Hello, Does anyone know a way round this? Matt paint has been used over the top of silk paint, which may have been used over the top of bathroom paint, and the result (unsurprisingly) is a crazed and cracked surface. Is there any kind of undercoat or something that could be put on top of this before repainting? We are trying to avoid scraping all the walls. Any ideas that don't take hours of work or cost a huge amount would be welcome. Thanks in advance.
I don't know what silk paint or bathroom paint is, but you should be able to apply different sheen paints over each other without the result being that it is cracked and crazed. Something must have been done wrong along the way.
If the paint is otherwise secure, not peeling off, flat, etc. going to wall paper might be an option. Or again if what is there is sound, applying a skim coat of drywall compound could work. On the other hand, if it's a real mess, re-drywalling might be the quickest, easiest option.
Possibly the different coatings weren't compatible with one another, causing the crazed/cracking, rather than some other factor. If the last coating was applied a year or some years ago, maybe any cracking/ crazing has finished doing its thing. Cheapest way to possibly test/ fix, before stripping, is apply a good oil primer. See what happens with the primer coat, before applying a paint coat. Lightly sand the surfaces, or use a liquid sander, before applying the primer. Lightly hand sand the primer coat, smooth, before applying the paint coat(s?).
I used to use EASY-OFF Window Cleaner in a yellow spray can for this type of work. Sadly, they discontinued this amazing product. Also, cleaned windows WITHOUT streaking.
Since, I have discovered [almost as good'] that a sanitizing product by Brulin's, Indiana, Unicide 256, some type of quaternary compound normally used for sterilizing veterinarian and hospital areas after cutting 256 to 1 - killing power equivalent to bleach. But don't use 1 oz to a gallon of water, instead use 1 oz to 16 oz, makes the liquid very soapy. Then, with GLOVES using 100-120 grain wet n dry paper sand away. The paint will turn into a slurry, self fill, revitalize elasticity, and when dry; paint over. Usually flat by the time you're done. Pretty dust free and you're not adding to the surface, just 'shaving' it down a bit. Oh, one tip: don't use a soft sanding pad. Use a hard flat pad, else the slight amount of softness will leave indentations as the paper conforms to uneven surfaces if the cracks are wide.
The alligatoring that you describe is usually a result of painting over old oil paint with latex paint and not properly preparing the surface to be painted. Latex paint moves more than oil paint, and it's stretchy
You don't say how big the bathroom is or how much wall/ceiling area is affected, but depending on the severity either applying a skim coat of joint compound as already mentioned, or using painters' wallpaper liner. The liner comes in much wider rolls so it goes up easier and there's no pattern to match - it's just plain white paper. If the alligatoring isn't loose and/or deep (from many coats of paint), then the liner will bridge the visible cracks without having to fill them prior to applying the liner.
Easiest thing to do is to do a test with some compound and hit it with primer after it dries to see if you like the results. It'll probably be fine. Make sure to scuff sand the walls and really clean them well before applying compound.
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