How long before new plaster can be painted?

New plaster can be painted once it is dry all the way through, and that takes from a few days for a thin skim in a warm, ventilated room to several weeks for a thick replaster on a cold, damp wall. The plaster tells you when it's ready: an even, pale colour with no darker patches. Explain this to clients at the quote stage, tell them to book the decorator for after the plaster has dried rather than the day after you leave, and remind them that the first coat on new plaster is a thinned mist coat, not ordinary paint.

Fresh plaster is dark; as it dries, it turns lighter and even. Darker patches, in corners, behind radiators or on thicker areas, mean moisture is still there. Tell clients to wait until the whole wall is one pale colour and to check the corners last. A moisture meter gives a reading if they or the decorator want certainty.

New plaster is very absorbent. The first coat is a watered-down emulsion, a mist coat, which soaks in and gives the next coats something to grip. Vinyl or wipeable paints and some primers sit on the surface and can peel from fresh plaster. Mention this in your handover; it saves you calls about paint coming off.

A client may plan a renovation as a straight line: plaster on Monday, paint on Tuesday, kitchen on Wednesday. Help them plan around drying instead.

In your quote and again at handover, give an honest range for drying in that house and that season, explain the colour check and the mist coat, and list what the client should avoid: heaters pointed at the wall, hanging pictures or shelves too early, closing the room up. If cracks appear because the wall was force-dried, a written note shows you warned them.

Drilling into plaster that is still soft can crumble the edges of the hole and stain the surface around wall plugs. Ask clients to keep shelves, curtain rails and heavy pictures until the wall is dry, and to mark where they want them so the decorator can paint around the positions.

On Book, each service has a name, a price and an optional description shown on your public page. Book the plastering days for each job yourself from your calendar, with the address and the rooms in the booking note. Add a short "Snagging visit" service for when the plaster has dried and the client wants you to look at a crack or a patch before the decorator starts. Clients can book that visit themselves from your public page and describe the issue in the optional note, which you read in your new-booking email. Your bookings show in Google, iPhone or Mac calendars, so you see plastering days and follow-up visits in one place.

Durations and prices are examples: set your own. If a job slips because a previous trade is late, reschedule from your bookings list and tell the client yourself, since Book doesn't email clients about changes. Book costs €5/month, everything included: unlimited services and bookings, no commission, no contract.