I have had paint crack up when it dried too quickly (painting on a really hot day), at least that is what I put it down to  
Hopefully one of the proper decorators will be back from their holidays soon and can offer more expert advice  

can also occur if the skim coat plaster was past its best(old plaster etc) when applied, will still go on and get a glass smooth finish, but has a deterimental affect on the later finishes..

Spraying water-based paints can have this effect, especially when spraying large flat areas. I tried it for kitchen cabinet doors some time ago and so have a low-pressure spray gun for sale if anyone wants one!!

It was explained to me that when the paint (necessarily thinned down for spraying) leaves the nozzle it's already starting to dry on its way to the surface to be covered, which is why sprayed paint dries quicker than brushed.

It apparently doesn't happen with solvent-based paints, or at least not enough to be as noticeable. Whatever he meant by that.

I use a roller now and wire-wool down between coats. Well, I still would be if I was still daft enough to get involved with making kitchens for people who can't make their bloody minds up and want a bespoke kitchen for the price of a B&Q one.

By the way, the crackled paint effect you hit on accidentally can be achieved using crackle varnish. It's called 'craquelure'. Thought I'd mention it so that if the alternative procedure doesn't work you can tell people it was the effect you were aiming for and actually give them its name. I'm sure they'll be impressed.

Go careful with emulsion over oil. Did that once and the oil seemed to bleed through the emulsion after a month.

Perhaps there was a contaminant in the plaster thats messing with the paint?

Hammy, I used 50-50 white spirit to u/c as a primer and it went on very thin. So far I haven't had any chipping, but now I'm worried

Perhaps I would have been better off with a plaster sealer but aren't they oil based?

hammy wrote on Jun 29^th, 2009, 4:01pm:



Thats comforting  

Thanks