Painting - Paint Peeling -- Help

I've recently purchased my very first home, and already I've messed things up. Here is what happened.

The first order of business was to repaint the entire home (1200 sq ft, not too large). A friend of mine borrowed a proffesional sprayer from his friend and was willing to lend it to me. I decided to take advantage and use it to spray the entire place white (swiss coffee) and then come back and repaint one of two rooms when I get a few free weekends.

The downstairs was first, and wanted to wait for it to dry and apply a second coat, then go upstairs. Sidenote - This weekend just happened to be the rainiest weekend in Southern California I've witnessed.

I painted the first coat downstairs around 2:30pm Saturday and was done at 4:00 or so. I went upstairs cleaned and taped for a while. by now it was 7:00 and I thought to check up on the paint. It was as wet as when it went on. Came back Sunday, stll tacky. I put some halogen spot lamps on a few walls and then proceeded to paint upstairs in the morning. Came downstairs and the paint was definetely more dry in areas with the lamps, but if you took your finger nail to the wall the paint would peel.

I'm worried now that I may have not cleaned the walls well enough. I didn't use a primer. What can I do to speed up the adhesion? Should I stip the paint somehow and start over?

The paint I used was an eggshell latex paint. It appears that the previous owner painted the entire place in a semi-gloss. I asked someone I trust if it was oil-based and he said no.

Thanks for the help.

A couple of things:
The excessive rain will slow down the drying time.
It takes about a month for paint to cure. In that time, yes you will be able to scratch the paint with your fingernail.
If the previous walls were shiny (semi-gloss), at the very least you needed to lightly sand the walls.
Maybe pwg will have some more ideas. IMHO, at this pont, anything you do will make it worse. Give it some time to dry.

Can I put down a second coat? I really want to because you can still see streaking. I don't have anything in the house yet, but will be moving there this weekend.

You certainly will not be stripping the paint off the walls of the whole house. So not painting a second coat now seems stupid. If and when a problem arises the rooms can be addressed individually on an as needed basis.You don't have a lot of options here since you are movin in this week end. If the place is filled with furniture and stuff you might as well roll the rooms, but that could lift the paint real easy and I would not do it. At least with spraying a second coat now you are done with the majority of the painting and you can let it cure for a while. May be turn the heat up high for a few days and live with friends if you are already in the house.

In the end I would put on the second coat and turn up the heat after I was done. I would imagine there are plenty of homes out there that are painted just like yours and going unnoticed.

It is definitely the wrong way to do it but it is too late to fix it now. I mean what are you gonna do. You didn't mention anything about cleaning the walls which may add to your probs. But again it is too late now.


The paint on the walls is just that ---on the walls. For the most part if you leave it alone and don't feel the need to "try" to pull the paint off or see if it "stuck" on the wall you may just get real lucky and have no probs. "Not bloody likely though". [Seinfeld]

Be very careful when moving in so you don't upset your walls. I mean like don't even get close to them if possible :wall:

Also crack some windows and run some fans to move the air around the house...especially into rooms which are small and have little air flow such as a bathroom without windows.

If the paint is dry to the touch, then repaint. By now, it should be ok.

I had the same ideas joneq. Sunday evening I turned the heat way up to 78, and came back monday and everything was much more dry. Even the upstairs felt dry to the touch, and that was the last part I painted. It seems like just getting the humidity out really worked. I 'tried' to peel the paint in an inconspicuous area, and couldn't get it to come off.

b.t.w. I did clean the walls with 409.

Monday night, I reapainted the entire place, and I'll go back today around noon to check it out. I'll post a follow up. thanks for the help.

Now, who knows something about laminate flooring......

what do you need to know. It isn't really appropriate for this forum but what is the jist of it. There is a forum dedicated to laminate flooring under decorating I think. A couple of things though.

Installing laminate flooring is pretty simple. Do not go for a glue together installation, snap together is really simple. Find one that has the matting already on the back if possible eliminating yet another step. Measure careful :thinker: so you don't end up needing a too small piece :wall:

What ever you do try to do it yourself. Professionals need to charge you what they do in order to make very decent money, but unless you have very unusual circumstances it is one of the easier projects to do. All of the above IMHO

Glad the painting is turning out ok.

As far as the floor - yes post your questions in the flooring forum.

old carpenter joke - I cut it twice and its still too short

I went over to the house today, and everything looks great..... I am very please with my work. Getting the moisture out was the key for sure. Thanks for the help


I know my laminate flooring questions should go somewhere else, and I'll post other questions there too.

I plan to do it all myself. My main questions is which brand....
Keep in mind I am on a budget of $1500 for 700sq ft. I could go over if needed, but thats where I'm at.

I've seen samples from Quickstep Uniclic, Meyer Premier and the IKEA Tundra line. Anyone have experience with them?

All are roughly $1.50-$1.65 a sq. ft. which is $1200 for just the planks.....

My main question is what type of underlayment should I get... I will be laying over both concete and wood.

Thanks.