Just had a room freshly plastered, went down to B&Q to buy some paint. Not
being experts asked for some advice, we were told that we should seal the
walls with a PVA glue solution before applying our matt white water based
emulsion(also recommended by some B&Q employee).....

Got all the stuff, PVA, Paint, rollers etc etc. I mixed the PVA with 5 parts
water as instructed and proceeded to coat the walls. Once the PVA solution
had dried we started to apply the first coat of emulsion. It was like
painting on glass! It took 4/5 coats to get an even cover. Days when the
painting was done, we noticed certain bits needed touching up(bits missed,
knocks etc etc)...

Started rollering and the paint that's on the walls just start bubbling and
pealing off like paper. Not a very happy moment. It's obvious that the PVA
solution hadn't worked, as it happened when we were painting ther first
coats we decided to not use the PVA solution on one wall just to see how it
differed and this wall only needed two coats...

So we call B&Q not very happy with the advice they had given. All the people
at B&Q who we consulted all said "you are supposed to use PVA glue to seal
walls". The manager then when to check with the decorating expert who also
said the same, they then checked out the glue we had purchased (just regular
Unibond PVA) and in the very small print it said "not to be used with water
based paints"...

We then get a call back from B&Q appologising for being given "ill advice"
and they offered more paint yadayada. The biggest DIY store in the country
don't know how to put emulsion on walls?

It's two days to xmas and we were supposed to be moving all our stuff back
into the "new" room today. Due to bad advice from B&Q we have a room full of
flaky paint ontop of PVA glue, one wall is already start flaking like crazy.
The others are fine, but we don't know what to do.

B&Q have suggested we go over the paint with oil based emulsion, but surely
just putting oil ontop of the water based emulsion will do no good as it's
all still ontop of the ****ty glue layer. It would take literally days to
scrape off all the current paint, and it won't steam off.

Anyone got any advice? at all?

regards

mark wrote:


B&Q have suggested we go over the paint with oil based emulsion, but surely
just putting oil ontop of the water based emulsion will do no good as it's
all still ontop of the ****ty glue layer. It would take literally days to
scrape off all the current paint, and it won't steam off.

Anyone got any advice? at all?

Pragmatic: stick lining paper over the duff walls, paint on top of that.
Try getting your new friends at Been-n-Queued to supply the paper and
Solvite for free (and a 50% discount on the pasting table, scissors,
seam roller, and papering brush ;-) Normal emulsion atop the lining
paper will still let the plaster finish drying out.

Arsey stand-on-my-rights: try to get your new friends to pay for a
decorator to do same. Good luck...

Another time: let the plaster go off (finish the reaction which uses up
the bulk of the water - you can see it change colour) - takes a day or
so in a heated room, longer otherwise. Use a diluted emulsion for your
first coat - wot spreads call a "**** coat" - about 1 part water to each
4 parts paint. (Finally, a use for elcheapo shed-special Brilliant
White; at the cheapest end of the market you won't even need to dilute
it, as the supplier'll've done it for you ;-) Then paint as normal atop
- again preferring emulsion, not oil-based paint.

D-i-y advice? At B&Q? Well, it's like taking the first reply you get off
Usenet - might work, might be total twonk. At least on Usenet you get a
bit of "peer review"!

Stefek

"Stefek Zaba" wrote in message
...

Pragmatic: stick lining paper over the duff walls, paint on top of that.
Try getting your new friends at Been-n-Queued to supply the paper and
Solvite for free (and a 50% discount on the pasting table, scissors,
seam roller, and papering brush ;-) Normal emulsion atop the lining
paper will still let the plaster finish drying out.

All the walls are the same aprt from one little bit that we didn't use the
PVA on. So far though only 1 wall has started to flake(the wall where we
started to touch up, the rest of them still need touching up too....)

It makes me cringe at the thought of putting lining paper on, considering we
just paid to have it plastered an' all :-(

Arsey stand-on-my-rights: try to get your new friends to pay for a
decorator to do same. Good luck...

not ruled that out yet, im well and truly ****ed off right now.

"mark" wrote in message ...
"Stefek Zaba" wrote in message
...

Pragmatic: stick lining paper over the duff walls, paint on top of that.
Try getting your new friends at Been-n-Queued to supply the paper and
Solvite for free (and a 50% discount on the pasting table, scissors,
seam roller, and papering brush ;-) Normal emulsion atop the lining
paper will still let the plaster finish drying out.

All the walls are the same aprt from one little bit that we didn't use the
PVA on. So far though only 1 wall has started to flake(the wall where we
started to touch up, the rest of them still need touching up too....)

It makes me cringe at the thought of putting lining paper on, considering we
just paid to have it plastered an' all :-(

Arsey stand-on-my-rights: try to get your new friends to pay for a
decorator to do same. Good luck...

not ruled that out yet, im well and truly ****ed off right now.

calm down dear, it's only a disaster

/devils advocate:

you've been misadvised BUT it did say on the tin "not to be used with water
based paints" which you did. it's unlikely that B&Q will afford you a small team
of artisans to put your room straight but you may be able to get some vouchers
which you can put towards some quality paint with a lot of pigment in it.

FWIW I only ever paint over new plaster, light coat and a couple of decent thick
ones usually does it. leave it a few days over xmas until it's all gone off /properly/
and you may be surprised that you can get a light coat of paint on and another
a few days later, and so on, until the desired effect is achieved.



RT

someone wrote:

................................. but you may be able to get some vouchers
which you can put towards some quality paint with a lot of pigment in it.

S'far as I can tell, it's not the depth of pigment that's an issue here,
but adhesion. The PVA's had the predictable effect of sealing the
surface of the fresh plaster, making (as he reports) the subsequent
paint lie loosely on the so-sealed surface, and bubble/peel off when
sneezed at (or as local evaporation of residual water in the fresh
plaster pushes the PVA-and-paint or paint-where-PVA-didn't-cover off the
wall) - a problem which is likely to be made worse, not better, by
either putting on yet more coats or covering as B&Q suggested with an
oil-based paint, thereby making it effectively impossible for any water
to diffuse to the surface.

Hence the dismal pragmatic solution of lining paper. The OP's enthusiasm
for scraping off the PVA-n-paint layers is understandably
infinitessimal, as would be their chance of doing so without putting
gouges into the luvverly smooth new plaster finish :-(

"Stefek Zaba" wrote in message
...
someone wrote:

................................. but you may be able to get some vouchers
which you can put towards some quality paint with a lot of pigment in it.

S'far as I can tell, it's not the depth of pigment that's an issue here,
but adhesion.

I think the main issue (apart from not RTFM) is not recognising that PVA
can take a while to dry, even longer with all that water still in the plaster.

and as for paint, more pigment = fewer coats = less moisture to soak
off the underlying PVA / paint mixture which now coats the wall.

to the OP:

leave it for a while, it's xmas, wait 'til it's DRY then try a coat of paint and
I'm sure you'll be surprised, the paint will stick, but you still need to persue
those vouchers rigorously !



RT

"mark" wrote in message
...
Just had a room freshly plastered, went down to B&Q to buy some paint. Not
being experts asked for some advice, we were told that we should seal the
walls with a PVA glue solution before applying our matt white water based
snipped
scrape off all the current paint, and it won't steam off.

Anyone got any advice? at all?

regards


The only thing I could suggest, is to hang lining paper on the walls before
you paint them again. You should really have lined the new plaster in the
first place, in my opinion. Painting directly on the wall doesn't leave
much scope for alteration in the future. Hanging paper on paint also
usually ends in disaster.

Water and PVA solution that can't be used with water based paint is beyond
me. You mixed the PVA and water OK, so why did it blister under water based
paint, I ask myself. Weird. Although the makers have it on the tin that it
shouldn't be used with water based paint, so it must be correct.

"BigWallop" wrote in message
k...




Water and PVA solution that can't be used with water based paint is beyond
me. You mixed the PVA and water OK, so why did it blister under water
based
paint, I ask myself. Weird. Although the makers have it on the tin that
it
shouldn't be used with water based paint, so it must be correct.

It blistered under the pressure of the roller, the original coats had been
on for a week but during the work we had a floor fitted and some other work
done and therefore there were some scuffs and dirt on the walls. When we
started to apply the "touch ups" with the roller the peeling started.

"mark" wrote in message
...
"BigWallop" wrote in message
k...




Water and PVA solution that can't be used with water based paint is
beyond
me. You mixed the PVA and water OK, so why did it blister under water
based
paint, I ask myself. Weird. Although the makers have it on the tin
that
it
shouldn't be used with water based paint, so it must be correct.

It blistered under the pressure of the roller, the original coats had been
on for a week but during the work we had a floor fitted and some other
work
done and therefore there were some scuffs and dirt on the walls. When we
started to apply the "touch ups" with the roller the peeling started.



So it could have been the paint and not the PVA solution on the plaster? If
that's the case, then take it up with Bent and Queer and tell them that the
paint they sold you isn't any use.

Water and PVA solution that can't be used with water based paint is
beyond
me.
Well, exactly. IME pva (including the paints based on it) sticks to itself
rather well.
I think maybe there are 2 things going on here. Pva formulas are getting
better and maybe the product needs to be diluted more. Paints (particularly
Dulux) are getting more non-drip so that women in dresses can paint the
ceiling when they've got a moment. They get the extra thickness by adding
mineral extenders (chalk, clay etc) and IME this makes the product virtually
unuseable on any surface.

Paints (particularly Dulux) are getting more non-drip so that women in
dresses can paint the ceiling when they've got a moment. They get the
extra thickness by adding mineral extenders (chalk, clay etc) and IME
this makes the product virtually unuseable on any surface.

That certainly doesn't apply to the Dulux Trade Vinyl Matt or Supermatt. I'm
quite disturbed how good these paints are compared to others I've used. On
fresh plaster, I put down a diluted sealing coat. When it is dry, the wall
already looks fine, and barely needs the main undiluted coat at all. So much
for the recommended sealing coat and two top coats. It would just be a
complete waste of time putting 2 top coats on.

Christian.

On Fri, 24 Dec 2004 01:44:38 GMT, "BigWallop"
wrote:


So it could have been the paint and not the PVA solution on the plaster? If
that's the case, then take it up with Bent and Queer and tell them that the
paint they sold you isn't any use.


He didn't follow the instructions on the paint can. Emulsion is
designed to go onto plaster and not on a shiny film of PVA plastic. No
paint can has ever said use PVA as a primer, no PVA can has ever said
use it as a paint primer.

Just had a room freshly plastered, went down to B&Q to buy some paint. Not
being experts asked for some advice, we were told that we should seal the
walls with a PVA glue solution before applying our matt white water based
emulsion(also recommended by some B&Q employee).....

I never understood this PVA advice. I know it is given all over the shop,
but I can't imagine it ever being other than a complete disaster. To seal
new plaster, use Dulux Trade Supermatt, diluted down. I wouldn't even
consider letting PVA anywhere near fresh plaster.

Sorry for posting such a useless response, though. I have no idea how to
recover the situation.

Christian.

"Christian McArdle"
I never understood this PVA advice. I know it is given all over the shop,
but I can't imagine it ever being other than a complete disaster. To seal
new plaster, use Dulux Trade Supermatt, diluted down. I wouldn't even
consider letting PVA anywhere near fresh plaster.
PVA is essential on old plaster but a newly "polished" plaster surface is
pretty dense, and IME doesn't require sealing. In fact, you need to dilute
the emulsion to get it to penetrate the shiny surface.
Maybe the OP's plasterer incorporated PVA into his skim to provide a good
surface to paint on, and the 2nd coat has oversealed it and formed a skin.
Five coats on top of that and you're looking at a skin you could peel like
an orange. I wonder how easily the whole lot would lift off with a bit of
steam and a scraper.

Christian McArdle wrote:
Just had a room freshly plastered, went down to B&Q to buy some paint. Not
being experts asked for some advice, we were told that we should seal the
walls with a PVA glue solution before applying our matt white water based
emulsion(also recommended by some B&Q employee).....


I never understood this PVA advice. I know it is given all over the shop,
but I can't imagine it ever being other than a complete disaster. To seal
new plaster, use Dulux Trade Supermatt, diluted down. I wouldn't even
consider letting PVA anywhere near fresh plaster.

Tell me about it - I had just the same situation myself some months back
(and asked the same advice here as well!) I'd always used dilute
emulsion myself in the past, but this time it was the actual plasterer
who advised me to use PVA. Pratt.

To the OP - I don;t think my problems were as bad as yours sound, but in
my case, the 'mess' did seem to stabilise after some days, so suggest
you don't take drastic action just yet!

David

consider letting PVA anywhere near fresh plaster.

Except when tiling.

Rob.

mark wrote:

said the same, they then checked out the glue we had purchased (just regular
Unibond PVA) and in the very small print it said "not to be used with water
based paints"...

(BTW, Unibond is a very expensive way to buy PVA!)

Was this a waterproof unibond PVA? Might be part of the problem....



--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

"mark" wrote in message
...
snip
The manager then when to check with the decorating expert who also
said the same, they then checked out the glue we had purchased (just
regular
Unibond PVA) and in the very small print it said "not to be used with
water
based paints"...
snip

And you can't read either by the looks of things, don't you ever read
instructions or are you just terminally dim were painting is concerned ?...

":::Jerry::::" wrote in message
...


And you can't read either by the looks of things, don't you ever read
instructions or are you just terminally dim were painting is concerned
?...

FOAD

we did read the directions prior to painting, but not the small print.
Considering we had the tin virtually put in our hand and were given the
directions verbally it wasn't at the forefront of our minds to read the
entire contents of the label print on each tin.

I realise your point is valid, and looking back it was a mistake on our
part. In future maybe you should talk to people on usenet as if you were
talking to them in real life, it's all very clever 'talking ****'
anonymously hiding behind a keyboard, it must be very rewarding. I don't
think you'd talk to me that way face to face, unless you enjoy getting your
face smashed in on a regular basis.

"mark" wrote in message
...
":::Jerry::::" wrote in message
...


And you can't read either by the looks of things, don't you ever read
instructions or are you just terminally dim were painting is concerned
?...

FOAD

Yes you should !


we did read the directions prior to painting, but not the small print.

So you didn't read them then did you....

Don't blame others for your own short comings **** !

Considering we had the tin virtually put in our hand and were given the
directions verbally it wasn't at the forefront of our minds to read the
entire contents of the label print on each tin.

And you really think that some dim-wit working for minimum wages will be an
expert - if they were they wouldn't be working in a DIY shed !


I realise your point is valid, and looking back it was a mistake on our
part. In future maybe you should talk to people on usenet as if you were
talking to them in real life, it's all very clever 'talking ****'
anonymously hiding behind a keyboard, it must be very rewarding. I don't
think you'd talk to me that way face to face, unless you enjoy getting
your
face smashed in on a regular basis.


Well, your pealing paint would be the least of your problems idiot, being
up on a GBH charge would be whilst spending Christmas in a cell.

You utter ****.

":::Jerry::::" wrote in message
...


Well, your pealing paint would be the least of your problems idiot, being
up on a GBH charge would be whilst spending Christmas in a cell.

By the sounds of it I'm sure it would be worth it.

"mark" wrote in message


Got all the stuff, PVA, Paint, rollers etc etc. I mixed the PVA with 5 parts
water as instructed and proceeded to coat the walls. Once the PVA solution
had dried we started to apply the first coat of emulsion. It was like
painting on glass! It took 4/5 coats to get an even cover. Days when the
painting was done, we noticed certain bits needed touching up(bits missed,
knocks etc etc)...

It sounds to me like you did more than mix the pva with water. A PVA mix
(or just neat PVA) on glass or formica will allow you to paint or
plaster over it as soon as it is dry. Every one knows that. Even the
staff at B&Q. You would have got the same advice here from most. (Except
me and Lobster.)

I would have said just use trade emulsion (the really cheap stuff) and
not to bother with PVA.

If you add anything else to the mix, you have what is called a "release
agent". PVA mixed with meths and water is used on resin casting molds to
give a layer of impervious -almost non stick, friable skin over the
polished surface.

Try it out for yourself on a formica work top. Mix a small batch of
clean water and pva; one with a drop of paint in it; some with some
meths or rubbing alcohol and some with almost anything else as a
control.

The only one to stick will be the water/pva mix.

I think you owe the staff at B&Q an apology.


--
Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server - http://www.Mailgate.ORG

"Michael Mcneil" wrote in message
news:c26d3044607adfa6bfe8c9cff170fc0e.45219@mygate .mailgate.org...


It sounds to me like you did more than mix the pva with water.

really, we didn't. It was just 1 part PVA to 5 parts cold water, applied to
fresh plaster with a brush. What else do you think we did to it?

In article ,
mark wrote:
really, we didn't. It was just 1 part PVA to 5 parts cold water, applied
to fresh plaster with a brush. What else do you think we did to it?

Did it appear to soak in, as a matter of interest?

--
*Time is what keeps everything from happening at once.

Dave Plowman London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.

"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
mark wrote:
really, we didn't. It was just 1 part PVA to 5 parts cold water, applied
to fresh plaster with a brush. What else do you think we did to it?

Did it appear to soak in, as a matter of interest?

yes, it was just like putting water on really, soaked in within a few
minutes

"mark" wrote in message


really, we didn't. It was just 1 part PVA to 5 parts cold water, applied to
fresh plaster with a brush. What else do you think we did to it?

If you didn't add paint or something to it then the plaster must have
been sealed too soon.

Sorry and good luck.

I don't know the correct ins and outs for making mold release but just
try mixing anything with dilute pva and see if I was wrong in my
original post.

PVA mold release is the colour and smell of meths mixed with dilute PVA
glue.


--
Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server - http://www.Mailgate.ORG

Michael Mcneil wrote:


I think you owe the staff at B&Q an apology.

Interesting conclusion. The OP specifically asked them for advice,
presenting hisself as a novice; and they gave it - as I understand it,
they actually chose the particular "PVA" - maybe a PVA with additives -
for him. That, coupled with the fact he's actually *had* an apology from
Been-n-Queued, quite strongly suggests the direction of due-apology is
BnQ - OP, not t'other way around...

"Michael Mcneil"
If you add anything else to the mix, you have what is called a "release
agent". PVA mixed with meths and water is used on resin casting molds to
give a layer of impervious -almost non stick, friable skin over the
polished surface.
I think in resin casting circles, PVA stands for polyvinyl alcohol. Can't
envisage any situation where polyvinyl acetate would act as a release agent

On Thu, 23 Dec 2004 15:09:36 -0000, "mark" wrote:

Just had a room freshly plastered, went down to B&Q to buy some paint. Not
being experts asked for some advice, we were told that we should seal the
walls with a PVA glue solution before applying our matt white water based
emulsion(also recommended by some B&Q employee).....

Got all the stuff, PVA, Paint, rollers etc etc. I mixed the PVA with 5 parts
water as instructed and proceeded to coat the walls. Once the PVA solution
had dried we started to apply the first coat of emulsion. It was like
painting on glass! It took 4/5 coats to get an even cover. Days when the
painting was done, we noticed certain bits needed touching up(bits missed,
knocks etc etc)...

Started rollering and the paint that's on the walls just start bubbling and
pealing off like paper. Not a very happy moment. It's obvious that the PVA
solution hadn't worked, as it happened when we were painting ther first
coats we decided to not use the PVA solution on one wall just to see how it
differed and this wall only needed two coats...

So we call B&Q not very happy with the advice they had given. All the people
at B&Q who we consulted all said "you are supposed to use PVA glue to seal
walls". The manager then when to check with the decorating expert who also
said the same, they then checked out the glue we had purchased (just regular
Unibond PVA) and in the very small print it said "not to be used with water
based paints"...

We then get a call back from B&Q appologising for being given "ill advice"
and they offered more paint yadayada. The biggest DIY store in the country
don't know how to put emulsion on walls?

It's two days to xmas and we were supposed to be moving all our stuff back
into the "new" room today. Due to bad advice from B&Q we have a room full of
flaky paint ontop of PVA glue, one wall is already start flaking like crazy.
The others are fine, but we don't know what to do.

B&Q have suggested we go over the paint with oil based emulsion, but surely
just putting oil ontop of the water based emulsion will do no good as it's
all still ontop of the ****ty glue layer. It would take literally days to
scrape off all the current paint, and it won't steam off.

Anyone got any advice? at all?

regards



Sandpaper ........... alos know as one of the worst DIY jobs in
history. You loose that lovley fine surface you just had put on. I'd
talk to the platerer, who will look down on you, and maybe sort it all
out for you .......

My plasterer told me never to seal the walls, but to use water based
paints that don't make a film to let "his" plaster aretwork dry.

Like any other company B&Q are just as good as the people they employ,
and like any other job, 50% of them should be doing something else.
They were nice to you, so you didn't make any bad publicity .....

Rick

Look at it from the retailers perspective.. I work for one these "sheds".

Trying to get clear advice from anyone is not easy (except on this
newsgroup.. which is why I keep an eye on advice here). I've worked in
retail 15+yrs but that doesn't mean I'm an expert in all things diy.. nor
should I be expected to be a qualified decorator, plumber electrician
gardener etc..

I think it's unfair to blame this on B&Q. If you look at the tin of PVA it
clearly recommends using it as a plaster sealer and tells you how much to
dilute it down. B&Q also sell Dulux and own brand plaster sealer, whether
this is any different I do not know.
Therefore it's natural for anyone to assume that PVA is suitable for sealing
plaster. The manufacturers are covering themselves I guess by putting a
warning about not using it for water based paints. I used to recommend the
PVA solution before and never had anyone coming back with a problem. I'm
guessing it depends on how dry the plaster is as I always told customers to
ensure that it was dry.


I think the manufacturs should give clear advice... try phoning Dulux on
their help line and they will tell you to use their own plaster sealer ..
naturally. Will they tell you to ensure the plaster is dry first? .. no.

I've asked several decoarators who I've seen in store.. they all give
different advice.. so how can a non tradesman be expected to know.

What I have learn't is that you MUST let the plater dry out first.. many
people seal the moisture in which causes problems.

The best solution as far as I know is to use TradeSupermatt.. sadly only the
B&Q warehoue stock this as the smaller supercentres do not stock trade
products. I've even pointed this out to my Dulux Rep.. who had no idea and
was telling my staff to recommend using plaster sealer. It was only thanks
to someone a whle ago on this newsgroup that I had the specification sheet
to had clearly recommending it for use as a sealer. I've asked Dulux to
expain why the give different advice to Trade and DIY users and will let you
know what response I get.

I hope you can see from this that it's unfair to blame this on "some
dim-wit working for minimum wages" giving you ****ty advice.

Brad
--
To email, substitute nospam with ukretailers



"mark" wrote in message
...
Just had a room freshly plastered, went down to B&Q to buy some paint. Not
being experts asked for some advice, we were told that we should seal the
walls with a PVA glue solution before applying our matt white water based
emulsion(also recommended by some B&Q employee).....

Got all the stuff, PVA, Paint, rollers etc etc. I mixed the PVA with 5
parts
water as instructed and proceeded to coat the walls. Once the PVA solution
had dried we started to apply the first coat of emulsion. It was like
painting on glass! It took 4/5 coats to get an even cover. Days when the
painting was done, we noticed certain bits needed touching up(bits missed,
knocks etc etc)...

Started rollering and the paint that's on the walls just start bubbling
and
pealing off like paper. Not a very happy moment. It's obvious that the PVA
solution hadn't worked, as it happened when we were painting ther first
coats we decided to not use the PVA solution on one wall just to see how
it
differed and this wall only needed two coats...

So we call B&Q not very happy with the advice they had given. All the
people
at B&Q who we consulted all said "you are supposed to use PVA glue to seal
walls". The manager then when to check with the decorating expert who also
said the same, they then checked out the glue we had purchased (just
regular
Unibond PVA) and in the very small print it said "not to be used with
water
based paints"...

We then get a call back from B&Q appologising for being given "ill advice"
and they offered more paint yadayada. The biggest DIY store in the country
don't know how to put emulsion on walls?

It's two days to xmas and we were supposed to be moving all our stuff back
into the "new" room today. Due to bad advice from B&Q we have a room full
of
flaky paint ontop of PVA glue, one wall is already start flaking like
crazy.
The others are fine, but we don't know what to do.

B&Q have suggested we go over the paint with oil based emulsion, but
surely
just putting oil ontop of the water based emulsion will do no good as it's
all still ontop of the ****ty glue layer. It would take literally days to
scrape off all the current paint, and it won't steam off.

Anyone got any advice? at all?

regards

Brad wrote:


I hope you can see from this that it's unfair to blame this on "some
dim-wit working for minimum wages" giving you ****ty advice.

Unseasonal as it seems, that's where I put the blame - though not just
on the individual, but on B&Q as a corporate entity. They sell
themselves as a place to not only get products but advice - the
warehouses are full of (often correct ;-) boards with "How To..."
advice, there are "Project" leaflets at the exit (aren't there?), they
employ people supposedly with trade experience to give advice.

And in this case, they've palpably failed. The combination of their
employee selection, subsequent training, and market positioning has
ended up with this customer following the advice given, buying the
products suggested, applying them as advised, and ending up with a
significantly unsatisfactory finish. Case closed! It's not a "hanging"
offence - which is why I didn't suggest the OP had much of a case for
getting the whole problem fixed at B&Q's expense (as he would've done if
this cockup had been made by a decorator engaged by the OP); but
apologies (which were issued) and further supplies to remediate would
feel equitable to me.

Stefek

"mark" wrote in message
...
Just had a room freshly plastered, went down to B&Q to buy some paint. Not
being experts asked for some advice, we were told that we should seal the
walls with a PVA glue solution before applying our matt white water based
emulsion(also recommended by some B&Q employee).....


I was very sorry - and even scared - to read of your troubles ...

We too had extensive 'decoration' done to our front room in the run
up to Christmas.

The entire room wasn't replastered, but as each wall had channelling
for new electrical outlets, and the walls needed in-filling for dings,
gouges and picture-hook fixings et al; each wall had lots of patches that
needed smoothing out.
I too went the B&Q route (receipts to hand) and followed their
advice. The walls were coated with PVA-dilution -allowed to dry-
had a coating of white 'water-based' emulsion - allowed to dry- then
finished with (Dulux) emulsion mixed-on-the-spot top colours.
The effect is beautiful. When I read your post, I was _scared_ !
Was I going to experience your problems ... ? Scurrying to the
garage to find out what I'd bought ... it was 'EvoStick' PVA!
Why did I buy EvoStick PVA -from B&Q- rather than UniBond?
I dunno ... it was just _there_; no conscience decision made at all.

Sorry this doesn't advance your case ... but at least I'll read the
maufacturers' blurbs more closely and make sure ...'it does what
it says on the tin'.

--

Brian