On Friday, April 27, 2012 6:42:43 PM UTC+1, NT wrote:
On Apr 27, 5:25*pm, alamaison wrote:
On Friday, April 27, 2012 1:08:21 PM UTC+1, NT wrote:

PS all emulsions let water vapour through, and can be put on before a
new wall is fully dry.

Are you sure about this? *All books I've read on the topic as well as some online sources (say,http://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects...newplaster.htm, for example) say only to do this with special paint such as Wickes New Plaster Emulsion or Dulux Supermatt.

Well, my standard method of painting bare surfaces is to wet it, give
it 5 mins to soak in, then paint without diluting. Its always worked
fine, long as well as short term.

Yes, that's a good way to prime bare plaster. But this plaster has to have sat around for 4 to 6 weeks to be dry first. The special new plaster emulsions aren't for that situation; they are for if you are pushed for time and have to paint the plaster straight away.