Painting - Chipping Interior Paint

The bathroom walls in the 1920's house we just moved into is in need of paint. The paint has done something called "Alligator". I'm told this happens when paint was incorrectly applied. There are only sections that have done this. How should I proceed? Also, should I be concerned that this is lead paint? If so, how should I proceed ?

Your help is greatly appreciated. Thank-you!

Is this paint actually coming off the walls or is it still pretty well adhered?

You do need to be carefull with lead paint, expecially if children are around, you can get test kits such as these http://www.homestoreproducts.com

You can read about lead paint hazards here

http://www.doerun.com/ENGLISH/articles/paint.htm

or

http://www.epa.gov/lead/nlic.htm

Thanks for your reply. Those lead paint sites are VERY good! Thank-you.

The portion of the walls where it looks like alligator skin is not adheared to the walls. On the rest of the walls the paint is adhearing.

Shadow

Unfortunately all the loose paint and/or texture will have to be removed prior to re-painting, paint or primer will not make existing peeling or loose paint adhere, I would probably get a painter's 5 in 1 (paint stores) and start carefully chipping away the loose paint, repair the bad spots, spot texture to match, prime and paint. In some cases on really bad walls and entire skim job is required, after removing all loose paint and texture. I would suggest a pro for this unless you are very familuar with tape and bed tools.

If it is any consolation, I am currently re-finnishing the walls on my 1930's house, someone had come in and used the fiberglass mesh tape and ALL the drywall joints are cracked at the seams not to mention a very poor and sloppy crows foot type texture job, peeling paint, peeling texture, etc. I am ripping out all the mesh tape (you can grab the mesh tape at one end and rip it all out with one long pull, because the mesh tape generally does not have mud applied under it) , power sanding the walls entirely to knock down this texture a bit, re-taping and bedding, skimming the walls entirely, re-texturing with a plain splatter, priming and painting. It is a "one room at a time" job.

Thanks for the information. I will start the job myself, as the loose paint should be fairly easy to remove. There is no "texture" on the adhered portion, just paint.

What is "painter's 5 in 1 (paint stores)"?

If an entire skim job is required, I'd like to try it. Where can I find information on tape and bed tools?

Thanks for your help!

The Shadow

A 5 in 1 is like a funny looking putty knife, it has a scraping surface, a pointed end, it opens paint cans, pushes paint out of rollers, etc, a very handy tool and not just handy for painters, you can just ask for one at the paint store, they should know what you are talking about. You can also find taping and bedding tools at the paint stores, you will need a 6 in taping knife, a 10 in mud knife and a mud pan to skim the walls entirely.

I will suggest reading a little about drywall repair, compounds, mud and tape here http://doityourself.com/wall/index.htm and see if you can get away with just patching and repairing first. If after you do the repairing (which you need to do first before skimming anyway) the walls are not smooth enough for you come back here and I will try to describe skimming for you, it is not an easy task to teach someone how to skim out walls properly on a notepad, if you know what I mean. But if you have confidence in yourself, than who am I to question :)

Thanks Chip!

I am finishing my kitchen cabinet project, hopefully this weekend. Boy, have I learned a lot from that!! I've also made friends with the Sherwin Williams guy and the folks at Home Depot.

Once the cabinets are done, the bathroom is next.

To quote Arnold Schwarzenegger ... "I WILL BE BACK!!!"



The Shadow:D

Hey Chip, Is it anything like a dobb or something blown on. My personal choice if not slick is a well done stipple or a small round dobbing brush. My house was also built in the 30's and must be the first house in the state to get a drywall job judging by the way it looks. You know that 1/4 drywall with 4-8 coats of paper, ceilings and walls, running every direction and all of it lapped an inch is a major pain to deal with. Anyway, enough of my rambling on Shadows thread.....Mike

You are welcome Shadow. I would like to hear how your cabinets turned out.

Hey Mike,

The plain splatter is blown, like an orange peel but larger, I use a hopper and air compressor and just splatter the texture on and leave it, like a splatter and drag but without the drag:) and a tad finer. I use the med-small hole. It is common here. Most of the new homes I am doing is a medium to med-large splatter. A fine splatter, with the small hole and higher air pressure is what I refere to as an orange peel texture.

I like it, if your not close up to the wall, it gives the walls a "soft" appearence, if you are close up you can see the bumpy splatter. Nothing wrong with stimple, if like you said it is well done.

Scrape it off with a putty knife, fill in the little holes with joint compound and repaint. As for the lead--Dont eat the chips.