Advice for a painting problem?

[ahagwearsapointybonnet]

Hoping someone with decorating experience can help with my frustrating problem...

We had some damage to an interior wall a while back, which ended up being replastered. Because of access issues etc though, rather than redoing the entire wall, the plasterer just did the damaged section and then tried to blend the edges of the fresh plaster into the existing paint on the undamaged part. (Probably not ideal, but it seemed the best option at the time...).

After a good long drying time, I sanded it a bit along the edge and did 2 mist coats (with a good gap in between), which worked OK. But when I did the proper paint, although the originally damaged bit is now fine, I found it started to bubble up and then flake along the "tidemark" where the fresh plaster stopped.

I assumed this was because it was still a bit rough along the join, so I sanded it again to get rid of the loose paint and try to smooth out the edge of the plaster more, then repeated the mist coat on any exposed plaster bits. But when I tried the proper emulsion again the same thing happened - bubbling and then flaking. So now there are a number of bare (or just mist-coated) patches along the line of the fresh plaster (though not all the way along - some areas are OK), with an "edge" of the fresh paint around them. (It looks a bit like a map of some islands!).

I'm not sure what to try next though - whether I should just sand it again a bit harder to try and smooth off the edges and repeat (but it may just flake again), or whether I need to consider using some filler or something to get rid of the raised edge where the flaked patches meet the paint, or if there's anything else I can try? Getting sick of doing and re-doing it! Thank you.

Yes...use filler but take all the plaster edge away. Basically, where the plasterer has "feathered' the edge onto the good wall,, remove that. So you're left with just the plaster where the hole was exactly.

Then use filler.

Thanks Ajas. I've maybe not explained it that well though, so I don't think it will be possible to remove all the edge of the plaster. The damage was not just a single hole unfortunately, but a number of patches, spread across a larger area, where the old plaster and paint had bubbled up or cracked (it was water damage) - so the new plaster covered the whole area. So trying to remove it would mean taking off a LOT of plaster, and still probably ending up with some edges next to the damaged bits...

Oh lordy. I got the advice I gave from my DH who is a painter and decorator and he says from your update that it sounds like the plasterer has made a bad job of it.

He says the only thing you can do short of getting someone else in (another plasterer) is to flick away any loose plaster/paint and use filler to fill in the gaps.

Then sand and repaint.

What the plasterer should have done is to fill the holes separately or made them into one big hole.

Thanks again (and your DH)! Yeah with hindsight I wish we had got it done differently. Ideally I think it could have done with the whole wall re-doing to avoid the "edge", but then it would have needed special ladders and stuff and also it would have been almost impossible for me to paint afterwards so I would have had to get someone in for that too But we had someone round doing another job, and he saw it and offered to fix it while he was there, which seemed easier - I've often had trouble getting people to come out when it's just for a (relatively) small job like that.

I'll definitely give what your DH said a try though and have a go with the filler. Fingers crossed that will sort it! It might be next week now though, cos I have started repainting another room now while I was thinking about it, so probably better get that finished off first.