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We’re waiting to paint our new plaster walls (blueboard with a skim coat) and are getting a huge range of advice on how long to wait. The contractor says a couple weeks; the nosy neighbors say a month; the guy from Home Depot says 60 days. I read in some book or another that advised six months, but that was for ‘real’ plaster walls, so I’m hoping it doesn’t count.
So, how long should we wait? The house is in N.E., where it’s getting pretty dry, so that should help the walls dry out quicker. The plaster’s been up about three weeks.
Thanks!
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Paint it for drying outloud !
Three weeks, we usually paint after three days to a week depending on conditions, with skim coat. The most important thing is not to dry it too fast with a lot of heat as the plaster will not cure right and you will get a lot of little tiny cracks. The plaster is only 1/8" thick .. They didn't soak the blue board... it's ready already.
The contractor said three weeks, did the plasterer say three weeks ? No houses would ever get built if we had products like that . Home Depot said 60 days, don't buy your paint there, go to a real paint store and they'll tell you whats what.
*Thank you! I suspected we were safe to paint, but not being an expert, it's good to have back-up. Actually, the contractor said we could paint at one to two weeks; foolishly, I didn't ask the plasterer what his recommendation was. And no way would I buy paint at HD. I tend to like Benjamin Moore.
*Try this link (http://www.ornamentalplaster.com/boards/board.brew?noframes&read=404) and the remainder of the thread for a little info.
*FWIW, USG claims you can "possibly" paint skimcoat blueboard the next day...http://www.usg.com/proplast/p04.htm
*Andrew, as you know, it's a problem I wish I had...Stuck with drywall, Mongo
*Hey, Mongo, and others who might care, the plasterer I talked to the other day recommended skimcoating the entire wall with compound as an alternative. I had just tried this on a patch at home, deliberately making it blotchy (comes naturally to me) to parallel the existing plaster, and when painted it really looks pretty decent. If you want to sound cool, this is spec'd as a "Level 5 finish" for the most demanding applications of drywall, because it best hides joints and such. Of course, it could be sanded smooth too. As recently as a week or two ago I didn't like the look a whole lot on a larger project nearby, but you know how when you just want to get on with your life, your taste becomes more flexible?Blueboard still offers a strength and impact-resistance advantage from the plaster's contribution, particularly when a two-coat system is used. You can also skip taping it in many cases.
*You don't have to tape it?
*No, not 16"oc or double-layered. See http://www.usg.com for info on "veneer plaster systems."Oh, I bookmarked it: http://www.usg.com/proplast/p06.htm