Best way to treat a wall that paint keeps peeling off

Zaph

The previous owners of my house had some weird wallpaper on the walls of one room that left a residue. No matter what we've tried in the past the residue still seems to persist, to the point where the paint just won't stay on the wall. It's all cracked and peeling (see pics below) and we need to find a solution to the problem once and for all. People have suggested sanding the walls completely or getting them plastered over, either of which I have no problem with if I was sure it would solve the problem. Are there any other solutions I should consider? Thanks.

Stravos Murphy

are they external walls?

dodzy

Stravos Murphy wrote: »

are they external walls?

Internal. Read the OP.

Scrape off what you can to a point whereby it's reasonably smooth. Polybond it and then get a plasterer in. Job done.

listermint

Can mix Polybond in with the paint gives better adhesion

Sleepy

Could lining paper be a cost-effective solution? Assuming the walls are already level, a plaster seems like overkill to me.

Was the wall washed with sugar soap prior to being painted?

Zaph

Sleepy wrote: »

Could lining paper be a cost-effective solution? Assuming the walls are already level, a plaster seems like overkill to me.

Was the wall washed with sugar soap prior to being painted?

Yeah, they were washed down and we also put something on them afterwards (can't remember what exactly, I'm useless at DIY stuff!).

The walls are level apart from all the bits where the paint is cracking/peeling, but I'd be worried that any paper put on it would have the same adhesion problems as the paint. Even if the paint could for the most part be papered over directly, there's a awful lot of damaged paint that would have to be scraped off first exposing the problem surface below.

Jack the Stripper

If they are external walls dampness could be an issue.

pedro7

Here's what I do when painting where wall paper has been.

• Scrap off what you can- steam cleaner or hot water helps
• Wash the wall with sugar soap and a big yellow sponge
• Repeat with hot water to remove any residue
• Patch any holes in the wall
• Sand the wall - I use 800 grit paper but if its pretty bad maybe use something tougher and finish with 800. look for high spots carefully, they show up really bad with paint on them. 
• Sponge off the dust with a damp cloth or sponge, make sure its lint free.
• Polybond the walls to seal them
• Undercoat usually 2 coats unless the color underneath is close to white then you will get away with 1 - I usually use ceiling paint for this. 
• Then put on your top coat or 2 depending on how it looks.

I've done this a few times. Its a pain but it works.
Hope that's of some use!

Zaph

Jack the Stripper wrote: »

If they are external walls dampness could be an issue.

No, the worst affected wall is an internal wall. There is some cracked and peeling paint on the external walls in the room as well, but it's not as bad.

Steve

What is peeling off looks a bit too thick to be just a layer of paint.

It's possible something like 'smooth-over' was used over vinyl paint in the past and it just had poor adhesion.

I had a similar problem and ended up stripping back to bare plaster with a hot gun and a scraper, it was not an easy job.

Is the 'pink' beneath the cracks paint or the raw plaster?

Zaph

It's actually just paint that's peeling, it's so thick because it needed quite a few coats as whatever is on the wall caused the first couple of coats to run. The pink is the plaster underneath.

decky1

Have'nt seen plaster that pink in a long time, would it not be paint, scrape everything pack to the pink.

Steve

OK, how widespread is it? is it one or two spots or is it happening everywhere?

Personally, I'd take a scraper and see how big the loose spots are. then fill them with Gyproc pro-fin (or whatever is is called now).

Zaph

decky1 wrote: »

Have'nt seen plaster that pink in a long time, would it not be paint, scrape everything pack to the pink.

Actually the picture makes it look pinker than it really is. Must be the flash or something.

Steve wrote: »

OK, how widespread is it? is it one or two spots or is it happening everywhere?

Personally, I'd take a scraper and see how big the loose spots are. then fill them with Gyproc pro-fin (or whatever is is called now).

It's pretty extensive on one wall in particular with smaller patches on the other walls.

decky1

scrape all loose off. apply a coat of 'THISTLE BOND' Then get it replastered.

jimbev

Was the cracked paint a matt emulsion

the_syco

Zaph wrote: »

The previous owners of my house had some weird wallpaper on the walls of one room that left a residue. No matter what we've tried in the past the residue still seems to persist, to the point where the paint just won't stay on the wall.

Have you considered that the wall is the issue, and that the previous owners way around it (for a quite life) was the wallpaper, as possibly they also had the paint cracking/peeling on them too?

Zaph

jimbev wrote: »

Was the cracked paint a matt emulsion

Possibly, I can't remember exactly.

the_syco wrote: »

Have you considered that the wall is the issue, and that the previous owners way around it (for a quite life) was the wallpaper, as possibly they also had the paint cracking/peeling on them too?

No, I think they put the wallpaper up because that's what they liked. They had a rather, well, interesting taste in decor, and some very questionable wallpaper was definitely part of it.

Anyway, thanks everyone for the replies, there are a few suggestions there that we can work with and hopefully the issue with the wall can be resolved once and for all.