Painting over a previous paint job which has no primer underneath

[joefrompa]

Hey all,

Finishing a bedroom and one wall had alot of alligatoring on the paint. I was sanding it and spackling but one section was actually peeling off - so I peeled some off to see underneath. Kept on peeling and realized it was bare drywall underneath. So it's crappy paint on top of new drywall (for some reason).

Anyway, I don't want to scrape the paint off the entire wall obviously. I also don't want to rip off the drywall and rebuild the wall.

So my question is: Is there something I can do to be able to prime over the original paint job in a way that will hold and keep a smooth finish?
I.e. can I simply sand the wall, spackle lightly over the alligatored, and then do a high quality primer AND a self-priming paint?

We're going to be using Aura paint from Ben Moore. If you haven't used it, it's $50-60/gallon and is simply the highest quality paint for residential indoor purposes. Stuff is unbelievable when it comes to covering, self-leveling, etc.

 

[SlyFerret]

A huge part of a good paint job is the prep work.

Anything you put over the old paint can only stick to the old paint. When the old paint peels, it will take the new paint with it. Keep in mind that when the new paint (or skim coat) goes on and dries, it will likely make the old paint start to peel more as the paint film pulls and contracts.

I wouldn't bother using the Benjamin Moore paint of you're not going to properly prep the surface first. You'll be wasting a premium paint.

-SF

 

[joefrompa]

How do I properly prep this surface then?

 

[jharkin]

You are going to have to remove the old paint, sand and prime. Paint stripping gel or a heat gun and scraper.

Not fun but $60 paint is worth the effort.

 

[joefrompa]

Damn. Every spec? Ironically, I needed to get some paint stripping gel for metal anyway....

 

[Frozen Canuck]

Sorry Joe the info above on remove old paint & properly prep wall is bang on.
No point trying to save what isn't worth the effort.
In the long run you will be happy you did this, just a real pita now.
On the upside if there is no primer this will be easier to get off.

 

[joefrompa]

It's not coming off in sheets. Took me about 5 minutes to scrape off maybe 1 square foot on an 80 square foot wall, just with a small putty knife. I'll try some heat or gel and see what happens too.

 

[gzecc]

JoeF, I am a contractor and do a lot of drywall repair in my business. If it is that hard to come off, there is no reason to take it off. Why would it have aligatord as you say? Maybe a skimcoat of spackle? Post a picture?

 

[joefrompa]

I'll post a pic then. The drywall underneath is clean, fresh looking drywall and appears continuous (i.e. it doesn't look like a drywall patch). But the alligatored section comes off like egg shell stuck to a boiled egg - sometimes in strips, sometimes little pieces get stuck. When you hit the end of those already-cracked sections, it gets much harder to peel off. It'll still come off, just not easily

 

[gzecc]

Sounds like it may have gotten wet at some point?

 

[joefrompa]

That was my original thought actually - but when I peeled it up and I saw dry, fresh, unprimed drywall underneath with drywall paper that was perfectly smooth, I stopped thinking it got wet.