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painting over bad paint job (Latex over oil with no prep)

7 years ago

What is the best way to paint over already painted latex over oil? From what I can see there was no prep work done as you can easily peel paint off trim. Please help.

Featured Answer

lazy_gardens

7 years ago

"can i just sand down the areas that have peeled or do I have to sand it all?"

If you just sand the places that are peeling NOW, it guarantees that other places will be peeling later.

There is NO primer that can penetrate that weak layer of paint to make it stick - you have to take off the entire layer and dtart over, or deal with periodic episodes of peeling, sanding and patching.

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Comments (11)

lazy_gardens
7 years ago
Use paint remover or sandpaper to get rid of the bad layer, then prep and paint.

There's no shortcuts you can take because the painter before you took them all.
Bethany Sykes
Original Author
7 years ago
can i just sand down the areas that have peeled or do I have to sand it all? Was hoping to clean well, sand bad areas, kiltz everything, then paint. Thoughts?
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"lovely peeling latex paint" Bad prep work. Latex cab go over oil but you need very good prep work. A bonding primer can help, but only if the oil paint is CLEAN. TSP or spic-and-span clean. Oil over latex is a really bad idea. The oil film is much harder than a latex film, and it WILL crack and crackle. They way you obtain a crackle finish is by putting a harder finish over a softer one. It really matters what order the paints are applied. Luckily latex, (even acrylic) paints are softer than alkyd (oil) paints once cured.
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Yes Tinker.... You're one of the waaaayyyy too many victims of the "Realtor-induced" Paint-the-trim-and-sell-it phenomenon. I REALLLY WISH most sellers would leave well enough alone. Slapping-up a quick coat of paint usually causes MORE headaches for the new buyers. Sure....it looks good for a bit right before a sale, but then the reality of NO PREP sinks in! Latex paint IS RUBBERY for quite some time! That's the major advantage....flexibility. If it was as hard as Oils, it wouldn't breathe. The Truth/Remedy can be a b*tch....peel-off/sand-off/strip-off the existing paint. The existing paint not peeling now soon will be. And yes, obviously, choose Top-notch 100%-Acrylic paint in a Satin or higher sheen. Once the old oil paint is thoroughly scuff-sanded with 100-grit paper & all dust removed...you're at last ready for 2 coats of your new paint. Priming...wellllll....never hurts, but if you sand well, AND get real good paint, you're good-to-go! Faron
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Amen to that! I discovered a few months ago that some of our trim paint is peeling in the kitchen. We're sure that the whole place was "painted to sell" including NEW popcorn on the ceiling. There's a few places where the popcorn is cracking and flaking. I can't even imagine what a huge mess that will be to fix (who puts up NEW popcorn these days??) but fixing any of it isn't in the current time/money/ energy budget. It seems like every month for the last year, we've had to undo some mess that they did (plumbing, electrical, etc. etc.) I will be cursing the PO's of this house for a very long time. Some people say they'll have a party when they pay off their mortgage, and we say we're having a party when we finally fix all of their mess!
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When they say don't "cheap out" LISTEN!! Take my advice, I learned the hard way. You can a) paint one coat of cheap-y paint, and then re-paint it year after year, and re-scrape, and get a sunburn and waste weeks on end, or.... b) pay the money up front, and do it right. Expensive lesson, especially when you are painting a huge garage. DON'T use those vinyl spackling buckets that cost 2.79. Get good exterior caulking, whichever one costs the MOST is probably the best one. Be patient, just let it dry all the way. Scrape off EVERY peel, no matter how long it takes. If it's REAL bad? Get the spray on stuff, and get every last bit off. That's what I wish I'd done. And I did scrape to bare wood, but used crummy spackle and crummy paint, and one coat. Saving $50 on paint and materials is now probably going to cost me 16 hours time, and over $150 to fix. If I could afford it, I would spend $2500 to side the thing and never do this again. Spend the money up front, take your time. A GOOD paint job will last 10-20 years. Mine lasted 16 months, and looks worse than when I started. And I had professional help. Who told me to buy the good stuff, and I ignored him, thinking how smart I was. And don't try to paint outside when it's 80 degrees. ACHHHHHGGG!
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sambah006
7 years ago
If you want a good job it needs to all be stripped.

If you really don't care, just do whatever.

That's what the person after you most likely is going to do...
klem1
7 years ago
Lazy-gardens said "There's no shortcuts you can take because the painter before you took them all." And I agree with Lazy-G
PRO
Christopher Nelson Wallcovering and Painting
7 years ago
"kiltz" would not be a primer I would use for this job, but , hey, it's your house.
User
7 years ago
Use a stripper(eco friendly types work ok) and remove all the old paint. Reason? If it peels now, it will peel later and take any new paint. Then clean the surfaces with soap and water and let dry completely(24-48 hours). Then use a shellac based primer(BIN for interior or BullsEye 123 for exterior, both made by Zinsser) and prime. Then use which ever paint you choose.

The best paint jobs are 70% preparation, 25% paint, and 5% technique.
PRO
Christopher Nelson Wallcovering and Painting
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
Bin is shellac, 123 is not. Personally, I see no reason for Bin, 123 would work just fine.
User
7 years ago
BIN is thinner than 123. Fewer brush/roller marks.
zmat
7 years ago
We're currently going through the same process (flat paint applied to glossy oil-based paint). We are scraping off as much as possible and then spackle and prime with Kilz Adhesion bonding primer. Hoping that this primer will give a good grip and stop whatever's left from peeling.
PRO
Christopher Nelson Wallcovering and Painting
7 years ago
Stix® Waterborne Bonding Primer, would be a much better choice than Kilz,, IMO.

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