To be annoyed with DH re decorating?

[Holesinmysox]

We are redecorating. Walls are in good condition having been skimmed about eight years ago so we were just going to put another layer of paint on.

DH has gone a bit trigger happy with his electric sander and, in ‘lightly’ sanding the walls, has sanded away an oval of paint to reveal the plaster underneath.

He’s all, “this is a good thing as it shows the paint would have flaked off.” Whereas I’m pretty upset as it means when we paint it there is going to be a really obvious patch in the paint with an egg shaped rim.

His proposal is to lightly fill it and sand again but I just want him to leave it alone.

AIBU?

Will the Zinsser disguise the ridges?

The thing is that the paint that’s left on there isn’t actually peeling. He’s really had to give it some welly to make those patches come off - hence the gouging of the plaster.

Christ it's not that much of a disaster, just sand the edges of the existing paint with a high grade paper to blend it in. It does look like it's flaky though.

And you are going to need a lot of coats to cover that black paint.

It’s a b&w image - not black paint thankfully!

If he stops now he can hand sand it so that the edges wouldn't show through the next layer of paint and anything made my Zinsser is amazing. I personally haven't used peel stop but it is recommended. Not that it needed it before but it needs it now.

Why is he continuing with this? Why can he not see he is making it worse? Why is he making it harder for himself? I am the decorator in this house, Dh is great at rollering but I do the prep and cutting in because I am just better at it. We both play to our skills. Your Dh is a turnip.

A bit of polyfilla to smooth the edges and then a couple of coats of Polycell crack free ceiling paint. I know it sounds odd, but our walls were terrible and we couldn't afford to have them skimmed, and our local DIY shop recommended the ceiling paint (instead of wall smoothing paint). It doesn't look absolutely perfect but it's pretty close, and our walls were way worse.

Oh, and it was also my DH that took chunks out of the walls with an electric sander. Why they insist on power tools when hand sanding would be sufficient is beyond me...

No, unfortunately not. If it's not actively peeling then you probably don't need it.

You can shortcut by using filler to kind of blend the edges but you don't get as good a finish IME as coating the whole area to bring it up to the same level as the existing paint. And you're going to need filler for the gouges anyway.

It will also be less noticeable if you use a mid to dark coloured paint rather than light coloured which reflects more light and shows up imperfections more. Also make sure you use matt paint rather than silk.

Charlottedecorator has a video on insta I think

I think power sanders should be banned unless in the hands of professionals!

I'd go for filling, sanding and then try some of the base coat paint for dodgy walls / ceilings, we had rubbish walls in our old house and the base coat got them 90% sorted.

If it was a recently skimmed wall with just one layer of paint I’m actually baffled why a sander was needed in the first place. Bizarre.

Can you put a large piece of furniture in front of it?

that would be the professional way vs peoples patch it

Zinsser Peel Stop: This is like a special glue that stops the peeling paint from getting worse. It makes the area stable and ready for fixing.

Toupret Fine Surface Filler: This is like a special material used to fill in holes or rough spots in the damaged area. It makes the surface smooth and ready for painting.

@Holesinmysox