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Aftercare

So, you’ve had your walls and ceilings plastered, and want to decorate. Here’s what you need to know before you start to decorate!

Drying Times

Your new plaster usually dries in approximately 3 to 7 days, depending on the temperature of your home and how much ventilation you have. It is always best to allow your new plaster to dry naturally, and you may find that leaving a window slightly ajar aids the drying time and keeps any condensation down. We recommend not to put the central heating up too high in the plastered room during the first 48 hours, but let the drying take it’s natural time – this will aid in a stronger plaster bond.

Fresh plaster is dark brown in colour (sometimes black), and once completely dry it is a pale pink colour. To be certain your plaster is dry, rub your and on it and you should have a small ‘dust film’ on your fingers.

Preparing for Decorating:

Although we try our very best to prevent cracks from occurring, buildings do expand and contract with heat so it’s impossible to Guarantee against any fine cracking during the drying process. Should this happen, most ‘hairline’ cracks will be filled when decorating. However, should you want to ensure the cracks do not re-appear we suggest filling them with “Decorators Caulk”. This is available from all DIY stores, and costs about £1 per tube.

Finishing:

Again, it’s near impossible to deliver a ‘ready to decorate’ finish when plastering. In some areas (especially corners and wall joins}, we suggest running a small amount or Decorators Caulk along the edges, or lightly sanding prior to decorating. This will give a superb finish.

Sealing the New Plaster:

Before Wallpapering or Decorating, you will need to ‘seal’ the new plaster. New plaster walls and ceilings are highly absorbent, which means that if paint is applied directly onto its surface, it will absorb the moisture in the paint. This will likely cause the paint to bubble and flake off. Applying a sealant or a primer paint on new plaster will help paint adhere to the new plaster surface properly.

Make sure that the plaster is dry enough before proceeding with the steps below:

Step 1: Clean the surface
Make sure that the surface to be primed is clean and free of dust, dirt and oil. Lay down old newspapers or dust sheets on the floor to protect it from paint drippings.

Step 2: Mix the Sealant
Mix three parts of water-based paint (cheap emulsion paint will do) with one part water.
Mix two parts of PVA Adhesive with one part water ( should look like a Milky mixture).

Step 3: Add plaster sealant
Apply the sealant onto the plaster just like a regular paint (roller is faster). Two coats is recommended for the paint mix, but one coat will be ok with the PVA mix - both mixes are fine, it just depends on what you have in your garage/shed. Once dried, you are ready to Paint / Wallpaper!