We want to repaint a plastered room. It has 2 (3?) previous coats of
uncertain age. Some paint is coming off, at least partly due to water
from a long-ago roof repair. I scraped it pretty aggressively. In
some areas, I got down to the plaster; in others, the paint seems
intact.

Where I did scrape paint off, I find that I can attack the exposed
edge with a razor blade, and pop the paint off in small patches.
Mostly, this is just the top coat, though sometimes, it gets down to
bare plaster. It's not clear how far I could go with this - at the
least, I can get off a LOT more than the scraper did.

The question is, whether this is 'normal'? It doesn't seem like
well-bonded paint, but maybe it's OK? It would be a PITA to do the
razor thing on the whole room, but there's no point in new paint
that's going to come off, either.

Thanks

On Friday, January 22, 2016 at 2:35:45 PM UTC-5, wrote:
We want to repaint a plastered room. It has 2 (3?) previous coats of
uncertain age. Some paint is coming off, at least partly due to water
from a long-ago roof repair. I scraped it pretty aggressively. In
some areas, I got down to the plaster; in others, the paint seems
intact.

Where I did scrape paint off, I find that I can attack the exposed
edge with a razor blade, and pop the paint off in small patches.
Mostly, this is just the top coat, though sometimes, it gets down to
bare plaster. It's not clear how far I could go with this - at the
least, I can get off a LOT more than the scraper did.

The question is, whether this is 'normal'? It doesn't seem like
well-bonded paint, but maybe it's OK? It would be a PITA to do the
razor thing on the whole room, but there's no point in new paint
that's going to come off, either.

Thanks

It's not normal for paint to come off with a razor. But on the other
hand, if the areas where it's coming off on it's own are limited to
areas that had water damage, then what's there is probably bonded well
enough that it doesn't need to be removed, which is a major PIA.
If the areas where it's coming off are limited, I'd just deal with
those and then put a primer over the whole thing.

On Fri, 22 Jan 2016 12:13:27 -0800 (PST), trader_4
wrote:

It's not normal for paint to come off with a razor. But on the other
hand, if the areas where it's coming off on it's own are limited to
areas that had water damage, then what's there is probably bonded well
enough that it doesn't need to be removed, which is a major PIA.
If the areas where it's coming off are limited, I'd just deal with
those and then put a primer over the whole thing.

I'd try a slow speed orbital sander with extra fine paper and feather
out those places. Wash the wall with TSP (red box) to remove any grim
and go from there.

On Fri, 22 Jan 2016 14:35:42 -0500, wrote:

We want to repaint a plastered room. It has 2 (3?) previous coats of
uncertain age. Some paint is coming off, at least partly due to water
from a long-ago roof repair. I scraped it pretty aggressively. In
some areas, I got down to the plaster; in others, the paint seems
intact.

Where I did scrape paint off, I find that I can attack the exposed
edge with a razor blade, and pop the paint off in small patches.
Mostly, this is just the top coat, though sometimes, it gets down to
bare plaster. It's not clear how far I could go with this - at the
least, I can get off a LOT more than the scraper did.

The question is, whether this is 'normal'? It doesn't seem like
well-bonded paint, but maybe it's OK? It would be a PITA to do the
razor thing on the whole room, but there's no point in new paint
that's going to come off, either.

Thanks

Old hardened paint will do this. Just get the loose paint off.
Use drywall compound to smooth the wall, then paint.

On 01/22/2016 2:13 PM, trader_4 wrote:
....

It's not normal for paint to come off with a razor. ...

I'd think it actually quite normal... Attack a hardened film layer
at it's edge with a wedge and it's pretty much simple physics to raise
that edge.

That said, if it takes that level of effort to remove, it's likely "good
enough".

--

It's not normal for paint to come off with a razor. But on the other
hand, if the areas where it's coming off on it's own are limited to
areas that had water damage, then what's there is probably bonded well
enough that it doesn't need to be removed, which is a major PIA.
If the areas where it's coming off are limited, I'd just deal with
those and then put a primer over the whole thing.

I'd try a slow speed orbital sander with extra fine paper and feather
out those places. Wash the wall with TSP (red box) to remove any grim
and go from there.


I would try to avoid too much sanding if there is a chance that the
plaster has asbestos in it - ie 1960's.
Getting it properly tested for asbestos might be costly -
and it's one of those things you might rather NOT know ..
John T



--- news://freenews.netfront.net/ - complaints: ---

On Friday, January 22, 2016 at 2:35:45 PM UTC-5, wrote:
We want to repaint a plastered room. It has 2 (3?) previous coats of
uncertain age. Some paint is coming off, at least partly due to water
from a long-ago roof repair. I scraped it pretty aggressively. In
some areas, I got down to the plaster; in others, the paint seems
intact.

Where I did scrape paint off, I find that I can attack the exposed
edge with a razor blade, and pop the paint off in small patches.
Mostly, this is just the top coat, though sometimes, it gets down to
bare plaster. It's not clear how far I could go with this - at the
least, I can get off a LOT more than the scraper did.

The question is, whether this is 'normal'? It doesn't seem like
well-bonded paint, but maybe it's OK? It would be a PITA to do the
razor thing on the whole room, but there's no point in new paint
that's going to come off, either.

Thanks

we had and fixed that problem here, and its been fine for about 20 years.

remove everything loose, really work at it. then wash with tsp and rinse well. let dry for a couple days. then paint with a bonding agent so the next layer sticks well..

then skim coat with drywall mud. let dry well.

then paint.......give it 2 coats

like i said near 20 years ago and zero problems.

avoid sanding because of lead based paint, and possible asbestos

On 1/22/2016 8:10 PM, wrote:


It's not normal for paint to come off with a razor. But on the other
hand, if the areas where it's coming off on it's own are limited to
areas that had water damage, then what's there is probably bonded well
enough that it doesn't need to be removed, which is a major PIA.
If the areas where it's coming off are limited, I'd just deal with
those and then put a primer over the whole thing.

I'd try a slow speed orbital sander with extra fine paper and feather
out those places. Wash the wall with TSP (red box) to remove any grim
and go from there.


I would try to avoid too much sanding if there is a chance that the
plaster has asbestos in it - ie 1960's.
Getting it properly tested for asbestos might be costly -
and it's one of those things you might rather NOT know ..
John T


You can remove paint easily with no tools. One night for dinner we had
a lot of onions and mushrooms. Next morning I was able to peel the
paint off the bathroom walls and ceiling. Peeled off in sheets.

On Fri, 22 Jan 2016 22:22:05 -0500, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 1/22/2016 8:10 PM, wrote:


It's not normal for paint to come off with a razor. But on the other
hand, if the areas where it's coming off on it's own are limited to
areas that had water damage, then what's there is probably bonded well
enough that it doesn't need to be removed, which is a major PIA.
If the areas where it's coming off are limited, I'd just deal with
those and then put a primer over the whole thing.

I'd try a slow speed orbital sander with extra fine paper and feather
out those places. Wash the wall with TSP (red box) to remove any grim
and go from there.


I would try to avoid too much sanding if there is a chance that the
plaster has asbestos in it - ie 1960's.
Getting it properly tested for asbestos might be costly -
and it's one of those things you might rather NOT know ..
John T


You can remove paint easily with no tools. One night for dinner we had
a lot of onions and mushrooms. Next morning I was able to peel the
paint off the bathroom walls and ceiling. Peeled off in sheets.

By the time you sand and scrape and pay for asbestos and lead paint
tests and all of that, why not just sheetrock the room! -OR- Cover it
with paneling.

On Fri, 22 Jan 2016 14:35:42 -0500, wrote:

We want to repaint a plastered room. It has 2 (3?) previous coats of
uncertain age. Some paint is coming off, at least partly due to water
from a long-ago roof repair. I scraped it pretty aggressively. In
some areas, I got down to the plaster; in others, the paint seems
intact.

Where I did scrape paint off, I find that I can attack the exposed
edge with a razor blade, and pop the paint off in small patches.
Mostly, this is just the top coat, though sometimes, it gets down to
bare plaster. It's not clear how far I could go with this - at the
least, I can get off a LOT more than the scraper did.

The question is, whether this is 'normal'? It doesn't seem like
well-bonded paint, but maybe it's OK? It would be a PITA to do the
razor thing on the whole room, but there's no point in new paint
that's going to come off, either.

Thanks
Most likely someone painted latex over oil based without an
intermediate primer. Typical DIY mistake. Sand out to suit yourself,
spackle and repair as needed, prime with an acrylic primer (not a
primer + paint combo), then top coat.