Walter R. wrote:

I am painting my single story house in Southern California. It is a slab and
foundation construction.

The walls are stucco and are painted white. The concrete foundation, which
extends about 8" above ground, was also painted white with latex paint.

The paint on the foundation keeps flaking off in some areas. There is no
visible moisture on the concrete where the paint is spalling. There is no
visible efflorescence.

I suspect this problem is cause by some kind of moisture interaction between
the paint and the foundation concrete.

I have to scrape and repaint the foundation every few years.

Can I use a special paint or coating on the foundation that will prevent the
paint from flaking off?

We have concrete block/stucco. When the bld. was painted, the
contractor "excavated" about 6" down with pressure washer and painted
that far down. Concrete on the ground will always have moisture. With
a continuous coating going below grade, the edge that peels is below
grade - that was in 2001, and so far, so good. Fill in the soil when
paint is dry. Acryllic primer and paint, brushable caulk on hairline
cracks. Previous paint job was a disaster, with no apparent prep or
washing done - blistered, peeled, mildew under peeling paint. A huge
amount of paint was blasted off during the latest paint prep, but had a
great contractor.

You might want to just pressure wash the lower portion and leave it
unpainted. Lot of trouble, IMO.