SilentBob wrote:
Hi,

I am a complete newbie to full on decorating. Previously I've been
lucky that all I've needed to do is a bit of painting here and there.

I've recently moved into a new property that needs a LOT of work
doing.

With the bedroom I'm working on at the moment, when we pulled the
wallpaper from the walls (yes, it WAS that easy) it also caused the
ceiling covering to come away at the edges. We wanted to re-do the
ceiling anyway, so pulled all the ceiling covering off. That too came
off real easy.

I then filled a couple of cracks, rubbed down any loose areas and
cleaned the surface of loose dust.

When I then attempted to apply the new ceiling paint (a polycell
product) with a foam roller, it appeared not to be sticking to the
surface. It was being pulled off by the roller. I tried with a medium
pile fibre roller and the same happened. Using a paint brush
initially seemed OK. So I started to paint a larger area, with the
intention of covering properly once dried. However, that too ended up
causing the same problem.

Upon closer look, where the paint was coming off, it was not JUST the
new paint coming off. There was a layer of something else (green -
grey in colour) on the underside. So it would appear that whatever
this layer is, the new paint is causing it to come away. This also
leaves a yellow-ish surface underneath (which presumably WOULD keep
the new paint).

Investigating further, scrubbing the surface "sort of" removed the
offending surface covering. It comes of quite a nasty, sludgy,
grey-green mess. Also, applying a brief spell of steam & then
scraping seems to remove it, but not without making a huge dusty mess.

Could someone please tell me what this stuff might be & why the paint
not only won't key to it, but infact pulls off the initial surface?

What would be the best way of dealing with this with minimum fuss (and
prefereably mess)?


Sorry if this is complete basics, but I AM a complete novice. :/

Thanks,
Simon

This is distemper,the only way is to line the ceiling.

I've tried all manner of ingrediants to shift it and still it comes
through,however it don't show through the thick grade lining paper.

--
Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite