You may also wonder whether you should use a PVA. By painting first with a contract matt, you allow this to occur before you apply your final decorative coat of paint, which is often much more expensive. If you apply an emulsion paint to completely dry plaster, it may not form the same quality of basecoat. As well as this, contract matt forms an excellent base coat for further topcoats of paint. This can cause cracks in the wall that take time to show. One of the benefits of painting first with a contract matt is that often with new plaster in new build homes, it can take time for any settlement to occur. Firstly, you may be wondering why you could not just wait for the plaster to dry completely before painting? This is an option if this suits you. There are a number of questions that you may be asking. To make a mist coat, simply dilute your contract matt with some water, anywhere from 10% to 30%. Zinsser Gardz for example is a fantastic interior primer and sealer that creates a moisture resistant film that seals and binds down absorbent, chalky or crumbling surfaces, allowing them to be painted. Primers can also be used, especially if it is a previously damaged plaster wall.

The added moisture loosens that paint and allows the porous plaster to absorb some of this coat, thus preventing it from absorbing subsequent coats of paint.

The contract matt is applied in what is known as a mist coat first, which is a diluted coat of paint that acts as a priming layer. This initial coating of contract matt acts as a primer for the wall, which can then be painted on with the paint of choice for your decorating project, once enough time has passed for any moisture to have escaped. This means that it can be applied to plaster that has not been completely dried, allowing any moisture that has not dried to escape from the plaster. Furthermore, contract matt is permeable, which means it allows moisture to breathe through the paint film once applied. This makes them cheaper than other interior paints, meaning they are used by landlords and builders in newly plastered houses in order to have a painted surface.

Contract matt is a cheaper version of vinyl emulsion paints as they contain less polymer binders in their formulation.

This is for a number of reasons, which include cost and moisture. If you do not let the plaster dry before applying emulsion paint to the plaster, the paint will peel and flake off the wall as paint and moisture do not go well together.ĭue to the fact that newly plastered walls cannot be painted using certain paints until they are completely dry, contract matt is the best paint to use. For this reason, it is not as simple as painting the wall with any emulsion paint that is designed to be used on interior walls & ceilings. Once a room is fully plastered, it can take up to four weeks for it to completely dry. It helps to create a smooth finish that gives walls, ceilings and other structures a hard base that can be decorated. Plaster is a combination of sand and cement that is used to line walls ready for decorating. By doing this, you are able to make informed decisions on what is the best course of action. The first stage of any decorating project is understanding the surface you are trying to paint.

Painting on wet plaster