Why was my paint peeling as I painted?

[SnowdropsInSpring]

I am painting old plasterboards (painted years ago, but very dry). I have done two coats ‘ mist' and normal, but more coats are needed. I’m just painting white for now to get a good base for any later colour and to cover over the old paint.

The first two coats were done with cheap paint and today I used decent quality. It was 10˚ which was the minimum recommended temperature, so maybe I was pushing it…

The paint went on ok, but say I painted a 1x1 metre area, then moved to the adjacent 1x1m area, my brush just lifted off the paint from the first section (where I was joining it). It was like a thin sticky glue where it was lifting… It was almost like it was drying too quickly and becoming sticky. I was using a brush because it was a small area, but imagine it would have been as bad if I had used a brush around the edges, then a roller - the roller would have pulled up the cut in areas.

Could it be that I’m painting over another type of paint? Or the temperature? Or something else?

The finish is great where it has gone on well, but awful in those overlap areas. I didn’t have any problems at all with any of the other coats, and I have left plenty of time between coats.

I’ve painted loads and have never had this problem before, so I don’t really know what to do…

Ps all coats are emulsion.

Dodgy paint? I had this recently with some Valspar paint. I scrubbed it off with soapy water, sanded down a few patches where it had stuck properly to the walls, and then repainted with a different brand which was fine.

I;ve had this with a dulux paint - think it was something like 'diamond matt' or 'one coat' but I can't quite remember, - it was awful, I persevered and as long as I did one roller coat without touching any previous wet paint it was 'fine' - but a blooming nightmare and a lot of hard work.

The previous coats went on really well (old walls, so was expecting lots of coats), this paint is clearly better colour wise (brighter, stronger) and I really didn’t expect problems.

I used new brushes and I didn’t wet them. I’ve been reading comments about setting brushes/ rollers before using with latex paints. Maybe I should have done this.

I plan to give the walls a good going over before the next coat. A good clean and sand the areas that might be too thick (I couldn’t spread it properly because the brush kept lifting the paint and peeling it away as I painted).

I’m using a kitchen and bathroom paint (highly washable type). Not sure whether that could make a difference (it’s for a utility type room).

This almost always happens to me when I try to paint over old paint. Just sand down and apply primer - it’ll be afterwards.

you mean the brush was lifting the original coats of paint ?

@tanstaafl

you mean the brush was lifting the original coats of paint ?

No. The original coats were there good and strong. It was lifting the paint I had just painted. Almost like it was drying too quickly to the sticky, tacky stage rather than staying wet for long enough.

Unless it was soaking into the wall too quickly?... And leaving a sticky top layer? Except I’d done a mist coat and second coat no problem. This was coat 3, but I could still see parts of the wall through coat 2.

@Ozanj

This almost always happens to me when I try to paint over old paint. Just sand down and apply primer - it’ll be afterwards.

But this was coat 3 (two coats not enough)

This happens with washable, kitchen and bathroom paint etc.... you have to do it really quickly. Just try not to paint over it too much until it is fully dry.

@ItsSnowJokes

This happens with washable, kitchen and bathroom paint etc.... you have to do it really quickly. Just try not to paint over it too much until it is fully dry.

It was drying (soaking in?) as I painted! There’s no way I could have painted quickly enough!

I’ve tried to take a photo of the worst area (you might have to enlarge and brighten). I painted one section, then as I painted the second, the brush lifted up the part I had already painted.

You can see the areas that have lifted, plus the areas that are too thick, but I couldn’t spread it without it lifting.

I am going to have to sand back to create a smooth surface…

We had this with kitchen & bathroom paint too, with a similar room temperature. We (DH and I) vowed to never touch the stuff again!

No help I know, sorry, but we couldn't work it out either and we were not strangers to applying paint. I have never used it since, just stuck to other washable paints. It was not a nice experience. It might be better in slightly warmer temperatures, could be worth a try.

We had a flat where this happened and it turned out the ceiling had been painted with distemper which is chalky and the vinyl paint that was used bubbled and you could peel it away in sheets.

In the end we had to wash the ceiling to remove the distemper but I think now you can get a distemper sealer.

Mind you that was probably over 40 years ago, I don't think distemper is used now except by the National trust in Stately Homes.

Different as eggshell, not emulsion but I wonder if it is same thing happening-

I've had similar happen when using Dulux basic white eggshell for base coats and then moving to FB for top coats. As if something in the two were interacting and the FB was lifting the base layers.

I persevered with a third coat (looked a right mess) then let it fully dry and sanded lightly any bumpy bits and painted a top coat of FB. And it's now fine.

I wish I'd just taken the hit price-wise and used FB's own primer / undercoat as then it works really well and I never get this issue.

Just wonder if something similar is going on and it is a chemical reaction between the different types of emulsion?

All things said, I would wait until it was a bit warmer before painting. Paint gets stroppy when it's cold I've found. I'm itching to get started on a couple of rooms but it's not worth it when it's too cold.

When I had this happen, the problem was that the original paint was oil based. Other paints will just pull off like plastic sheets unless you properly prime.

I had this with dulux 'scrubbable' matt paint. It way like it was drying so quickly that it just wouldn't blend as I moved along the wall. Would never use again. Looks ok until it catches certain lights and, despite it supposedly being matt, you can see every paint stroke.

If it's lifting the previous layer of paint, the problem is in the previous layer.
Could be several reasons. Previous layer not properly dry, for example. How long did you leave the previous coats to dry? If it's cold, and/or the room is also not very well ventilated, and/or you have done 2 coats in quick succession, it may take a good while.

If you have done 2 coats of cheapo paint, which is usually thin and short on binders anyway, and one was thinnned even more to make a mist coat, then there may not be enough binder left in it to stop it rewetting.I think I' do a test are, paint it with a very light touch and no going back over the wet parts, and let that dry. I suspect if you did that, you'd be okay with a second coat over it.

Quite a few perfectly good paints resent it if you go back over bits that have just started to dry, so you should always try not to do that.

You can also run into trouble with paint if you let it get below freezing in storage. Have you stored it in a very cold place?

I've just painted a bedroom using Dulux Easycare (used to be called Endurance). Horrible stuff - couldn't roll over the same area twice - just lifted off. Looked so patchy. 2nd coat went on much better, but needed a 3rd coat to get it just right. Unfortunately I have another 5l for another room - going to water down the 1st coat to see if it goes on better