Peeling paint

[ChrisG]

I have a little room attached to my kitchen which serves as a pantry. It has three external walls (the fourth is joined to the kitchen) and is quite cold (no radiator or anything).

Anyway, last year, we redecorated the room. In areas where there had been some historic damp (ie no damp there now), we sprayed the relevant parts of the wall with that stuff that stops damp marks showing through the new paint. Then we painted the walls with normal emulsion for walls.

Now the paint is peeling in large random patches (not confined to the sprayed areas) and looks unsightly. Any ideas what is causing it and also what we can do to prevent it happening again when we get round to repainting?

[saint-spoon]

Without stating the obvious, it could be damp. Do you know what the walls were painted with before you emulsioned them? that could also be the reason, if it is coming off n large sheets then it would appear that the paint hasn’t stuck properly and it could be damp getting under the new paint and lifting it. I had the same in my old house caused by damp.

[HappyBob]

It wouldnt suprise me if its related to condensation. Of the 4 walls painted are the worst of the problems on exterior walls ?

[Steve the Gas]

Are the external walls 1 brick thick?
A pic would help

[FRUGAL MASTER]

If its not damp , could be that the paint has nothing to adere too ! You find that with vinyl silk emulsion it can be a pain too stick to some surfaces ,if its not damp try using a PVA mixture ( very cheap ) scrape off the peeling paint then paint over the area
with the PVA... then re-paint when dry.
Must admit you might have to scrape off as much as possible on the affected wall , because if the paint has not adered well when it becomes wet it will blister and peel...
You see vinyl silk does not absorb well on to some walls.......

[silverback]

Do you have external ventilation in the pantry, such as an air brick?, as mentioned in the other post, it could be down to condensation!, warm air cold walls etc!.
Failing that it could be a damp issue, how far up the wall is the problem of the paint coming away?, you could also check outside, to make sure that the dampcourse on the wall has not been breached by a pile of sand etc leaning against it, as damp will transfer through the sand/dirt to the inside (assuming you have solid walls!) .

[Stef]

Silverback's ideas are sound. Check airflow and damp proofing first.

PVAing a wall works only if you get right back to the plaster. Builders use it to but I don't think they let it dry fully so it keys the base layer of paint but does not form a fully sealed surface first - that could cause the problems you describe.

No I am not a plasterer or painter, but have had to rescue a damp room. 3 quotes for about £600 and then a neighbour poked the holes in the air brick clear and moved about 2 barrows of soil from the pretty flower beds for free did the trick!

[ChrisG]

It's near the tops of the walls, in about the top third.

There are no cavities in the walls, but the wall is two bricks thick, just without any space between them.

It's definitely not damp or condensation - the room is cold both inside and out; if it was condensation, it would affect the outside walls in the kitchen too - painted with the same paint.

There are air bricks to maintain airflow and these are clear, as we checked them.

Will try to post a picture later. It isnt blistering or coming off in 'sheets'. Rather it is flaking in large areas - bit like severe eczema to be honest. No bubbles; just flaking and peeling.

[baileysgnasha]

Could it be that their was an application of "white wash" on the walls previously.
I found that I had the issue with the walls in our bedroom including the ceiling, I have had to sand and wash the ceiling and walls completely and repaint ...So far all is well.

Best of luck Ruth ...seems like a tricky one!

[ChrisG]

Could it be that their was an application of "white wash" on the walls previously.
I found that I had the issue with the walls in our bedroom including the ceiling, I have had to sand and wash the ceiling and walls completely and repaint ...So far all is well.

Best of luck Ruth ...seems like a tricky one!

Well, I was wondering if it had been painted with 'distemper' previously, to be honest. The house is certainly old enough for that.

[silverback]

Is it a single storey?, might be a leaking gutter!, if not could be a leaking down/soil pipe! (this would be noticable on the outside though!).
Doe's under the flaking paint feel damp or wet?.

[ChrisG]

Just been to check and the paint is peeling on the wall that connects to the kitchen too.

Yes it is single storey, but we have done the gutters - it had been a problem before, but we fixed them, then made sure the wall was dry before putting the new paint on (around 6-9 months). Besides, this is all round on all four walls so cant be gutters anyway as there are not gutters on all four walls.

The wall is completely dry even where the paint has peeled off.

[silverback]

Then I think you have answered your own question Ruth!, must be an unsound base of the surface you are painting!!..

[FRUGAL MASTER]

[Totally Scrambled]

Ruth,
Our house is old and the walls are solid brick with no cavity. Houses built this way were designed to breath and a small amount of moisture moves through the brickwork. The external walls were always painted with distemper on the inside to let this moisture through. Modern paints form a seal which stops this happening and will slowly cause the paint to loose contact with the wall, bubble and flake off. It will do the same to wallpaper.
Airbricks will help but not stop the process.
There are several companies out there that still do distemper in a wide range of colours. We got our last lot from Farrow & Ball, it's a bit pricier than ordinary paint but does the job very well and stays looking good for as long, if not longer, than orinary paint.
Hope that's some help.
Dom