Will I have to sand back the whole wall?

flanajb · 28 Dec 2012

The person who decorated one of our rooms in the house did not seal the plaster and just painted the satin emulsion straight onto new plaster. I am redecorating the room and when I sand the wall to remove the imperfections the paint comes off. As a result it is not possible to feather the old paint back with the plaster.

I know that as soon as I get the roller onto the wall the old paint will just come straight off. Is my only option to scrape the paint off the whole wall or can I just give the whole thing a coat of diluted PVA?

I suspect is is the former, but I am hoping not as this was only supposed to be a 2 day affair :-(

Dibs-h · 28 Dec 2012

Flanajb

Is it vinyl paint? If so, you'll have to scrape\sand it off.

For that reason, I prefer matt. Touching up is far easier.

HIH

Dibs

flanajb · 28 Dec 2012

Dibs-h":3573gbue said:
Flanajb

Is it vinyl paint? If so, you'll have to scrape\sand it off.

For that reason, I prefer matt. Touching up is far easier.

HIH

Dibs

Hi Dibs, it is Vinyl paint :-(

Not the news I wanted, but at least I now know that the only way forward is to sand / scrape it back.

Cheers!

DeanN · 28 Dec 2012

Don't use pva near any water based paint, as it will react and bubble lifting the paint layer. You could seal the entire wall using something like zinsser gardz, but if the paint isn't adhering to the plaster its probably better to sand the wall.

pip1954 · 28 Dec 2012

hi when you redo it you should water the paint down maybe as much as as 50/50 so it will soak into the wall not sit on top
pip

gardenshed · 28 Dec 2012

We had exactly the issues you've described when we moved into our new home.
You can buy what's called "contract emulsion" it's designed for bare plaster, it has no vinyl in it. Just thin down the first coat so it soaks into the plaster then put another coat on when dry (it's fast drying) then put the paint of your choice on.

Works really well.