when you sanded, did you wipe down the walls to remove all of the dust before applying your primer?

what you have is poor adhesion. obviously. if there is dust/residue on the walls, and paint over it, it prevents the paint from sticking to the drywall.

also, when you said sanded and primed, what did you sand and what primer did you use? it looks like you painted over a previously painted surface. what is the tan colored paint?

This happened to me once before, despite proper cleaning and product choice. I was informed that sometimes it just happens randomly, for no discernable reason.

It's a total pisser.

you can put water base over oil base, but not the other way around.

She said she primed, so that should have bridged the gap, regardless of what paint was used.

What primer was used? you said you sanded. do you mean you sanded the drywall after skim coating it? or what?

You have my total sympathy. This happened to us. Throughout our entire house. Professional paint job on fresh new drywall. I feel nauseated thinking about it.

I’ll spare you the entire nightmare that has yet to be resolved, but I’ve researched this to death and the only reason that I’ve been able to come up with is possibly too high humidity. Our house is often around 50-60%.

benje,,,how was the drywall primed? did it peel on every single wall? 50-60% isn't that bad to where paint wouldn't adhere. maybe you got a rotten batch of paint, or maybe the painters forgot to wipe down your walls and didn't admit it.

most of the time adhesion issues are due to poor prep.

I can't go into all the gory details--I'm still a bit traumatized. It really is/was horrible. All experts I could convince to talk to me or inspect it looked at it. A total scrape and redo of a small room was done and it peeled again. There was mediation with the state licensing board and a settlement. Nightmare.

I just meant that I sanded over the putty from patching nail holes. I tested the tan paint with alcohol and it rubbed off, meaning it’s a latex paint as well correct? We primed with a Zissner (spelling?) primer. This room was done just this weekend, but I’ve never seen anything like this before. We have a baby and plan on having more children, I can’t have paint peeling with every touch with kids! I’ll lose my mind!!!

Also the primer is peeling off with the paint, so is my primer the problem? Is this just bad paint? Do I need to somehow remove all the paint and try again or what the heck do you even do from here

Our walls aren't fixed yet--we're waiting to add a dehumidifier to our HVAC before I spend any more time on it--but when it was at it's worst I could peel large sheets off the wall. Can you?

I can keep an eye on our humidity because we have a nest thermostat and a weather station that display it. Do you have something with a hygrometer to see what your humidity level is? It's just my hypothesis at this point, but I wouldn't repaint unless your humidity is below 40% for a while.

If it peels down past the primer, then the primer is the problem. It's always the layer that didn't stick that is the problem layer. Also, don't forget that paint takes time to cure and as it cures it will adhere better. I would let it sit for a few weeks and see if it still peels off before freaking out.

Did you apply it thickly hoping to ensure hide and coverage and cut down on the number of total coats you had to apply?

Here's what I've learned the hard way. If it's too thick, a layer of film forms on the top trapping moisture from the paint underneath. It makes a paint/primer sandwich that can eventually affect the primer and then the whole concoction will pull away from the driest component of the paint/primer sandwich which is the sheetrock.

You end up with a layer of paint film that's Gummy-Bear-like-ish in consistency and as a result you can pull it away from the dry sheetrook in big pieces. I've pulled almost an entire wall off in one sheet before.

Learned it's important to apply paint per the instructions on the can, follow the recommended mils per coat, give it some room to breathe and dry between coats. Overall, don't try to rush the job.

Lori you’re probably right. We were having a TERRIBLE time with this paint and overage, and some spots looked shiny and others dull even with multiple coats and I reached out to Behr and they assured me I was using too little paint and trying to spread it too thin, so they told me to paint DIRECTLY FROM THE 5 GALLON JUG. this sounded absolutely insane to me and there’s no way I was doing that but I did saturate and try not to spread too thin. I can’t win with this paint. I’ve painted bedrooms with cheap paint from menards and didn’t even come CLOSE to having any issues with it like this (I got some on the carpet, but other than that...). We bought this paint at the suggestion of a friend, she paints all the time and loves it and I’m left with a house I feel like is ruined. My husband hates it, wishes we would have built new, can’t believe we’ve wasted so much time and money, etc. I’m in contact with Behr and I’m just livid. I’ve been in contact with them for months but this is just too much.

It’s not the topcoat. It’s the primer.

It’ll be okay. You chose this house for good reasons. This kind of crap happens in new construction (like mine) i Totally know how you feel, but it’s just paint.

Lori you’re probably right. We were having a TERRIBLE time with this paint and overage, and some spots looked shiny and others dull even with multiple coats and I reached out to Behr and they assured me I was using too little paint and trying to spread it too thin, so they told me to paint DIRECTLY FROM THE 5 GALLON JUG. this sounded absolutely insane to me and there’s no way I was doing that but I did saturate and try not to spread too thin

Yeah, I was using Behr too.

This was all me. My house (two houses ago). I did the prep and painting by myself.

I'm not a paint expert. I'm a color expert. But I've been doing this for 20 years and feel like I know a little something about paint and the process.

I'll never know exactly what happened. But an older painter friend of mine whom I trust more than any paint manuf. rep popped over to take a look and he's the one that told me about the "sandwich". And that I clearly applied this product too thickly.

He didn't outright put the blame on the paint.

Even tho I've painted with Farrow & Ball, Fine Paints of Europe, Aura, and have never had an issue. Actually used all those brands in that one house, lol! (Every brand that I talk about, I have personally used on my own house or else I don't talk about it.)

Determined Behr is not a good fit for the way I paint. The final finish, 'hand' reminded me of Saran Wrap. It was eggshell.

I might have a different opinion of a Behr matte finish but there are too many other paint brands and not enough houses to try them all on! lol!

Lori, so how do I fix this? Any suggestions? I want to make it right!

I stopped peeling off the sheets, called a pro and had the walls reskimmed and painted.

Scrape off as much as the old paint, Sand wall with 120 sandpaper, and Prime with Zinnser Coverstain. Yes it is an oil based product and does work. Allow a drying time of 24 hrs before you apply finish coats.

I'm also going to mention that if the wall was not cleaned of grease, dirt or dust, the primer coat will not adhere well and you may have the same issues.

call in a pro and have them fix it for you to save you the headache.

benjes,,,oh wow. it does sound like a total nightmare. can't imagine a whole house like that.

Hi Olivia!

I've got some questions, so bear with me..... :-)

1) How old is the home you're painting?

2) How shiny was the existing paint?

3) What exact Zinsser primer was used?

4) Did you or any previous owners wash the walls with TSP? IF not rinsed MULTIPLE TIMES, this can be the cause.

5) Did you tape along baseboards? If so.....how soon was tape removed?

6) WHY were you pulling at the edges & other areas?!??!!

>>> My next response(s) will determined by your answers.

Thanks!

Faron

1) How old is the home you're painting? 2) How shiny was the existing paint? 3) What exact Zinsser primer was used? 4) Did you or any previous owners wash the walls with TSP? IF not rinsed MULTIPLE TIMES, this can be the cause. 5) Did you tape along baseboards? If so.....how soon was tape removed? 6) WHY were you pulling at the edges & other areas?!??!!

Faron, well...
1. Built in 1988
2. Eggshell
3. Zinsser Primecoat Primer And Sealer Interior
4. I did not, and I doubt the previous owner did because it was my father . I purchased my childhood home. This is my first house and while I’ve painted many times in my life and never ever had results like this, I have never ever washed walls before priming. I’m a newbie and ignorant to that even being a thing.
5. Yes, we taped along the baseboards, tape was removed 24 hours later.
6. I know that sounds insane, but we have two poles in the living room with this awful 80s decorative railing and anyways, one pole wasn’t primed, total negligence, but the paint was a “paint and primer in one!” So I painted it anyways, telling myself if it looked bad I’d prime and repaint. Well when I realized the recliner had touched it causing the paint to flake off, I scratched at the other pole to test if this was simply due to lack of primer. Once I realized the other pole was peeling too, we did the tape, and honestly I think we were rough with the tape and caused SOME of the pull, some of it was coming off no matter how careful we were.

You waited too long to pull the tape. Run the tape, caulk with clear latex caulk, paint before the caulk dries, pull the tape immediately after painting before the paint and caulk can dry.

I haven't had good experiences with how Behr paint dries either. I just flat-out stopped buying it. I'm much happier with other brands.