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Painting & Decorating

Painting problems if a kitchen is cooked in when it has fresh, unpainted plaster?

Anonymous user 01/03/2024 - 2.53 PM

We have had a new kitchen fitted and as part of this the walls and ceiling have been given a skim coating of plaster (the ceiling also had new plasterboard fitted). The walls in the adjacent dining room are also going to be skimmed with plaster so that the whole back of the house looks fresher. Ideally we would paint the kitchen and the dining room at the same time (they are next to each other with an open archway between them and we are going to use the same colour in both). However, it will be a fortnight before the plasterer can come back to do the dining room. If we leave the kitchen plaster bare and use the hob (with splashback) and ovens will the steam/splatter/grease cause problems when we come to paint the plaster? Would we better to put the mist coat on the kitchen plaster now, then a mist coat on the dining room in a fortnight and then a final top coat on everything at the same time. I am concerned about a drying line between the two mist coats but we might manage to stop and start the archway or corner of the room?

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2 Answers

Anonymous user

If you get grease plashes on the plaster this will cause emulsion to separate and most likely cause trouble in the future as it could eventually bleed through a finished coat of emulsion. I would recommend priming the plaster with 2 coats of watered down (around 30% water) emulsion or a dedicated first coat emulsion or make the second coat a vinyl emulsion as this is wipeable and less absorbent. Do not use vinyl silk if your finish is to be matt. You can also prime with a PVA bond although this is not recommended as too strong a mix can cause the surface to become less absorbent and therefore the paint will not adhere properly and 'craze'. You would generally only need do this a couple of feet around the cooking area for a temporary measure. Any oil/grease on the walls after painting can then be wiped with soapy water, sugar soap (likely the best option) or lightly sanded. Hope this helps.

Answered7 October 2015

Plastering and Painting Specialist

Rating: 5 out of 5

Ashford, Kent

You could still mist coat. Yes you might be able to see the difference between the mist coats where you start and stop but it wont matter as your going to put on 2 or 3 top coats of your desired colour. The guy above is right about it crazing up etc if grease gets onto the wall and its not ideal having to then sugar soap etc as there new walls. Could you simply just mist coat what you can and maybe put some tin foil against the wall or something like that, unsightly i know but its only temporary after all - just to catch any grease splats etc. Hope it helps

Answered7 May 2017