How long does new plaster take to dry?
When you can paint, how to tell when it's ready, and why the first coat of paint should be a mist coat.
New plaster starts dark pink and turns an even, pale pink as it dries. Patches that are still dark aren’t ready.
Rough drying times
- Skim over plasterboard: often 2 to 3 days in a warm, airy room.
- Skim over old plaster: up to a week.
- Full re-plaster with a backing coat: 2 to 4 weeks, sometimes more in winter.
Keep a window open and the heating on low. Don’t blast it with heaters, or it can crack.
Painting new plaster
Start with a mist coat: ordinary matt emulsion watered down, so it soaks into the plaster and gives the next coats something to grip. Avoid vinyl or wipeable paints for the first coat, because they sit on the surface and can peel.