What's wrong with my walls?

Question

Here's the deal. I moved into a 25 year old condo 2 years ago. When I started to paint the walls, I ran into problems. I originally washed the walls down (mild detergent), let dry for a week (I'm doing this on weekends, no rush), and put on 1 coat of latex primer. The next weekend, I cut in with the paint (no problems), but as I began to roll the paint on, the coat of primer started peeling off. I was able to peel the entire coat of primer off with my hands, just like peeling skin after a sunburn. More than a little confused, I changed my attack. I went over the whole wall with a random orbital sander (220 grit), washed/rinsed the wall with a TSP solution (followed directions), rinsed with plain water, let sit for a week, and switched to an oil based primer. I hate working with oil base but this worked. The oil based primer stuck fine, and I covered it with latex paint, no problems. That is how I have been having to prep any time I've painted, until the upstairs hallway...

In the hallway, the wall is horribly scarred with old patch work and bad painting from previous owners. It almost looks textured and feels rough. Before I paint, I want the walls smooth. I have come to assume that sometime in the past, there was wallpaper up, and whoever took it down, did a horrible job of removing the adhesive. I can actually see vertical seam lines every 2 feet or so, and upon closer looking, you can actually make out a "weave/grid" pattern. It appears that people have just painted over it, but I'm thinking that the leftover residue is bleeding through the paint, not allowing future coats of paint or primer to adhere properly. There is no wallpaper left on the walls, just the adhesive. How do I remove old wallpaper adhesive that is beneath coatts of paint? If others were able to paint (albeit, very amateurishly) why can't I get latex primer to stick?

I would love to tear the walls down and start anew, but I have neither the $ or desire to do that, same goes for putting up 1/4" drywall. I decided to test one area of the wall- I sanded with a coarse grit sandpaper (60), TSP wash/rinse, plain water rinse, 2 thin coats of Sheetrock brand topping compound, sanded with 220, and latex primed, a week later, I was able to once again peel the primer clean off of the wall. Is there any type of skim coat product that will adhere to the wall, and then I can cover that with topping compound to get a neat finish, that primer will stick to?

The old walls are either flat paint, or a really faded eggshell, no gloss/shine at all. Probably purposefully chosen to continue hiding all of the imperfections.

Answer 1

My guess would be that at some point in the past, while dusting, a previous owner accidentally sprayed furniture polish on the wall and said "wow, that looks great" and then did all the walls. You are using the right approach with the oil primer.

Answer 2

First,wash with TSP (before sanding) or any repair work. There is something on the wall and TSP will get alot of it off. Sanding first just grinds it in.(imagine visible axle grease on the wall...hit it with a sander first or wash with a cleaner?)
Then wash off TSP solution of the wall with the detergent. Do repairs on the wall, let dry, sand smooth. Latex primer should work at this point but out of personal habit I use alkyd primer(because I don't know what is on the wall for old paint). Nothing wrong with oil based, if you have the paint thinner.
I have done the cleaning, alkyd primer, let it dry 2 days, latex primer, and 2 coats of latex on top for the walls. The woodwork, I stayed with oil based paints because they are harder and can take more washing punishment. Also a spray like finish is more easily achieved with a brush.

Answer 3

After applying thousands of gallons of paint, and recently having a similar experience I have to wonder what the original paint is/was.

Obviously you did everything right finally, and if it's working, keep on with it.

My issue has been with trying to paint satin on dozens of commercial doors lately. Same color, likely a semi gloss initially. Everything I roll on peels, so I've gone the same route as you with Kilz Oil based primer. It solved the problem.

I'm sure you'll get a few answers that may understand, but I have another suggestion as well. Online hook into "ASK This Old House" from PBS.

I went through the same initial steps with cleaning, sanding, priming, but not knowing the initial coating, I had to switch over.

Steven Wolf

Answer 4

My guess would be you primed over semi gloss or gloss paint and the primer didn't adhere. If you sanded first you could of avoided re-priming with oil based primer.Good luck on your next project!!!