Repair peeling Emulsion.

[RP66]

I have a couple of small areas of peeling emulsion paint, no problom I thought!!
Just sand back and touch up, but no, the paint just keeps peeling back like a skin on top of the plaster and I cannot get a smooth finish.
I have tried filling and sanding but still the edges just keep peeling back, what was a 1" dia patch is now 3" dia!!

HELP PLEASE

 

[JohnD]

Post some pics

How old is the house

When was the wall painted

How was it prepared

Is this a bathroom?

 

[RP66]

Post some pics

How old is the house 25yrs

When was the wall painted 3 months ago

How was it prepared Not sure

Is this a bathroom? No

 

[JohnD]

was it wallpapered before it was painted?

is the plaster, beneath the peeling paint, bare?

there seems to be a white line at the bottom of your pic. Is that a skirting board or something?

Is it a kitchen?

Stand back and take a wider pic of the wall please.

 

[RP66]

was it wallpapered before it was painted? No

is the plaster, beneath the peeling paint, bare? No, it looks like plaster board to me.

there seems to be a white line at the bottom of your pic. Is that a skirting board or something? Yes

Is it a kitchen? No it's in the Hall.

As you sand it it is like a skin peeling off the top and you can jus keep going, never gettin a smooth edge.

Stand back and take a wider pic of the wall please.

 

[RP66]

Picture

 

[JohnD]

that sort of mark just above a skirting can be due to damp. Is it a concrete floor? What is on the other side of the wall?

The plaster colour looks quite dark to me, suggestive of damp. It doesn't look to me like plasterboard. Plasterboard is usually ivory-coloured soft paper coating.

If the house is 25 years old, it is sure to have been decorated before, either with paint or with wallpaper. It might be that there were traces of wallpaper paste on the wall, which prevented the paint soaking in.

Sponge a different part of the wall (higher up) please and see if the paint forms a bubble when it is wet. Glue can do this.

But if you only have the problem low down, I'd explore the possibility of damp.

Take a wider pic of the wall please.

 

[RP66]

Its not damp, it could be dark because I wiped it with a damp cloth to clean it up a bit.
What ever is behind the paint it roughs up when sanded.
I've had this trouble whenever using modern paints they seem to dry like a skin on top and just keep peeling, I have similar ploblem in the Kitchen.

 

[Grenage]

We had this in our bedroom recently; the previous owner clearly hadn't mist-coated (or had used PVA) and every time I sanded back it dragged more paint off in spades. I ended up scraping all the paint off the walls and washing, misting, painting.

If it's only a small section then you might be able to get away with filler smoothed flush and a coat of paint.