How to paint a newly plastered wall

One of the most satisfying moments in a building or renovation project, after all the chaos and mess of months living or working in a building site, is the sight of freshly plastered walls. It’s that pivotal point where you see the home straight in the project and you realise that everything is looking like it was finally worth it.

When the plaster is perfectly smooth and the plasterer has left with his hawk and trowel, you see the plaster slowly start to dry and lighten bringing light and life into your interior space. Before we answer the question of how do you paint a newly plastered wall, we need to ensure it is properly dried out and prepped.

Valspar Paint

Start with a dry plastered wall

It is absolutely essential that you ensure the plaster is dry before even considering painting a plastered wall. Fresh plaster contains more moisture than you’d expect. Painting a freshly plastered wall before it is properly dried out will trap this moisture and flaking, peeling and bubbling.

To dry out plaster, open windows to improve air circulation. If you can, plug in a dehumidifier to draw the moisture out of the plaster or set up a fan on cool to accelerate the drying process. Hwe long it takes to dry depends on the plaster type and its thickness. Usually, it will take up to a month for a fully plastered wall to dry out but only up to a week for a skim coat.

YourHomeStyle

Tools needed for painting a plastered wall

Once your walls are a light pink colour all over, they are fully dried out. Now you need to assemble all the decorating tools you will need to start painting a newly plastered wall:

• Dust sheets and masking tape.
• Sugar soap.
• 120-180 grit Sandpaper.
• Rollers, roller pole and paint tray.
• Paint brushes.
• Mist coat of diluted emulsion paint.
• Matt or silk emulsion.

Homebuilding & Renovating

Preparing for painting a plastered wall

Any professional decorator will tell you that achieving the perfect finish when painting a plastered wall, or any wall, is all in the prep. You need to remove any dust and imperfections before starting.

Start by checking carefully for any cracks or small holes. Fill any you find with a good quality filler, then sand flat. Next, taking some 120-180 grit sandpaper, carefully and lightly sand the surface of the plaster to take out any rough imperfections. Now you need to clean the wall to remove any dust with a cloth or damp sponge. If you were wanting to paint an older plastered wall, you might want to use sugar soap to remove any stubborn marks.

Finally, to avoid splattering or drippling paint on door frames, skirting boards or sockets and switches, you need to lay down some dust sheets and apply masking tape. Now you are finally ready to start.

AB Drylining

Painting a newly plastered wall

With the surface now dry, smooth, free of dirt and everything masked off and protected, it’s time to apply a mist coat to your freshly plastered wall.

Mist Coat

Fresh plaster is extremely porous and will soak up paint immediately and make it costly and difficult to paint. A mist coat of watered down emulsion paint acts as a primer and will give your paint something to bind to stop it peeling.

To create a mist coat, buy a good matt emulsion – preferably trade quality – and mix in the ratio of 7 parts paint and 3 parts water. If you plaster is highly porous, you can mix paint and water in equal amounts.

Apply your mist coat in one even coat using a roller for the larger areas and brushes for the edges, then leave to dry overnight. Don’t worry if your mist coat looks patchy – that’s perfectly normal.

Promain Paints

Topcoats

If you need help deciding which finish of paint you need, here’s a handy guide to emulsion paints:

Matt – great for walls, ceilings and hiding any imperfections.

Silk & Satin – has a slight sheen, is washable and perfect for busy areas.

Eggshell – less of a sheen but is durable making it ideal for bathrooms and kitchens.

For your first coat, start with a thin coat with a roller. Ensure it is even and for corners and edges, use a brush. You’ll need to let it dry for approximately 5 hours. Next apply your second coat in the same way as the first coat and allow to dry fully.

You can tell by sight if you need to apply another coat, however, rule of thumb (and to help with ordering and buying the quantity of paint you need), you’re likely to need two coats for light colours and three for darker paints.

The Big Idea

Don’t cut corners

If you want the perfect finish and even coverage, it’s important that you don’t cut corners or skip any steps in our guide. Patience will pay off and you will be left with beautiful, smoother, longer-lasting results.

Other painting tips

How to remove paint from a wall – to strip paint from a wall you can use a chemical paint stripper or a heat gun to soften the paint and then a scraper to scrape off paint before sanding.

How to plaster a painted wall – scrape off any loose paint then clean the painted wall with sugar soap. Apply a PVA bonding layer and allow to dry before plastering.

How to fix chipped paint on a wall – first clean the area around the chip, sand the edges and fill the chip with filler before sanding smooth and painting over.

How to edge a wall with paint – known as “cutting in”, this technique involves gently wiggling your loaded brush tip along the edge to create a clean, straight line. Use masking tape if you you’re not confident enough to cut in.

Little House on the Corner

We’re here to help

If you’ve any queries about painting freshly plastered walls, or want any additional information about the decorating tools we sell at Howarth, please visit your local Howarth branch, or contact our customer services on 01472 907051.

You can also explore our range of decorating tools here, or you can even visit us in branch for more information.