interior wall painting

[michaela]

I have just stripped the walls in my house and notice that under the wall paper the wall has been painted in white. Some of this white comes off on the wall paper and what remains is quite flaky. I don't want to wall paper the walls as I would prefer to paint them. Do I need to sand them, or coat them in some type of sealant before I start. Please advise.

 

[shadath]

Hi there,

From experience of painting I would say your best bet is to get a steamer and get all of the paint off your walls. Unfortunately if you sand your walls and start painting you will still most likely be able to see the old paint, it may even be patchy.

You can buy sealant, and the idea is that you cab start painiting and all is well afterwards but i had paint reacting one time when i used some Dulux trade sealant, then I went for the old scraping off all the paint/steaming and the walls turned out fine.

Hope that helps, I'm sure other people may have other ideas.

Good luck

SHAD

 

[bobski]

seal it with pva.either neat on small areas or diluted across a large area.it will hold the paint back

its better to burn out than fade away

 

[michaela]

Thanks for your advice, I thought that PVA glue might work, should I still sand down the wall anyway to reduce the flaking?, could you also advise me on what to use on window recess walls as they seem to get fairly damp. I am in the process of trying to establish the problem however just to be on the safe side when I do get around to painting them is there a paint or sealant available to prevent any damp coming through?

 

[bobski]

gloss any damp areas,this will work providing the probem has been rectified,or use pva again.works a treat

 

[Panjandrum]

Especially if you have old walls, it could be that the dampness will not be a problem once you remove the wallpaper so that the walls can breathe. I have had several mysterious damp areas get better after removing vinyl paper and painting instead.
On flakey paint - gentle scrape to remove loose stuff, seal with PVA wash, paint with good quality paint = OK.

 

[michaela]

Thanks for all your help, however I have discovered on revealing more of the walls that they are in such a bad state I will have to have them skimmed anyway. , but is it still a good idea to use pva glue after skimming and before painting?, it is an old house with granite walls, there are some problems with the chimney which is causing damp on the back wall although I am getting this fixed. would pva help with any future problems?

 

[Panjandrum]

Passing on information I got from the guy who did some plastering for me - "You need to be sure to use the right material on a solid wall (like yours being granite or mine being without cavity) - that modern stuff soaks up moisture and can make a solid wall seem damp" - or words to that effect.
PVA will not stop the damp, but will make a doubtful surface more secure and will seal it so that it is easier to paint. I have tried stuff that seals walls on mine and generally the results seem to be better if I make sure the wall can breathe.