Paint peeling or flaking off your walls in Oldbury? The common causes, from damp to old distemper, and how walls are prepared so new paint stays put.
Paint peels when it loses its grip on the surface underneath, and the cause is almost always in that surface rather than the paint itself. Damp is the most common culprit: moisture coming through a wall, or condensation in kitchens and bathrooms, pushes the paint away from the plaster. Painting over dust, grease or a shiny finish without sanding gives the new coat nothing to hold on to. And on new plaster, skipping the thinned mist coat means the first coat never soaks in properly.
In older houses there is one cause many people have never heard of: distemper. It was a chalky paint used for decades before modern emulsion, and new paint simply will not stick to it. The tell-tale sign is paint that peels off in big sheets, often on ceilings, revealing a powdery white layer underneath. We find it regularly in the Victorian and pre-war houses around Langley and Warley, and in older terraces near Oldbury town centre.
Painting over peeling paint only hides the problem for a few months. The lasting fix is to scrape back to a sound surface, deal with any damp, sand and fill, and use a stabilising primer where the surface is chalky or powdery, before repainting. On the 1950s and 60s homes around Rowley Regis and Blackheath, a tired bathroom ceiling usually just needs that proper preparation and a good moisture-resistant paint to stay looking fresh.
Damp, condensation, poor preparation or old distemper. New paint will peel again unless the cause is dealt with.
That points to old distemper. It needs a stabilising primer before any new paint.
If the wall is damp or the plaster is crumbling, that has to be sorted before painting.
Loose paint is scraped off, edges sanded smooth, and bare patches primed.
A moisture-resistant paint and good ventilation stop peeling coming back.
Usually damp, condensation, painting over dust or gloss without preparation, or old distemper underneath.
No. It will peel again and take the new paint with it. Loose paint has to come off first.
An old chalky paint found in older houses. Modern paint will not stick to it without a stabilising primer.
Years, if the cause is fixed and the surface properly prepared.
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