How to repair flaking/peeling paint when painting room?

ninjaef

Hello
How might we repair this issue, in a bedroom, in a newbuild flat (well it's not newbuild now but 10 yrs old). Anyway, the juxtaposition of the walls and ceiling has paint peeling away and the plaster is cracking - as can be seen. This is a room that's not been painted since new. It's a spare room we never use but selling up now hence the need to fix up. It is then just painted plaster - no wallpaper. I have only taken a close up but this issue is all around every wall along every wall. We need to paint the walls and ceilings.

We do have experience of DIY decorating - painted walls, ceilings, woodwork - but that's just DIY with emulsion and rollers and brushes from B&Q nothing fancy. If you can suggest better products for the job please do.

Very important and what I posted here for - is we really really need please the names of the exact products that we can use to remedy this, and if you have seen a video or perhaps could impart your own expertise on the steps on how to use the products please, we would be grateful , and thank you.
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JGB1955

Rub away the flaky bits.  Fill the holes with Tetrion or other filler.  Sand down again.  Paint... probably at least two coats, maybe more.

ninjaef

JGB1955 said:

Rub away the flaky bits.  Fill the holes with Tetrion or other filler.  Sand down again.  Paint... probably at least two coats, maybe more.

Thank you for replying.
Would I need to rub away with anything, or just a scraper, or something else? Tetrion - thank you so much for that, there's a screwfix 800metres away, so I searched their site. But, they do not stock Tetrion but they have 20 pages of "fillers" and so many products. I came across this with good reviews and "Trade Rated" - I like the idea of being able to pull a bead across the ceiling/wall joint cracks , sand and paint. Might this be a suitable alternative or would you recommend something different?
https://www.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-instant-plaster-filler-white-310ml/72591

Alanp

Scrape away the loose paint and, providing the cracks aren’t too deep, use fine surface filler, it doesn’t require sanding, ( or very little) , then paint over

ninjaef

Thank you. It is not so much cracks, but plaster coming away and paint too - as pics - so what fine surface filler would be best - any - so long as it's called that ? So many different ones , 6 pages on screwfix arrrgg 
This ? https://www.screwfix.com/p/ronseal-5-minute-multipurpose-ready-mixed-filler-white-600ml/77381
or something else? The "No Nonsense" gets good reviews - but I'm no epxert hence posting here.

Jeepers_Creepers

Hi Ninjaef.

That's just one of the most annoying things to happen. Do you think the peeling is localised to these areas, or could you find yourself scraping away endlessly?!

Anyhoo, what I would do is (a) obviously remove any properly loose paint flakes using a scraper. (b) go over the bare areas - and surrounding paint edges - using a sanding block and - ooh - 120 or 180 grit paper (120 being more coarse, which will be easier and faster - but stop if it's tearing the surrounding paint or removing too much plaster). What you are trying to do here is to feather the surrounding paint edges to the plaster level, so that - hopefully - it won't need any filling and you'll get away with just a thick coat of rolled paint over it. If this feathering isn't enough, not to worry - see later.

(c) Wipe it all down with a damp cloth to remove all dust and debris.

(d) Ok, if you are in any doubt as to how well attached the surrounding paint is, or if the exposed plaster areas are dusty or crumbly, then I would strongly recommend using a sealer to bind it all and stabilise it ready for filling and/or painting. Two products come to mind depending on what you need to achieve, tho' I haven't actually used either of them (but they're from a highly rated manufacturer). One is Zinnsser 'Peel Stop' Primer - which I hope is self-explanatory - and the other is Zinsser 'Gardz'.

As I understand it, the former is to 'glue' down flaking paint, and the latter is a more general 'stabiliser' which means it binds and seals surfaces ready for painting. Not sure which one I'd choose, but if the ONLY issue was flakes, then I'd probably go for the former. If the bare plaster is dusty or otherwise dodgy, then def the latter - it'll soak in to the plaster and bind it, and it should sort flaky paint too.

Apply this to the whole dodgy area - paint and plaster - and leave to dry (follow the instructs).

(e) If the bare bits have obvious edges where they meet the remaining paint, then chances are you'll need a very fine 'surface' filler to level it off. This should adhere nicely to the primers above. I've used Ronseal 'fine surface' ready-mixed filler to good effect. Apply using a filling knife at a low angle, wiping it over the bare plaster using the surrounding paint as your level. It's easy to sand when dry, so don't worry too much - but always try and apply the minimum. Sand dead flat using 180 grit.

(f) Paint! If you find the straight (thick) paint is not sticking to the filler or is lifting it, then apply a coat of primer over the finished filler surface first, or you could 'water' the paint down a bit, but hardly worth it for such a small area?

ninjaef

That you for taking the time @jeepers_creepers. Wonderful advice. The plaster has cracked and crumbled. It's more than feathering the edges I feel About 3mm in places - this is in only this room and only along one wall at the very top at the juxtaposition of the ceiling.  The rest in this room is just peeling paint around the other walls at same juxtaposition.
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Surface ffinish filler has been mentioned several times, just don't know which one as in the product name that will "stick" to the wall and easy to sand (although i do not know what grade that would need)

 

Jeepers_Creepers

In that case get a small tin of Gardz.

Brush away any loose plaster, and work in with a brush a healthy coat of the G so's it gets in to every crack and soaks in well to the crumbly plaster. If the plaster keeps suckin', then you keep givin'.

Once it's nicely 'dampened', use the brush to remove excess from the surface so you don't end up with runs. Apply a thinner coat to the troublesome paint areas as required.

Allow it all to dry thoroughly. (Keep a look out for sneaky runs - wipe them away).

Applying filler to shallow areas like this can be a 'mare - it's always easier if there's at least some depth to it. But for blending in paint edges, you do need a 'fine surface' filler, and I've used Ronseal ready-mixed to good effect before.

Try and get the sanding-afterwards part down to as little as possible; you can always add a further layer if you've left gaps. Let dry thoroughly, and gently use 180 grit on a good flat block.

If you find that the repair 'shows' after it's been painted - sometimes fillers swell fractionally with the water in paint - then a super-dooper fine filler is... matt emulsion paint. Sand it all flat again, apply a couple of thick coats allowing each to fully dry, and then sand again - it'll be 'mirror'...

Mistral001

As said above scrape flaking paint off fill, sand and use two coats of paint, but a trick I have found makes for a very smooth finish is as follows.  After the first coat of paint you will find that it will be very easy to see even the smallest discontinuity if you look along the wall sideways, so fill any hollows or small hollows in and sand when filler is hardened. The sanding will also remove any bumps.  Then apply the second coat of paint .  It will take slight longer but you should get a perfectly smooth finish.

ninjaef

Jeepers_Creepers said:

In that case get a small tin of Gardz.

Brush away any loose plaster, and work in with a brush a healthy coat of the G so's it gets in to every crack and soaks in well to the crumbly plaster. If the plaster keeps suckin', then you keep givin'.

Once it's nicely 'dampened', use the brush to remove excess from the surface so you don't end up with runs. Apply a thinner coat to the troublesome paint areas as required.

Allow it all to dry thoroughly. (Keep a look out for sneaky runs - wipe them away).

Applying filler to shallow areas like this can be a 'mare - it's always easier if there's at least some depth to it. But for blending in paint edges, you do need a 'fine surface' filler, and I've used Ronseal ready-mixed to good effect before.

Try and get the sanding-afterwards part down to as little as possible; you can always add a further layer if you've left gaps. Let dry thoroughly, and gently use 180 grit on a good flat block.

If you find that the repair 'shows' after it's been painted - sometimes fillers swell fractionally with the water in paint - then a super-dooper fine filler is... matt emulsion paint. Sand it all flat again, apply a couple of thick coats allowing each to fully dry, and then sand again - it'll be 'mirror'...

Aer you sure mate? This isn't going to fill the areas where plaster has come away in crumbles and chips...well not unless I give it about 20 coats. Is this for the peeling paint - no plaster issues - only. I guess for the small areas of plaster problems, I need to fill with surface filler?

Jeepers_Creepers

ninjaef said:

Jeepers_Creepers said:

In that case get a small tin of Gardz.

Brush away any loose plaster, and work in with a brush a healthy coat of the G so's it gets in to every crack and soaks in well to the crumbly plaster. If the plaster keeps suckin', then you keep givin'.

Once it's nicely 'dampened', use the brush to remove excess from the surface so you don't end up with runs. Apply a thinner coat to the troublesome paint areas as required.

Allow it all to dry thoroughly. (Keep a look out for sneaky runs - wipe them away).

Applying filler to shallow areas like this can be a 'mare - it's always easier if there's at least some depth to it. But for blending in paint edges, you do need a 'fine surface' filler, and I've used Ronseal ready-mixed to good effect before.

Try and get the sanding-afterwards part down to as little as possible; you can always add a further layer if you've left gaps. Let dry thoroughly, and gently use 180 grit on a good flat block.

If you find that the repair 'shows' after it's been painted - sometimes fillers swell fractionally with the water in paint - then a super-dooper fine filler is... matt emulsion paint. Sand it all flat again, apply a couple of thick coats allowing each to fully dry, and then sand again - it'll be 'mirror'...

Aer you sure mate? This isn't going to fill the areas where plaster has come away in crumbles and chips...well not unless I give it about 20 coats. Is this for the peeling paint - no plaster issues - only. I guess for the small areas of plaster problems, I need to fill with surface filler?

Sorry - I can see my post is unclear there. Absolutely you'll need filler to fill holes, rough areas, and to level off between the remaining solid paint and the areas of bare plaster - that fraction-of-a-millimetre step.

What I meant was, if you find the filler gets you almost there, but there's a visible ridge when the applied coat of paint has dried, don't forget that matt emulsion sands very easily, and can actually act as a soooper-fine surface filler if needed.

So, if after you've done the 'correct' things - stabilised the surface, applied filler, sanded it down and repainted - you find there's still a teeeny visible ridge, then one possible solution is to apply a couple of thick coats of matt emul, and then sand this. That will feather anything!

(I didn't mean to use emulsion as a general filler :-)  )