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Original poster

Can anyone tell me what has happened to my newly (professionally) painted walls?

114 replies

Sandcaaarstle · 26/11/2025 19:58

Just had my lounge painted. It was silk emulsion and I didn’t fancy panting it myself with Matt emulsion. I’ve come home from work today (it was finished yesterday afternoon) and looks like this. What do I do now?
I’ve attached photos but might not upload for a while.

Can anyone tell me what has happened to my newly (professionally) painted walls?
Can anyone tell me what has happened to my newly (professionally) painted walls?
OP posts:
Didimum · 26/11/2025 20:32

If they sanded the walls, which you said they did, then this should have nothing to do with the silk emulsion. It looks like the cracking you get when paint is either applied too thickly, re-coated before first coat has dried or dried too quickly from over heating (near radiators or heaters or dehumidifiers used to speed up drying time). Any of that possible?

BettysRoasties · 26/11/2025 20:27

MotherofPufflings · 26/11/2025 20:22

Sympathy! The paint in every room in our house is not only crackled but also peels off like a face mask if you try and paint over it 😭

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I would be spending hours peeling that weirdly satisfying. Not when you want to look nice however.

MotherofPufflings · 26/11/2025 20:22

BettysRoasties · 26/11/2025 20:16

Not me haha. The living room also had what felt like 20 layers of wall paper when we stripped that. All the previous occupants must of just wall papered over the existing wallpaper.

At some point someone laid laminate over the upstairs carpets poorly. The bathroom was also carpeted. Very much slum landlord so we didn’t feel too bad 😅 last I checked it was still a rental over charging and doing nothing to the property.

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Sympathy! The paint in every room in our house is not only crackled but also peels off like a face mask if you try and paint over it 😭

Stillamum3 · 26/11/2025 20:22

It happens if you put matt emulsion over gloss paint too. My DM's kitchen had taht problem years ago.

Balloonhearts · 26/11/2025 20:20

Sandcaaarstle · 26/11/2025 20:16

She’s said she’s going to do this then paint again and see if it fixes it.

I bloody despise silk emulsion, I don’t know why anyone uses it 😭

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As someone who used to sell and mix paint, I don't know why anyone uses matt. It's fragile, easily marked, always looks grubby and you get problems like this when putting it on basically anything. Give me a decent silk any day.

FancyLimePoet · 26/11/2025 20:20

This exact thing happened to us. It was a wall with wallpaper on it previously. Your lucky your painter is coming back, my painter told me to have a go myself since I did such a good job upstairs 😳

HappiestSleeping · 26/11/2025 20:20

Sandcaaarstle · 26/11/2025 20:18

Thanks @HappiestSleeping

she seemed genuinely upset and replied straight away. I’m sure (hope to god) she’ll fix it!

Sounds like you have a more diligent decorator than we did.

Also, yours looks like a genuine error. Mine was just plain shoddy work.

Original poster
Sandcaaarstle · 26/11/2025 20:18

Thanks @HappiestSleeping

she seemed genuinely upset and replied straight away. I’m sure (hope to god) she’ll fix it!

OP posts:
HappiestSleeping · 26/11/2025 20:17

Not that it helps you @Sandcaaarstle but we also paid for a so called reputable decorator, and the job they did was shocking.

I hope you get it sorted.

Original poster
Sandcaaarstle · 26/11/2025 20:16

WhyDoesItAlways · 26/11/2025 20:11

Yeah matt over silk. A coat of zinsser undercoat will fix it

She’s said she’s going to do this then paint again and see if it fixes it.

I bloody despise silk emulsion, I don’t know why anyone uses it 😭

OP posts:
BettysRoasties · 26/11/2025 20:16

MotherofPufflings · 26/11/2025 20:11

Did you then sell that house to me? 🤨😂

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Not me haha. The living room also had what felt like 20 layers of wall paper when we stripped that. All the previous occupants must of just wall papered over the existing wallpaper.

At some point someone laid laminate over the upstairs carpets poorly. The bathroom was also carpeted. Very much slum landlord so we didn’t feel too bad 😅 last I checked it was still a rental over charging and doing nothing to the property.

gerispringer · 26/11/2025 20:16

You need the correct undercoat before painting new paint/ colour. F and B sell different kinds of undercoat for different paints/ colours. We once didn’t bother as it’s quite pricey but ended up having to redo it all.

Original poster
Sandcaaarstle · 26/11/2025 20:15

She’s going to come back and have a look at it and try to sort. She was as shocked as I was.

OP posts:
Balloonhearts · 26/11/2025 20:15

Not primed properly. Should have been sanded, sugar-coated then primed before painting matt over silk. Matt paint is a bitch, silk will go over anything but matt is a pita.

WhyDoesItAlways · 26/11/2025 20:11

Yeah matt over silk. A coat of zinsser undercoat will fix it

MotherofPufflings · 26/11/2025 20:11

BettysRoasties · 26/11/2025 20:09

You’ve just unlocked a memory. We actually did that in a old house it did not got as bad as this as we did a very hard sugar scrub but kept
wondering why kept finding cracks and kept basically adding more and more layers of paint 🫣 about 10 years ago now.

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Did you then sell that house to me? 🤨😂

AudiobookListener · 26/11/2025 20:10

You also need to seal previously wallpapered walls or wash off every last trace of old paste or put up lining paper and paint that. Otherwise the paste will damage the new paint eventually (not necessarily straight away ).

TonTonMacoute · 26/11/2025 20:10

It's a well known problem unfortunately. Pros hate silk emulsion, they should have warned you this could happen.

BettysRoasties · 26/11/2025 20:09

MotherofPufflings · 26/11/2025 20:06

Well known that this can happen when you paint matt paint over silk. I'm surprised that your decorator didn't know this. It's going to be a nightmare to put right.

You’ve just unlocked a memory. We actually did that in a old house it did not got as bad as this as we did a very hard sugar scrub but kept
wondering why kept finding cracks and kept basically adding more and more layers of paint 🫣 about 10 years ago now.

WLnamechange · 26/11/2025 20:08

Matt paint over silk will do this yeah.

Innermagnolia · 26/11/2025 20:08

It looks like the new paint is incompatible with the underlying paint. I once had this problem with some F&B paint. Had to be scraped off, rubbed down and sealed before repainting.

Original poster
Sandcaaarstle · 26/11/2025 20:07

Yes they are local and very reputable. I’m wondering if it was the silk emulsion too. Which is exactly why I didn’t want to do it.

OP posts:
MotherofPufflings · 26/11/2025 20:06

Well known that this can happen when you paint matt paint over silk. I'm surprised that your decorator didn't know this. It's going to be a nightmare to put right.

Straightjacketsandroses · 26/11/2025 20:05

Sandcaaarstle · 26/11/2025 20:03

I have paid - it was perfect when they left yesterday afternoon. This has happened at some point today.

This is why I never ever ever pay straight away - always a day or so later to give me time to check for problems

Fidgety31 · 26/11/2025 20:05

You need a primer on top of the silk for the new paint to adhere . That’s why it’s gone t like that . It’s just floating on top of the silk . Will probably peel off .