Problems with Dulux Primer Sealer over distemper

[rhona]

My bedroom walls had a blue chalky covering on them (under the wallpaper) which I believe to be distemper. I assumed this as there was some similar chalky red stuff under the wllpaper in bedroom no. 1 which I scrubbed off over many days.

I wanted a quick fix for bedroom 2 so bought some Dulux Primer Sealer which is a solvent based and supposedly suitable for distemper and 'painted plaster'. (There are some patches of old emulsion paint on the wall, alongside and over the distemper).

I sanded the walls where they looked dodgy. I then applied the Primer Sealer and let dry for 2 days. I then painted over the sealer on one wall in Dulux white emulsion. I used a roller and big chunks of the wall started to flake off onto it. It had bubbled and flaked under the new emulsion in some areas and looked fine in others. I don't want this to happen to the other 3 walls so what do people suggest I do? Is there a quick remedy?

I have a feeling the right thing to do now would be to scrub/scrape off all the distemper back to original plaster (as I did in bedroom 1) and start again. If so, does anyone have any tips for REMOVING DISTEMPER THAT IS COATED IN SOLVENT BASED PRIMER SEALER? I want to avoid using any more solvent based stuff as it is making the whole household feel sick.

Thanking you in advance.

 

[Adaptor]

I had a real problem with distemper in my flat.

Flaky ceilings from previous occupant.. Did a lot of scraping and washing. Used Zinnser. Peeled. Scraped that off. Scraped some more. There was still some hard stuff which i prayed was not the hard distemper which nothing will stick too, apparently. Used Dulux primer sealer and then emulsion. So far so good. (Nearly a year)

Then afterwards discovered that the walls had a problem in the same way. Like you I discovered this when i put emulsion on a wall that had mixed paint finishes that I had previously sanded; immediately after painting, parts of the old wall paint bubbled. I scrapped these parts away wet (came off real easy).

Result; very uneven wall! Bodge solution; some filler, sanding, Dulux primer sealer over problem area, painted over with base coat emulsion on the patches, and then base coat over whole wall, finally top coat. Result; not brilliant but hardly notice now as I am not very fussy.

Second room I used Dulux primer sealer over the whole wall first and did not get the bubbling after. I was sick of scraping by then and needed a quick fix.

Perhaps the areas where you got the problem was areas you may have missed with the primer sealer? You should also used a brush with it so that you can slosh it on good.

Unless you are prepared to try the bodge solution above, it may be quicker to reskim the walls