Paint peeling after sugar soap

[AshleighB]

Help please! I'm redecorating my hallway - and will be painting on top of the existing paint. I've just sugar soaped and rinsed the walls, but the paint is now peeling/bubbling in places. It was fine before.

What should I do? Should I sand down where the paint is peeling and then paint over it? Or is something else needed to ensure this doesn't happen again?

Any help/suggestions would be much appreciated. Many thanks.

 

[JohnD]

how old is your house? This may affect the kind of paint originally used

Is it matt emulsion that is peeling? What is underneath it, and is it adhereing?

When was it last decorated, and who by? How good a job do you think they did?

Has it earlier been wallpapered, and the paper taken off?

 

[AshleighB]

The flat is about 100 years old, and I think that it matt emulsion that is peeling. There is more paint underneath which doesn't seem to be peeling, and it isn't lined. Not too sure when it was last decorated (prob previous owners within last 5 years), but it looks like OK amateur work, rather than anything professional.

Thanks for help / advice!!

 

[JohnD]

If it is 100 years old then the wall has very likely been painted with Distemper. This is a sort of whitewash with glue size which is an unstable surface. It can be washed off with hot (not cold) water plus scrubbing and scraping.

If you try a small area with hot water you will know, if you get a distinctive and rather unpleasant smell as it softens (this is due to the glue made of boiled up horses hooves).

Try scraping it off without the hot water but I doubt this will work.

You can try papering over it but when I tried the distemper came loose and the paper did not adhere properly.

I do not know a cure other than cleaning it off. Hiring a Steam Stripper may help.

 

[joe-90]

My bet is that it is matt painted over satin.

 

[AshleighB]

Just tried hot water on it, and it doesn't smell of anything, so hopefully it's not distemper.

What would I need to do if it's matt painted on silk emulsion?

 

[joe-90]

Move house.

Your best bet is to paint it all with a cheap oil based undercoat. (Wilko's £7.50 for 2.5 litres).It'll smell awful for a day but will stop the water in the new paint from reconstituting the old paint.