Emulsion: how to use it, and how much you need
Interior walls and ceilings — plastered masonry and putty-finished surfaces inside the house. Not for exterior walls, which take weather-grade paint.
What you can do with it, and how much it takes
Painting an interior wall
Each paint uses the coverage printed on its own page — 120 to 145 sq ft per litre over two coats
Source: The spreading rate stated in each product's own specification
How to use it
Fill and sand the wall, then one coat of primer on fresh plaster. Two thin coats of emulsion follow, four to six hours apart. Cut in the edges with a brush before rolling the middle.
Tools you'll need
- Roller and tray setask us to source it
- 2 inch cutting brushask us to source it
- Painter tapeask us to source it
Related material
- Wall puttyask us to source it
- Wall primerask us to source it
- Sandpaper 120 gritask us to source it
Safety
- Dust maskask us to source it
- Safety gogglesask us to source it
Common mistakes
- Skipping primer on fresh plaster, which drinks the first coat and leaves patches
- One thick coat instead of two thin ones — it never levels and shows roller marks
- Painting over damp or freshly plastered walls before they have cured
Buying tips
- Buy the 20 litre pack for a whole flat: the per-litre rate is roughly a third less than the 1 litre tin
- Check the coverage on the tin — it varies from 120 to 240 sq ft a litre between grades, which matters more than the sticker price
- Buy all your paint in one lot so the shade batch matches
Doing the whole house?
Send us the sizes and we will come back with one costed list and a project rate.
Ask for a project rate