Peeling paint occurs when moisture collects under a painted surface. Moisture enters wood surfaces from the unpainted side, gets absorbed and then dries. This repeated swelling and shrinking of wood causes the paint to pull away from the surface, which results in cracking and peeling paint.
Using a scraper or 100-grit sandpaper, remove any loose, cracked, or peeling paint from the damaged area. Remove any dust or debris from the area with a water-dampened rag. Using a putty knife, apply a thin layer of patching material to the damaged area.
Start with coarse 80-grit sandpaper in a manual hand sander or power sander. Using enough pressure to remove the paint but not so much that it damages the wood. Move to medium 150-grit abrasive and finish with fine 220-grit, brushing away dust from the surface each time you change paper.
Whether or not you've had to patch the peeling paint area, you'll want to sand the space in order to ensure a wall surface free of any grooves or lines. Use very fine-grit sandpaper to smooth the area down. Run your hand over the surface to ensure it's completely even with the surrounding wall.
Older and more brittle coats of paint under the topcoat cannot withstand the repeated shrinking and swelling of the substrate created by changing temperatures. This can cause the paint film to break and peel. If the peeled paint is brittle, cracked or checked, this indicates paint film buildup caused the peeling.
Moisture. One of the main causes of peeling paint is the presence of moisture or water around the paint. This will usually happen when water gets into the wood behind the paint. This separates it from the wall and seeps through the layer of paint.
Moisture and Water
Collectively, you can be assured that water is the number one cause of peeling paint issues. Even if water damage cannot be seen, moisture could still be wreaking havoc.
For a professional finish, remove the old paint first. It'll give you long-lasting results and a smoother look. With minor paint chips, just repaint the patch. If there's widespread paint peeling, it's best to repaint the whole wall.
180 to 220 Grit Sandpaper: Finer grit sandpaper is great for removing the scratches left by coarser grits on unfinished wood and for lightly sanding between coats of paint. 320 to 400 Grit Sandpaper: Very fine grit sandpaper is used for light sanding between coats of finish and to sand metal and other hard surfaces.
Sand with fine sandpaper between coats after they dry. Make sure you remove sanding residue before applying additional coats.
Apply wood putty to a putty knife and spread a thin layer of putty across the damaged area. Make sure that the wood putty extends slightly beyond the perimeter of the damaged area. This excess wood putty will later be sanded away. Be sure to flex the putty knife to produce a flat surface.
One of the benefits of using liquid sandpaper/deglosser is that it takes considerably less time to prep the item for painting, staining, etc. After thoroughly cleaning your item, apply the liquid sandpaper/deglosser to an old rag or sponge, wipe down the entire item, and let it dry.
Zinsser Peel Stop, a flexible binding primer designed for problem interior / exterior painted surfaces that exhibit chalking, alligatoring, cracking, flaking, and peeling. Penetrates and binds chalky residues, seals cracked or crazed surfaces providing a sound surface for primer and paint.
Use a wire metal brush to remove raised, peeling, or blistered paint. Wire brushes are inexpensive and quick to put into action, as opposed to a power sander that requires set-up time. In addition, wire brushes are valuable for cleaning paint scrapers and other tools, such as putty knives and wallboard knives.
To sand properly, your coats of paint should dry a minimum of 24 hours, potentially extending your project out for a few days. This is a good time to weigh speed and quality, because the more quality you require, the longer your project will take.
Some paints adhere extremely well to certain surfaces while others need a rough or scuffed-up area for the best application. For example, when working with bathroom trim or kitchen cabinets with semi-gloss or high-gloss finishes, you'll most definitely need to sand between coats.
Nevertheless, many people recommend wet sanding and polishing only after the clear coat as a whole is done, and fully dried out. A lot of water sits between the clear coat and the abrasive sanding material, which helps to sand down the paint, or any tiny imperfections more thoroughly.
A popular choice is Zinsser's Peel Stop, which is a water-based primer that penetrates chalky surfaces and helps to glue-down the edges of cracking and peeling coatings to the substrate so they can be successfully painted over. It can be used on both interior and exterior applications in lieu of paint stripping.
Drying Time- At normal temperatures Peel Stop will dry in one hour and may be primed or painted in two hours. Note: Peel Stop that has seeped under the edges of remaining paint layers or has filled minute cracks may take longer to dry than material on exposed surfaces.
You can use oil-based or water-based paint over peeling latex paint. The main thing to keep in mind is to make sure that the new paint is compatible with the old paint. For example, you wouldn't want to use a water-based paint over an oil-based paint, as this could cause the new paint to peel.
With that in mind, it is recommended that if you start to notice your paint peeling or cracking, you remove it as soon as you can.
Peeling means that the paint or other surface-coating material is curling, cracking, scaling, flaking, blistering, chipping, chalking or loose in any manner, such that a space or pocket of air is behind a portion thereof or such that the paint is not completely adhered to the underlying surface.
See all 21 photos21 photos. WrinklingWrinkling, often called lifting, is when an existing paint layer shrivels during the application of a new finish or as the new finish dries.
That depends on your project. Some people choose to skip this important step, but they're missing out on some of the benefits paint stripping provides. Both individuals and businesses have situations where they need to paint strip, and removing old paint gives you a fresh start and a more even new coat of paint.