How do I repaint walls ceilings where the paint is cracked and flaking & /or peeling off the wall ?

[Virgo]

I have a ceiling and cornice in a shower recess where the paint (white) has begun to crack and flake and a bedroom wall where the  paint (grey) appears to not to have adhered to the wall and is peeling off.   The bedroom wall has been painted over several times over the past 40 years and painting the areas where the paint has been peeled off resilts in a  a ridge which is unsightly . Is there a better way to paint the wall  rather than peeling back the paint on the wall or whole 4 walls in the room?  Do I need to use a primer paint or  buy a certain type / brand of paint to repaint the wall and  gain a professional finish?

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Virgo. It's marvellous to have you join us, and many thanks for your question about repairing paintwork.

The general rule is that you shouldn't paint over deteriorated paintwork, or you'll be dealing with the same problem down the track again. To fix the problem, you need to scrape back the old compromised paint, sand the edges of the old well-adhered paint, seal the area and then re-paint. If the removed paint was quite thick, you might need to apply a thin coat of plaster to even out the area.

Hopefully, once you start scraping the paint back, you'll reach a well-adhered section relatively quickly. However, in the worst cases, the whole painted surface could have delaminated from the substrate as inadequate preparation was done before the wall was painted. From your images, it looks like the bathroom just has some deteriorated paint that can be scraped back and repaired. The paint in the bedroom looks like it is delaminating from the white layer. I guess most of the paint can be easily peeled away and should be done to reach a stable substrate. If you don't wish to remove all the paint, then you can attempt to sand the edges, so they are not as prominent, seal the area and then paint. That might be a suitable repair for several years.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

[Virgo]

THANK YOU for your prompt response.

[MitchellMc]

Keep us updated on your project @Virgo and please reach out again if you need further assistance; we're here to help.

Mitchell