. Then paint as normal. All very tedious.
You are watering the paint down to allow it to sink into the plaster, rather than sucking in the water and leaving pigment on the surface.
Don't try to seal the plaster using pva
cheap matt white emulsion in big 20L buckets from builders merchant.
A sealer coat and then I like to do another full coat. givess deeper and richer finish for your colour coat.
You can buy plaster sealant, it's very watery, splashes everywhere and being completely translucent is difficult to see where it's been painted especially if you take a break and come back to it after it's started to dry out a bit. Thinned emulsion does the job just as well and is easier to work with.
Last time I had to do some painting I bought a rectangular paint bucket with ridges on the inside (like you find on a tray). Get decent quality rollers too.
Use 75%/25% paint/water white emulsion for the first coat and then 90%/10% for the second. Then another 2+ full colour coats on top of that.
Never use cheap paint it's a false economy - gives poor coverage and is more difficult to apply. Steer clear of own brand paints - they're rubbish, stick with well known brands like Dulux, Crown, Leyland, etc.
I've found the Leyland white emulsion in 20L buckets much better than the Crown paint I was using previously and it's pretty cheap at Screwfix. I've found a single coat of that thinned down till it's runny very effective and subsequent coats have gone on fine without being thinned. I mix it by eye but I'd estimate around 1/3rd water 2/3rds paint. One thing you might find is that the paint can craze or crack where you have used caulk in which case you need to thin the paint in those areas. It seems to be a problem with modern paints that contain a lot of filler but it's easy to get round and the coverage of the paint is excellent.
cheap matt white emulsion in big 20L buckets from builders merchant.
A sealer coat and then I like to do another full coat. givess deeper and richer finish for your colour coat.
+1
What they said....
I did one recently plastered room with watered down emulsion & several coats. It was a pain, but the result is very good.
When doing another room more recently, I found some emulsion that was advertised as being suitable for fresh plaster so thought i'd use that instead for the base coats. It was rubbish. The water content soaked into the wall really quickly & left behind thick layers of pigment that wouldn't move. In certain light, it is really obvious. I was tempted to sand it all off & start again, but the OH insisted it looks ok.