All renovation or home improvement projects reach a point where you need to paint the walls. There are a few things you need to know and do before painting a wall that has been plastered. So how do I go about doing the painting?
Follow these 7 steps to get a professional finish.
Things you’ll need
A dust sheet
Water-based paint and water
(or) Oil-based paint (including bathroom or kitchen paint) and PVA adhesive
A bucket
A paint stirrer
Paint brushes or rollers
Paint trays
Firstly, you have to make sure the plaster is fully dry. It can take anywhere from three weeks in a hot environment to several months if the wall has been fully plastered, with two or three coats of plaster. On average it takes about six weeks.
Clean all dust and debris off the plaster, and lay down dust sheets to protect the floor.
The porousness of the wall means you have to seal the surface first. Create a sealant by combining four parts water-based paint with water, or by mixing four parts of an oil-based emulsion with a PVA adhesive. If you are painting a bathroom or a kitchen, use an oil-based paint or one specially formulated for bathrooms or kitchens. Don’t be tempted to skip this step. Plaster is so porous that it will suck the moisture out of your paint, causing the paint to dry out and flake off
Mix the liquid thoroughly.
Paint this mixture on the walls as you would normally paint a wall. This thinned paint will fill in the pores in the wall, and if you listen closely, you can sometimes hear the wall sucking up the liquid.
You can apply another coat when the first is dry if you want, but it is rarely necessary.
If you want to paint the plaster before it has fully dried, use a microporous paint, which is designed to have tiny pores that allow the plaster to dry properly. Though this paint will cover the look of the plaster, it is usually recommended that you coat the microporous paint with regular emulsion once the plaster has fully dried.
Paint the wall as usual.
If it goes wrong
The most common problem with this type of project is painting before the plaster is completely dry, and this can be a costly mistake. The paint forms a skin over the plaster, which means the moisture can’t evaporate properly. The moisture will retreat back into the wall, which results in one of two outcomes: it either develops mould or it reacts with the salts in the wall to form efflorescence. Getting rid of mould in walls usually involves tearing out sections of the wall which are mouldy, letting the wall dry out and then repairing the wall – which will inevitably require you to paint over plaster again. Efflorescence occurs when the salts in the wall dissolve in water and then, as the water evaporates, forms a deposit on the wall. It discolours the paint on a painted surface, and it can’t be painted over, as it prevents the paint from sticking to the wall. Luckily, efflorescence can usually be brushed off, but unluckily, you will have to wait to make sure the wall is completely dried out and any subsequent efflorescence has been removed before attempting to paint again.
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