Does my skim coat need to cure?
Posted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 6:36 pm
Should I wait a certain amount of time before priming and painting? I have no idea about this, so any help would be appreciated!
Yes, you want the skim coat to dry fully before painting. This is for the skim coat as well as the paint. If the skim coat is 1/4" thicker or more, it is real possible that it will end up with some cracks before thoroughly drying. You can fill the cracks with more drywall mud or whatever you used. Also, I have found that it takes a minimum of 2-3 coats of skimcoating to get a real smooth professional finish. If you take a table lamp with a 100 watt bulb, and hold it about chest level, you can see how smooth the walls will be. The first skim coat is the thick one. After that, you are only filling in imperfections. I would let it sit at least 2 days with fans on before I would be ready to paint. But then again, I live in a very dry climate. I have been sitting in a room with an evaporative cooler running for over 8 hours and it is still under 30% humidity in this room. So you may want to wait even 3 days or more before painting. If I had the luxury, a week would seem good!
You also may want to look into a Zinsser product called Gardz. It is made specifically to seal drywall and drywall mud. It is a little hard to work with because it is very thin. Not like paint at all. Be sure to protect your floors. But this product will help you achieve the best paint job on sheetrock of skimcoat walls.
JMO
JD