Dilute paint or PVA for bare plaster (even if old paster) General decorating topics, questions and answers. find help, tips and advice on completing your decorating projects

[LouiseSW]

Please help
I had my bathroom plastered 4 years ago, and I can't recall if I used dilute emulstion or PVA however hairline cracks have appeared so I am scrapping off and starting again.

The last thing I want to do is to have to go through this process again, so my question is do I PVA or just use dilute (10%)?

Dulux tin instructions seem to say go either way!

Confused

[theshedman]

Hi Louise, personally I would use the diluted emulsion as PVA can cause problems. Why do you need to remove all the paint to do the cracks. Just fill in the cracks and then paint it again. If you are able to peel it off then it hasn't sealed properly. If you are taking all the paint off you may need to dilute it by more than 10% for it to seal properly.

[chris_on_tour2002]

for sealing new plaster prior to painting i always use an approximate 60:35:5 mix ratio of emulsion:water:pva glue. sticks like the proverbial.

the difference is adding the pva to the water then add that solution to the paint. if you try to paint on top of pva it will crack up, no matter how weak the solution.