Flakey Paint/Plaster Around Window Area - What to Do?

[ambient]

Hi, I would really appreciated some advice from you experts...

Around the window area in our master bedroom the paint (might be plaster not 100% sure) is flaking away all over the place. I'd like to fix the problem and re-paint the room but I'm not sure of the best way to go about it.

I've taken some pics as an example of a problem area....

Is this just the paint thats flaking or is it the plaster?

I'm not sure of the approach to take, I obviously need to remove all of the flakey paint first but should I treat and fill the remaining gaps or should I be removing all the paint layer in the whole of the affected area and starting afresh (this would take forever since some areas of the paint are very well bonded)?

Hope someone can help... thanks for reading.

 

[roughcaster]

I would say that was years of old paint/distemper flaking off. You can see the heavy brushmarks. You could remove all the old loose areas and flush them off with a filler, and hopefully sand it down with the rest, but you'll probably end up with different looking textures when it's painted. The ultimate would be to remove all the loose paint, get it pva'd and skimmed. If it's only the window area you're talking about, you could probably do it yourself, anything bigger, unless your competent, seek local advice and get a few quotes just to give you some idea.

Roughcaster.

 

[ambient]

Thanks very much for the reply and your suggestions.
I think I might get some quotes and I may even get the whole room re-plastered since the finish is particular poor in the room. Can anyone give me a ball park figure at how much I'd be looking at. Its a pretty much standard double sized room probably about 12' x 10' or so, I am looking at £500 quid, less or more to have the whole thing re-plastered? Sorry I really have no idea. Ta.

 

[roughcaster]

£500.00 is an outside price to start from, I'm sure you would get it done for less than that if it's just a straight forward job. You could go around the room yourself and remove all the flaky areas of paint, then get a couple of quotes from recommended plasterers in your area.

Roughcaster.

 

[ambient]

Apologies for raising this rather old post from the dead but I've finally pulled my finger out and are in the process of sorting this myself.

We have stripped back all of paint (loose or not) to bare plaster for the whole of the problem window area. I would now like to use smooth over to get a flush finish and finally repaint.

Obviously I do not want the problem to return. I've spoken to various sources about treating with most people recomending PVA but others not, saying that water based paint won't be able to bond.

So questions are really...

1) Should I be using PVA? If so what type (do I need to get a waterproof one to work with water based paints)?

2) Do I apply the PVA to the bare plaster or do I first use the Polycell Smooth Over stuff and then PVA that, or both?

Really hope you can help me out (once again) and thanks in advance! Any other tips always appreciated!

 

[regsmyth]

What is the surface under the paint - is it render (sand & cement) or is it plaster?

Since there is a bonding issue, perhaps caused by moisture in the walls, you should use an oil based primer to seal the surface.

If you need to prepare it and fill any holes, do this before painting. Once primed, you shouldn't have any problem overcoating with emulsion. I would avoid using any pva.

Or are you planning on getting it plastered now?

 

[ambient]

We are not planning on having the room replastered any longer, sorry should have said.

I believe that we've stripped back to plaster, its gray and has a smooth surface (in the places we haven't damaged from the stripping). We are planning to smooth this over with some Polycell Smooth Over BEFORE painting.

http://www.polycell.co.uk/products/polycell_smoothover_your_damaged_walls.jsp