How to Fix Peeling Paint

Paint can peel off walls for a couple of reasons. If you live an in area with excessive humidity or moisture, that can damage the paint and wall enough so the paint pulls away from the wall's surface, particularly if the wall wasn't prepared properly before painting. If a wall is painted with oil based paint and then someone paints using latex paint later, regardless of other conditions the paint will most likely peel up. Before you ever begin painting, you should always clean your walls with a mild soap solutions and allow it to dry completely. Dirty walls are another reason paint can peel later. Lastly, using a good primer before you paint will help assure adhesion.If it's too late and you already have peeling paint, here are a few steps to take to correct the problem areas.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Paint scrapers
• fine sand paper
• 1 gallon of warm water
• dish soap or other mild cleaner
• sponge
• rags

1. Scrape off the peeling parts of the paint. Lightly scrape all over the wall so you can see if there are any other areas that could possibily loosen up. This way you can fix any potential problems once rather than having to repeat the process several times.

2. Using a fine grit sandpaper (220 or higher), even out the wall around the scraped off paint. You want the surface to be smooth, so when you paint over the affected area you will not see a ridge or line where the peeling part stopped.

3. Squirt a few drops of soap into the bucket of water. Thoroughly wet your sponge, wring it out and remove dust and debris from the wall's surface. Dry it off with a rag and then let the wall sit for an hour or so to make sure it is completely dry before you being to paint.

4. Using the paint to match the wall color, paint over the prepared areas. Allow it to dry and apply a second coat if needed.

Tips & Warnings

• Use the highest quality paint you can afford. Inexpensive paint has a tendency to peel more than high quality paint.
• This article covers the steps for spot fixes of peeled paint. It's advisable to do steps 1-3 to the whole room or wall for the best results and then use a good primer over all the walls before you paint. It's more time consuming, but the end result is better.
• Be sure to have good ventilation before you begin painting.

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