[Help] Decorating - paint peeling from wall

[Stat Brother]

Sorry we've been here before but I'll be jiggered if I can find the thread and I've already wasted 15 mins on The YouTube.

Albion free weekend = decorating the front room.

When I moved in, 1960's house, I removed the manky carpet.
Going for a wooden floor I also removed the manky skirting board.

This left me with a small ridge of painted wall above where the skirting was.
So first job for prepping the walls was to sand down that ridge.

As per the title I started in a corner and all but peeled x layers of paint straight off the wall which is now down to the original plaster on masonry.

Do I go right round the room?
Do I persist on the stubborn areas where the paint is actually stuck?

What do I do with the bare wall?
Paint sealer and whitewash or just one of the other?

No it's not a 5 minute job.
No I can't pay someone else to do it.
No, this is not Dadnets - but as mine is dead sometimes it's helpful when this place is.

Ta muchly in advance of advice.

 

[The Andy Naylor Fan Club]

When we had our living room replastered we were advised to put a 'mist coat' on the walls before painting. This is a coat of watered down emulsion which I believe soaks into the walls and helps the main coat(s) adhere much better.

 

[WATFORD zero]

See above. Any bare plaster can be sealed with watered down emulsion rather than some expensive 'sealant'. You need to get rid of the 'ridge' before you redecorate, so if it doesn't come off easily, try sanding it flat and put up lining paper before you paint. You have now exhausted my decorating knowledge

 

[Mackenzie]

When we had our living room replastered we were advised to put a 'mist coat' on the walls before painting. This is a coat of watered down emulsion which I believe soaks into the walls and helps the main coat(s) adhere much better.

Whoever advised you was very polite, it’s usually called a “piss coat”

 

[happypig]

Cheap way : sand it back to remove any flaky paint, stick a coat of diluted PVA to bond it then paint it.
Better way : get the walls skimmed. as a guide We paid £480 to have our hobby room plastered, including the ceiling.

 

[LamieRobertson]

No advice but having spent the majority of the last ten days decorating you have my deepest sympathies

 

[Stat Brother]

Thanks all so far.
I'm pleased 'just' whitewashing is the answer.
Annoyed I didn't know this was going to happen as last week I whitewashed the replastered ceiling and chimney brest.

Cheap way : sand it back to remove any flaky paint, stick a coat of diluted PVA to bond it then paint it.
Better way : get the walls skimmed. as a guide We paid £480 to have our hobby room plastered, including the ceiling.

Yeah this ain't flaky paint.
I've scrapped off about 10 ft of wall most of it coming away in A4 sized sheets.



I have a few hairline cracks around the wall.
I guess Im polyfillaing them and praying they aren't a sign the house is going to fa down?

 

[Live by the sea]

Sorry we've been here before but I'll be jiggered if I can find the thread and I've already wasted 15 mins on The YouTube.

Albion free weekend = decorating the front room.

When I moved in, 1960's house, I removed the manky carpet.
Going for a wooden floor I also removed the manky skirting board.

This left me with a small ridge of painted wall above where the skirting was.
So first job for prepping the walls was to sand down that ridge.

As per the title I started in a corner and all but peeled x layers of paint straight off the wall which is now down to the original plaster on masonry.

Do I go right round the room?
Do I persist on the stubborn areas where the paint is actually stuck?

What do I do with the bare wall?
Paint sealer and whitewash or just one of the other?

No it's not a 5 minute job.
No I can't pay someone else to do it.
No, this is not Dadnets - but as mine is dead sometimes it's helpful when this place is.

Ta muchly in advance of advice.

Cheap way : sand it back to remove any flaky paint, stick a coat of diluted PVA to bond it then paint it.
Better way : get the walls skimmed. as a guide We paid £480 to have our hobby room plastered, including the ceiling.

That sounds quite good value if it included the ceiling . Good plasterers are expensive in this country.

 

[WATFORD zero]

Thanks all so far.
I'm pleased 'just' whitewashing is the answer.
Annoyed I didn't know this was going to happen as last week I whitewashed the replastered ceiling and chimney brest.

Yeah this ain't flaky paint.
I've scrapped off about 10 ft of wall most of it coming away in A4 sized sheets.



I have a few hairline cracks around the wall.
I guess Im polyfillaing them and praying they aren't a sign the house is going to fa down?

You won't have to worry about small cracks/imperfections if you put up a heavy lining paper before painting (they come in different weights) - ooh listen to me and my decorating expertise

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

I learned a long time ago it was more cost effective to bring in a professional rather than bodge it myself and then pay the professional more to fix my bodged efforts.

However, as you said paying someone is not an option, I would recommend that you move some furniture in front of the bit you can't get flat and then nobody will see it.

 

[Audax]

Another who's going to say apply a mist coat first. That's what I was advised when self-painting up the freshly plastered walls in our new conservatory a few years back, and it's worked an absolute treat. All you need to do is water down the paint you'll use for the undercoat and apply that first, allow to dry (the water helps it soak into and bond with the plaster), then apply standard undercoat.

Believe the right mix is about 3 parts paint to 1 part water, but no need to measure exactly. Just eyeball it.

 

[Bold Seagull]

Thanks all so far.
I'm pleased 'just' whitewashing is the answer.
Annoyed I didn't know this was going to happen as last week I whitewashed the replastered ceiling and chimney brest.

Yeah this ain't flaky paint.
I've scrapped off about 10 ft of wall most of it coming away in A4 sized sheets.



I have a few hairline cracks around the wall.
I guess Im polyfillaing them and praying they aren't a sign the house is going to fa down?

Cracks in walls:
Hairline - typical for age of house, scrape out a decent 'V' shape and fill. May well return over time, although that would apply to skimming over it too.
Creditcard - if you can slide a credit card in more than half the length of the card, there is a bit of movement, usually nothing to worry about if it isn't tracking any great length or visible both sides of the wall.
Fingers - if you can get your fingers in, time to get the engineer round.

 

[Stat Brother]

Do I really have to use a lining paper?
I'll be wallpapering on of the wall anyway.

Having pulled at the ridge on all four walls it would seem the problem is only affecting the outside walls. The internal L- shape is fine.

Cracks in walls:
Hairline - typical for age of house, scrape out a decent 'V' shape and fill. May well return over time, although that would apply to skimming over it too.
Creditcard - if you can slide a credit card in more than half the length of the card, there is a bit of movement, usually nothing to worry about if it isn't tracking any great length or visible both sides of the wall.
Fingers - if you can get your fingers in, time to get the engineer round.

Blimey that's very reassuring, there's no way I getting a credit card in any of these, I can only see them because I now know they're there.

 

[Questions]

Have you tried turning it off and then back on again ?

 

[deletebeepbeepbeep]

Trying to strip wallpaper off a flat that has had several layers of painted over wallpaper applied to painted over wallpaper. These people were evil/.

 

[WATFORD zero]

Do I really have to use a lining paper?
I'll be wallpapering on of the wall anyway.

Having pulled at the ridge on all four walls it would seem the problem is only affecting the outside walls. The internal L- shape is fine.


Blimey that's very reassuring, there's no way I getting a credit card in any of these, I can only see them because I now know they're there.

You don't have to use lining paper, but any imperfections on the walls will still show after painting. I've got both, but the walls that I don't have lining paper on were newly plastered.

 

[The Andy Naylor Fan Club]

Cracks in walls:
Hairline - typical for age of house, scrape out a decent 'V' shape and fill. May well return over time, although that would apply to skimming over it too.
Creditcard - if you can slide a credit card in more than half the length of the card, there is a bit of movement, usually nothing to worry about if it isn't tracking any great length or visible both sides of the wall.

Fingers - if you can get your fingers in, time to get the engineer round.​

Ooooh, sounds like he's up for a bit of fun...

 

[Justice]

Thanks all so far.
I'm pleased 'just' whitewashing is the answer.
Annoyed I didn't know this was going to happen as last week I whitewashed the replastered ceiling and chimney brest.

Yeah this ain't flaky paint.
I've scrapped off about 10 ft of wall most of it coming away in A4 sized sheets.



I have a few hairline cracks around the wall.
I guess Im polyfillaing them and praying they aren't a sign the house is going to fa down?

Grab yourself a small bag of easi fill a bucket and a paint mixer paddle for your drill. Most pro’s use easi fill 60 fills great and sands like a dream. Will make all the imperfections and cracks disappear. Grab some continental filling blades from screwfix or Toolstation about £3 a pack I find I get a much better finish with them than a traditional filling knife.

 

[Stat Brother]

Have you tried turning it off and then back on again ?

Damn I knew I missed one - on this pointless thread!

 

[Stat Brother]

You don't have to use lining paper, but any imperfections on the walls will still show after painting. I've got both, but the walls that I don't have lining paper on were newly plastered.

The hairline cracks are precisely that, tbh even with @Justice's advise, I think I'd make them more visible by trying to repair them! Esp as they're on a wall that will eventually have a rather bold dark paper.