Skim coat won't adhere!!

[Robert Macy]

Never seen this in 40+ years!

Technique even works in other areas. Over Dunn Edwards paint on interior surface, skim coat using Home Depot premixed ?? in 1 gal container. this time about 1/16 inch thick. Come back in 3-4 hours and find the coat dried like a lake bed, curled sheets of around 4-6 inch sizes, and fell in a pile on the floor! In other areas of home, technique works beautifully, and surprisingly feathers in AND touch up paint using from same lot bucket makes invisible repairs.

Did very conscientiously and again coating doesn't want to adhere. If keep pressing flat onto the surface stays put, but cracks still form, fill those and keep pressing. It's almost like somebody took an air compressor and blew the coating off the wall. Strange. Should the surface coating applied to be absolutely dry? Sometimes dampened, not wet, in an attempt to prevent the bottom surface from sucking moisture from coating.

Any ideas on how to increase adhesion? Add water base glues?

[bob haller]

sand area lightly, wash down wall with TSP, RINSE 3 TIMES prime with bin or kilz oil based primer sealer, then skim with drywall mud...

the underlying paint was likely gloss, or a wierd combo of paint that didnt allow adhesion

[Cal Dershowitz]

use plaster. then feather it out it out with gypsum products.

[Robert Macy]

Thanks for the response, indeed when confronted with gloss I always scuff sand with 120 up to 220 grit just to 'break' the surface down. but this paint is flat and used throughout the whole house.

what is 'confusing' to me is that the exact same materials, including paint, is everywhere. And I just got done putting a thin, thin, thin skim coat and same paint over it in another area NO PROBLEMS. Plus, in another area over the same materials, a thick skim coat that wasn't flat enough, so applied another feathered layer, and another, again no problems.

just weird, that this one location eveyrthing seems to act differently.well actually two locations. no moisture around either .

[Robert Macy]

is that plaster the type of surface that sets up permanently like plaster of paris, or concrete? if so, know can't use it. did that on a project and super regretted it until it was completely removed. Then I could use the 're-use' type compounds with no problems.

I'm not familiar with 'gypsum' products. any URL, product name brand?