Ceiling paint flakes off when repairing cracks

Basically I had the standard problem of cracks along the lines of the plaster board. My plan was to take the route of gouge them out and fill with flexible filler then repaint the entire ceiling.

However, as I started to remove the mountain-like paint around the chips I've discovered that the original decorators didn't seal the plaster and some of the paint is coming off in large-ish sections.

Now, should I resign myself to clearing the entire ceiling of paint, filling the inevitable gouge marks I make in the process and then sealing the plaster and painting it? Is there an alternative solution which won't leave me with such an arduous task?

The paint appears to be silk emulsion over matt emulsion, I'd say about 0.5-1mm thick. It flakes off easily in some areas but seems stuck solid in others.

Are those joints taped with scrim tape?

If not then you are probably wasting your time, and the best solution will be re-board, tape and skim.

They appear to be joined by bits of hessian in the plaster.... I don't know if this is right or just a very old fashioned way of doing things.... either way I figured I'd give it a go.

I've chipped off the loosest bits of paint and filled the joins to the plaster. I'll sand it down when it's dry, seal and paint.... will see what happens.

Yes, the hessian stuff will be the tape. Avoid cutting through it.

Enjoy.

Yup, it's all still intact, as soon as I saw it I figured that it was something to be left well alone. It does have the advantage of being quite difficult to cut through by accident.

It turned out that it wasn't as bad as it first looked. While the cracks were in the plaster they were very minor, it was the continued application of paint over the last 45 years without ever doing anything about it. Like a mountain range built up over the years!

Fingers crossed the finish will be fairly clean, I'm a bit pernickety about these things.... though it is the first room I'm doing so it'll probably wear off by the time I've done the whole of my flat ;o)

The hessian tape is obviously not doing its job, However well you fill the cracks, i think they will re-appear. The cracks will not be able to be filled with a flexible filler to a smooth enough finish to hide them. There must be a bit of spring in the ceiling. Personally i would re-scrim and plaster again giveng a new finish.

Oh, ok, I found the cracks gave me less hassle to fill neatly than the raw paint edges!

I guess you're right about re-plastering, but there's just so much else to do and so little cash (I'm not ready to DIY Plaster yet). I'll stick with this for now and then I'll re-plaster next time I decorate.