"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.

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!

Don't waste your time or money on deglossers. You don't need them. If the trim and doors are in good, sound condition, you only need to clean them (Dirtex) and sand to dull. It must be dull! Use #180 grit sandpaper. You must use a high quality, 100% acrylic paint to go over the prepared surface. Paints like Pro Classic, Impervo and Muralo are made to repaint over oil or alkyd products. Dings and nicks can be filled with spackle, sanded, spot primed and painted. Use caulk to fill gaps, let it dry and paint. Michael

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.