Repainting a peeling wall

Question

When I had painted the first coat onto kitchen walls, I noticed that the paint on one wall wasn’t adhering properly and it had some marks which looked suspiciously like water marks. I think we have ruled out the possibility of the flat being damp, but it looks like there may have been a historic problem. Anyway, on the first coat some of the paint came away on the roller and then when trying to sort a crack, huge chunks of the paint fell away revealing the plaster underneath. I used a pallet knife to pull away the loose paint (pretty much the whole wall). Where do I go from here? My thought is to sand the wall down to get the patches of paint as smooth as possible and then use a peel stop primer (I’ve got the Zinnser one) and then mist coat as I would with a bare plaster wall? My other option would be to use a paint stripper to get the whole wall back to plaster but I don’t really want to go down that route!

Nathan Philip · Accepted Answer

It sounds like the paint may not have adhered properly due to the presence of moisture or other contaminants on the wall. It's a good idea to address any underlying issues before repainting.

Sanding the wall to get the patches of paint as smooth as possible is a good first step. After that, you can use a primer like the Zinnser peel stop primer to help seal the wall and prevent any remaining paint from peeling. A mist coat can be applied on top of the primer to even out the surface before painting with your chosen color.

If you're concerned about the integrity of the wall and the possibility of further issues with the existing paint, you could consider stripping the paint back to bare plaster. However, this can be a time-consuming and messy process, so it's worth trying the sanding and primer approach first

Clirim · Answer

If you don't want to plaster all wall then mist coat fill the areas that needed sanding down mist coat again then put stain block then painted.

Anthony · Answer

When miss coated, apply the stain block next day go over that with oil based undercoat in white leave to dry then two coats of your finish coat
should do the job
Anthony Howman

Jay · Answer

Sand down the whole wall, then apply PVA adhesive & sealer to the whole wall. When dry, apply the paint of your choice.

Terry · Answer

I normally apply a stain block in a spray can for this type of stain. But oil based undercoat is just as effective

Paul · Answer

That is a good answer mate.  The normal process from the start is always good.

Luke · Answer

Sand down the wall so all paint comes off, fill any cracks and holes, coat of zinzer should stop mold coming through from damp, mist coat over and then couple coats of paint , hopefully should do the trick. It’s worked for me in the past

Terry · Answer

I have come across this many times now and it's rather annoying as I've tried many ways to rectify the situation.
I then found a wall sealant paint that is brilliant 2 coats and then leave to dry. The wall gets covered in what can only be discribed as rubber coating and gives a great finish. Hope this helps

Paul · Answer

You need to sand the effected areas and maybe spray stain block . This should stop anything seeping through

Dennis · Answer

It seems to me that the issue on this wall is that when the wall was plastered the plaster was not left long enough to dry so when  the emulsion paint is applied to damp plaster, it’s highly likely to crack and peel off when it is painted at a later date.

I hate to say this, but my advice is to remove the layer of paint back to plaster and start again. Then Apply Dulux Trade Supermatt to add a base coat. then several coats of Dulux Trade Emulsion.

Repainting a peeling wall

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