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painted drywall without primer - how do I fix this?

11 years ago

I scraped the popcorn texture off of a ceiling successfully, then went to the paint store and told the man I wanted "the stuff you paint on the ceiling after you've scraped off the popcorn texture'. He gave me something he called 'ceiling paint'.

Oops, I should have googled the process first because, of course, 'ceiling paint' is not primer. The stuff came off in weird spotty places as I was painting, left little divots here and there and looked pretty ratty. I figured I could sand and repaint the bad parts later. I waited a couple of days, then masked off the edges so I could paint the walls. I used the nice painters tape that really did an excellent job protecting the trim, but when I pulled it off the ceiling it brought all of the new paint with it and left really nasty looking 'holes' all along the edges. I sanded it a bit and now I don't know what to do. Should I try to put primer on top of all of this? Or should I just put another coat of that 'ceiling paint'?

The walls look fantastic and I don't want to mess them up.

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Comments (9)

andrelaplume2
11 years ago
...almost sounds like there was a residue or something on the ceiling. I learned a similar lesson real quick after removing wallpaper once. Paint was not sticking as I was rolling! I stopped immediately and properly cleaned the walls several times and the paint went on fine after that.
PRO
Christopher Nelson Wallcovering and Painting
11 years ago
Depending on the "ceiling "paint, you probably could get by with another coat or 2
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Painting a wall without Primer will not hurt anything per say. Primer is formulated to bond better then paint to surfaces. Therefore, if you don't use primer, you will often find that it takes more coats of paint to fully cover the wall then when using a base coat of primer. Also, the paint may not last as long since is doesn't bond as well to the surface. The other problem with painting without primer comes from painting over existing surfaces that have been previously painted or may have stains and things on them. If you were to paint over a wall without using primer, that hadn't been touched in say 15 years, you would find that many of the stains and possibly the existing wall color would bleed through the paint. You would end up repainting the wall many times to fully cover it. If you used primer, you could cover it possibly with just one top coat. So if your wall looks good the way it is, I wouldn't worry about it. But it may need to be repainted sooner than if you had primed it first. But keep in mind the next time you paint a wall, that it's well worth the money to use a good quality primer for your base coat. Also, I don't recommend using a thick coat of any paint on a wall. Use enough paint to cover the surface, then wait for it to dry and apply a second coat if necessary. Putting a heavy coat on will eventually lead to pealing and cracking of the paint, prematurely. Thanks
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It might just need more sanding. Do that, and turn off the lights and use a trouble light, held from the side, to see how smooth it is. And run your hand over it to wipe the dust off and see how it feels. When it's done, you can prime with one of those disposal mini-roller tray kits ($3 at the big box, or $1 at the dollar store). That will put some roller stipple on the primer. Then roll it with the finish coat. (Probably will suffice, but if not, then put another coat on the whole wall.)
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Basements are damp, and your paint simply isn't drying. You would most likely have had this problem even with the best brand of paints. Removing the tape immediately and slowly is your best defense, but in these situations if you can paint the room without it, that's the way to go. If you must use tape, try the green one instead of blue. If the primer is water-based, not sure what the negative effects of having mineral spirits mixed in it. I would think you would have had difficulty in the application process, but that's never happened to me, so don't know. To repair those areas that peeled, I would use wallboard compound, sand and prime. Bullseye 123 is fine. If it's new, unfinished drywall, I would use a PVA primer.
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lazy_gardens
11 years ago
What happened is the "popcorn" stuff was not 100% removed.

The water in the latex paint softened it and then it was easy for the tape removing to pull it off the ceiling.

Even drywall primer can't prevent that. Patch the divots, sand the rough spots and apply another coat of paint.
metaforical
Original Author
11 years ago
The popcorn LOOKED removed. I'm not sure how to tell if I've gotten it all. There didn't seem to be a residue, but I believe you both that there must have been something there. I have three more ceilings with the stuff on them. How do I get it off next time? I steamed, scraped and sanded this time. Is there a product that will guarantee removal? Thanks.
paintguy22
11 years ago
You should prime. Zinnser 123 would be good.
lazy_gardens
11 years ago
Prime with something that is NOT water-based.

That seals in any traces of the popcorn and means the paint will stick to the ceiling.
bus_driver
11 years ago
While it might not have been visible, the ceiling had lots of dust on it. That might be part of the problem.
jane__ny
11 years ago
I recently removed popcorn ceilings from my entire house (all rooms including closets, bathrooms, hallways.) The painter we hired, had his men scrape off the popcorn then smeared some sort of texture on the ceiling. After that they put on one coat of paint.

So now, the ceilings have a swirly texture (which is common in Florida). They also sprayed something on the walls which produced an orange-peel effect and then painted.

I know they didn't prime the ceilings. They used this stucco-type stuff and painted.

It looks good.

Jane
PRO
Christopher Nelson Wallcovering and Painting
11 years ago
Prime with something that is NOT water-based.
That seals in any traces of the popcorn and means the paint will stick to the ceiling.
Except for Gardz. This is what I would have primed with.

Here is a link that might be useful: gardz

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