What type of walls are you painting on (drywall...plaster)
What specific primer did you use?
Did you have the same problem when brushing primer?
How long did you let the primer dry?
Do you live in a cold climate where the heat is on when painting?

They are plaster walls. The primer was SW Harmony. It dried overnite, and yes, it's a cold climate, MN, about 4 degrees and we lowered the heat in there to about 62 degrees. The primer went on ok----a little unevenly to my surprise, but we evened it out with more rolling than I would have anticipated. It should have been my first clue, but usually I don't prime previously painted and washed walls. I wanted to do an especially nice job. ha.

I'm certain now that it is the primer. We used a different manufacturer's paint on the windows, but the SW primer and had the same problem. I tried wiping the primer with a damp rag and it partially came off with no effort to my surprise. Not wanting to wash a gallon of primer off the walls, I quit that and we tried rolling the Duration matte which went better than the brushing on. Still.....there is no going back to even it out, or the same flaking problem. I'm hoping if we can get even a crummy 1st coat on, we'll do better with the second coat. Our test run looks good for the second coat. Still...the primer seems defective. I've never had this kind of problem before. Too bad we put primer on everything, wanting to do a quality job. And here we are, worse off than if we just slapped it on over dirty walls. (We did wash the walls before priming. I'm just giving an example.)

Any thoughts? I'm so over this I could cry.

Were the walls glossy prior to priming? Priming is the right step, and I doubt the primer is defective. I'm betting on the substrate causing the problem. Not all primers are recommended over glossy surfaces. Which one did you use?

Duration Home is a quick drying paint. You'll need to work faster or cut in and allow it to dry prior to rolling.

Michael

Yes, please tell us the exact Primer, roller-type & nap thickness too.

Technique though, plays a big part in this. Ya can't push coats too thin. You need to leave a FULL coat behind!!

It takes DAYS for the bond-strength of primer & paint films to "develope" chemically. It's a slow process of "gripping" goin' on.

Wet-wiping of a semi-dried primer isn't the way to test it! Almost ANY primer would do that when wiped!

PS...I live in Fargo! Leave your heat closer to 70!!
Faron

Primer was Sherwin Williams Harmony. I washed the walls before priming. Primer dried overnite.

Used woven rollers. 1/2" and 3/8" and synthetic brushes (1"). I did use the smaller rollers (6"?) because it's easier to handle---I know they hold less paint.

Previous surface was satin paint. Walls are plaster. The previous paint job had a lot of Floetril in it because I did a treatment with blending several colors on the wall. I tinted the colors with those concentrated tints. Wonder if that had something to do with it? Note I'm talking about the previous paint job that I primed over. The current paint is straight Duration Home matte. No Floetril or anything.

The good news is that once I finally got a (really lousy) first coat on, the second coat went on normally.

It's as if the first coat partially dried within a minute so any going back with a brush or with a roller just lifted the previous stuff off. Very frustrating. If this wasn't about the 40th room I've painted in my life, I'd think it was me and swear off painting forever.

I hope that primer problem or whatever it was doesn't mean it's gonna fall off the walls down the road! Yikes. I'm not going to be painting that room again for a long, long time I hope.

Harmony primer is not a bonding primer. Therefore, you should have dulled the surface by either sanding or washing with a product like Dirtex or Jasco TSP Substitute to ensure a dull finish prior to primer.

Previously Painted Surfaces

* Wash off dirt, grease, soap and oil buildup with the appropriate cleaner. Rinse thoroughly.
* Remove loose paint and powdery substances.
* Patch holes and cracks with spackling or patching compound. Allow to dry, then sand smooth.
* For glossy or nonporous surfaces, lightly sand to a dull finish or use an abrasive cleanser.

Michael

banana,

from reading your posts and from trying to gather information from what you are saying, it sounds to me like it was the decorative paint technique that was used with the mixture of floetrol as a glaze additive. Not sure on what you mean by the concentrated tints. If you did a paint technique using floetrol and just adding tints to the floetrol, that stuff will not fully cure and especially using pure tints without any binders. It will just lay on the surface and never fully cure. Kinda like wallpaper paste when it gets wet. It will and does reactivate just as the paste does. After using floetrol as a glazing additive , walls like this should be sealed for future protection from cleaning or when redoing at later dates.

That is what I am gathering from your post. So, I don't know where you are at this point. If you have gotten to a stage where the paint is actually now adhering without any flaking,gumming or lifting. ?

Oh and by the way, using floetrol or paint conditioners/extenders to aid in smoothing and open time of some paints, there is nothing at all wrong with doing that as long as one goes by the recommended amount ; but using this along as a glaze for wall treatments that is another whole story without further sealing .

Yes, last time I painted in there I used the Floetril as a glaze. I forgot to say that I used a white satin paint, and then put those concentrated tints and Floetril into the white paint to get several different colors.

So I see now that I should have used a bonding primer and/or should have used something stronger to wash the walls to get a dull finish before priming. Darn it.

But the room is done now. Once I got the first really difficult coat on, then the second coat went on fine.

I do like the look of the Duration Home matte paint very much. And I see now that there was nothing wrong with the Duration, just the primer I chose and not proper surface prep.