Plaster and Painting issue on a New Build

newtothisgame

Hi there. We are coming to the end of a New build and hoping to move in to our new home in the coming weeks. The plaster walls have been drying out since early summer and the heating has been on for nearly two months now so internal plaster is well dried out. We have had a construction company handle the entire job for us and have been very pleased with their work.

The internal walls of the house are mainly block with the odd stud wall here and there. The block walls were scudded throughout and then sand and cement plaster coated. The plaster walls on completion were smooth to the touch and a great finish.

We hired our own painter to paint the walls for us- he is someone who we've used before having painted our previous house some years back and did a superb job. The painter first coated using an emulsion especially for New Builds onto the walls and ceilings. The ceilings are a perfect finish but the walls have not turned out so well. In the early stages the painter told us the plaster finish wasn't great in places but that he'd keep sanding away and see what happens. He then advised us to go for two layers of Matte paint instead of Vinyl to hide the irregular surface and mapping that was occurring. He said Vinyl silk or soft sheen would show up the irregularities too much. I didn't realise it was so serious otherwise Id have flagged it with the builder earlier. But a couple of weeks into the job, the painter called us in to say something isn't right, the walls are getting worse and he can't continue.

The walls are showing bizarre swish/ swoosh marks up to the left and right- like the mark of a sponge or trowel. The painter is saying that every layer of paint he tries to paint is mixing with a dust coming off the plaster below and although he sands it back, the trowel/ sponge marks reappear every time. Its also worrying that the paint is very easily sanded off once dry and turns to a dust on the floor.

We have one or two rooms that are perfect, and the rest of the house has these strange marks on the lower part of the walls. The tops of the walls near the ceilings are perfect. Is this a result of two plasterers ( i.e one on stilts with one style, the other on the ground with another style?) or is it the painters technique or paint itself? Is it irregularities in the plaster or an alkali reaction of some sort? Who knows??

The builder says its the painters fault for bad prepping and the painter is saying the opposite- a fault in the plaster application or at least the plaster itself. We are at a loss as to finding a solution. Its just so disappointing and the walls do not look like those of a fresh new house.

Sorry for the big long essay..... but any useful advice on what its likely to be would be really welcome. Il try and post some photos with this if I can. Thank you.

fred funk }{

Pics?

newtothisgame

Im a new user, Boards won't allow me to post photos yet

CarrickMcJoe

I'd side with the painter, properly plastered walls in a new build should only need a light sanding to de-nib them and you should be able to apply any finish on without the wave marks showing.
Use Fleetwood's extra cover for first coat, these special first coat paints are glorified dishwater...

newtothisgame

Thanks CarrickMcJoe

BarneyMc

Are you spraying the paint on? I had a painter spray the entire house with 2 coats of matt. It went on perfectly. I told them to leave some areas that I was going to tile but I didn't tile them so had to apply the 2 coats with a roller. This was a disaster as it showed up the mapping. I had to sand down these areas and re-apply with a brush/roller which turned out ok in the end. I feel your pain!