Hi All, is it normal for a plasterer to paint the edges and corners of walls with what i believe to be PVA? I've let the plaster dry, applied a mist coat and also a first coat of emulsion. Around the edges of the walls and ceiling and on some obvious splatter/drop marks the paint just won't stick. The plasterer said he uses a pva mix and that it's normal but I'm left with a very patchy wall.
I've thought about using Zinsser 123 over the areas but I've 5 rooms to do and it doesn't feel right to have to do that. He's about to start room 3 and I need to tell him to stop with the pva.
Any help or advice would be much appreciated, thank you
Are you a tradesperson and able to answer this question?
Yes it is normal for plasters to paint pva around the edges personally I just use a roller and roll pva all over but what has probably happened is he has kept brushing the edges to much With water when he was plastering And troweling which sometimes stops the paint from sticking try painting a strip of stain block or gloss around edges then once dried paint normal or next time hire me lol
Plaster can be sealed for painting with a VERY (c.5%) thin PVA solution but I have always preferred a mist coat or two. Brick walls are often treated with a PVA solution before plastering. Either of these processes will leave splatters of PVA on woodwork etc which have to be cleaned off with a wet sponge or sandpaper before going any further with the painting.
If he's doing the whole room it should all be done at the beginning. If he's going on to a new set of walls, it should just require a wetting (not PVA)along the top and at the sides, especially if the adjacent wall has just been finished (same day or day before). If it's a few days apart, soak at the start and during. The crusts at ceiling edge and onto the other walls can be worked back in or shaved off as he is doing the new walls.
If he is re-skimming an existing ceiling for example then yes he needs to PVA it before skimming, the PVA kills the suction and helps bond the new plaster to the existing surface, if he doesn’t PVA the ceiling then the plaster will set too fast and potentially crack and flake off
