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

[Sandcaaarstle]

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.

I had a friend who painted her toilet room in dark blue silk. Later on she painted it in brilliant white matt. The exact thing happened to her walls as what has happened to yours, however, the effect of the dark blue cracks weaving through small chunks of white was utterly amazing and she was delighted with the result. It really was effective.

As for the use of silk, I despise matt surfaces as I have massive sensory issues, and matt walls are one of them. Someone can trott off all the reasons under the sun as to why silk is a poor choice, I really don't care. I love my super-shiny walls and ceilings. Added to which, they can be washed down. No matter what promises a paint manufacturer makes, or how fancy the paint it, I have never found a matt that can be scrubbed without it being removed.

Little green
do a washable Matt paint

it isn’t however completely breathable so not as good as a breathable Matt.

Lots of manufactures claim to do a washable matt. I've yet to clean one that was as forgiving as vinyl silk.

I’ve specified the little green in a reception area and it cleans really well. They use a buffer on the floors and there are no skirtings so the cleaners are cleaning the walls regularly
I can’t say whether it works for things like crayons though

Vinyl silk is excellent for cleaning but as it contains glue it also traps moisture so not a good idea for older buildings. Even newer builds can suffer from mould, high humidity and damp sometimes.

Hence the preference for breathable finishes

It must have been painted on bare plaster. That would need misting and undercoating before top coats would be done (have had all this done myself recently). Of course it will be perfect when first done, then the plaster sucks the water out of the paint and ruins it.

It was done over silk emulsion, not bare plaster.

Thanks @ProfessorDrPrunesqualer

thats good advice. The decorator came back yesterday while I was work and whatever she’s done, the crackle effect has gone. I think she’s coming back today, perhaps to give it one more coat. Although this is where it all went wrong last time, so I’m a bit 🫣

She has been completely brilliant throughout so I have no complaints. She was as shocked as I was when she saw what had happened!

I like this! I shall try to remember it when I’m knee deep in sandpaper and sugar soap!!

Then I presume that was pre-existing paint, if so that should have been removed as matt was being painted over the top of silk, which doesn't work well. See this video that explains why and what needs to be done.

Its not underlying paint, its wallpaper paste.
They have removed the wallpaper but there must have still been wall paper paste ( dried) left on the wall.
The new wet paint has re moistened it. And then it has dried to a crackle finish. Because it contains starch , which is much smaller dry than wet.

It going to need a bit of work to deal with that and its a bit of a novice mistake.

Only one wall was wallpapered. This has happened on all four.

It is definitely the shiny surface of the silk that has caused the issues, even with sanding it needs an undercoat. I have a pole sander and sand all walls anyway when painting.

Either Zinsser Gardz or Zinsser Bullseye 123 (blue tin) would work well to prime the surface in future, as shown in the video by @GentleSheep this also shows the pole sander, like a flat mop but you attach sandpaper, I used 120 grit.

You can always test it on one wall going forward. Gardz is clear and I used it on a previously wallpapered wall as recommended by a decorator I follow on social media. Bullseye 123 I have also used in the past too. Both brilliant products.

This looks like what hapens when you paint a water-based paint over an oil-based paint without any intervening primer. Are you confident that the base coat was emulsion?

All fixed now thank goodness. Decorator finished this morning and it’s all back to normal and looking fabulous. She said it was definitely a result of painting matt over silk but couldn’t understand why it had happened as they’d sanded thoroughly and used a special undercoat.

Im Just glad I no longer have crackle glazed walls! Can’t wait to start the rest of the house 😬