PLASTERERS ADVICE NEEDED.

[firefox]

have recently had full house plastered and skimmed top to bottom by a so called proffesional ...now with the bad weather we have had recently. i am seeing cracks all over the place. not major ones but all the same cracks i can do without.. so what i am asking is.. can i paint pva glue over the top of the cracks then paint over the lot again i have allready painted house top to bottom once.. but i did not use pva glue as cracks had not appeared ..i dont want the plasterer back at my house for obvious reasons and cant be 100 per cent sure if the plasterer had put pva in mixes in the beginning ..so needing a bit advice thanks..hope this is in the right section aswell ..ps dont think its down to subsidence or hope not cheers..just need info on pva ..

 

[rocket high]

thats a common thing to happen with fresh plaster ..my friends a plaster-er and it happens on occasion with him ... he told me to leave it for 6 months for all the plaster to dry crack and then give it a fill or skim .. and after thats dry ..go ahead and paint it ,there should be no more cracks after that .

 

[purplepig3]

hi firefox new plaster tends to crack for 1st 6 months or so as it drys out. if you had heating on soon after work was done can make it a bit worse like rocket said should be able to paint over cracks after that

 

[scoobie]

I agree ,Wait , Fill , (pollyfilla) Light sand, Paint , Simples !!

 

[WasntMe]

The skim coat was too thick and was dried too quick or if there was old plaster, then PVA should have been used FIRST.

In the winter, when heat and humidity vary so much, the skim coats should be done thinner with many more coats. They should also be sealing the rooms or house and setting up humidity and temp controls to control the speed of drying, like a controlled cure.... it's more work so many plaster guys don't do this except for high end companies because it cuts their profits to almost nothing. Instead they tend to change their plaster/compound mix slightly, slap on a single thick coat and hope for the best. And when it doesn't come out perfect they then come back in the spring/summer, more stable weather, to do touch ups.
Is what you got the right way of doing plaster in your situation? To me, No, but I work in the high end of construction ... mansions etc where people pay $$$$$ to get things done the right way by artists in their respective professions. What you got is, however, the most common way of professional plasters.

IMO Your house should not be thought of as a wedding cake.
This means, if the plaster looks like crap then no matter how much paint you put on top of it, it will still look like crap.

Also since it seems you painted over your plaster before it was properly dried so, unless you used a microporous paint to allow proper breathing and evaporation, you can expect a few things...
1. that over the next year or two you may see more cracking or further propagation of existing cracks.
2. potential mold issues.

PVA paint is meant to be used, if needed, on top of old plaster to make a moisture barrier before putting on new plaster. This keep the old plaster from sucking moisture from the new plaster and bring moisture deeper into the wall. This also means the new plaster will not be force dried by the undercoats of old plaster which causes cracking too.
DO NOT cover newly done plaster with PVA, this will lock moisture inside your walls and cause you many problems down the road. If someone recommends you to do this just stop talking to them all together about plaster or construction in general because they really don't know what they are talking about when it comes to protecting your house and family or doing things the right way.

After a plaster wall is fully and proper dried ... and you plan on using oil based paint for some reason then PVA sealer primer would be used on your plaster wall before your color coats. If you are not going with oil based paint the there is no need for PVA... there are more appropriate solutions available.

here is some info on some DIY sites that will help you out.

http://www.diyuniverse.com/tiling/70-pva
http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/paintnewplaster.htm


good luck
-WasntMe

 

[firefox]

many thanks lads info appreciated..