I recently started painting (satin) over a room that was previously painted with a semi-gloss. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I just started painting without any surface prep. By the time I came to my senses, I had already put most of the first coat on. After it finished drying, I dragged my nails across, and of course it scratched the paint off.
I was wondering if there is some way of getting out of sanding this paint off, deglossing the original coat, and starting over. Might there be some kind of primer I could still apply over this first coat and get adequate adhesion? Any other ideas? Please don’t make me sand it off…………
Thanks.
Replies
A nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse.
If the first coat doesn't adhere, neither will the next. Or the next. Or the one after that.
I assume you're talking about painting walls. Who paints walls in semi? I also assume you're talking latex, not oil. Anybody who would paint a wall in semi might do it in oil. If you've painted latex over oil, it's not going to work no matter what. You will need to paint an oil primer over it before painting latex.
Or, you can tell the HO that you're going for that rustic, antiqued Tuscan look. It would be fun to watch you sell that one.
It's a house we recently bought. Yeah, this one room was done entirely in semi-gloss - wall, trim, doors, built in shelves, everything. Have no idea why somebody would do an entire room in semi-gloss (except maybe a bath or kitchen). Then again, they had no decorative taste, terrible colors and wallpaper, walppaper borders everywhere, a different paint style in every other room (sponge, rag, etc.) It was all done with quality and kept immaculately clean, but........
I have no idea whether it was a latex or oil-based original paint. The paint job was done within the last 15 years, so it very very well may be latex. I know there are primers that you can paint over glossy surfaces that will adhere without deglossing, allowing new paints to be painted over. However, I don't know if these primers would work once a coat or regular paint has been applied (as I did). Maybe just wishful thinking.......
Jack,
I think that even any primer with no prep would be dreaming under the conditions you are expressing. The void for sloughing off paint has already been created underneath the new layer, it woud be impossible to shell in that last layer with another coat.
Semi gloss creates special conditions of its own, it should have probably been scuffed, not a major sanding, then washed with TSP.
Now that you are in the situation that you are, I figure you have 2 choices. Scrape and sand the loose paint off, and go again, or leave it and occasionally touch up any scuffs that occur until you are in a better frame of mind to tackle the room. The paint that is on there now will stay ok for a while and the layer will harden, just dont expect it to be great.
regards,
-zen
If the substrate (your latex topcoat) peels easily, it won't matter what primer you use, there's no hope.
Sand (try a random orbital sander with 100 grit) off your latex coat and prime properly. It doesn't have to be an oil-based primer. There are latex primers that will apply to glossy oil surfaces (although I always lightly sand anyway). Benjamin Moore's Fresh Start or Zinsser come to mind.
Regards,
Tim Ruttan
If you use a random orbital sander like a Porter Cable with the round dust filter/catcher and have a shop vac with the small hose, go to Home Depot and look in the isle with washing machine outlet hoses. They have a flexible plastic one that has another piece of plastic for establishing a curve to hook onto the tub on one end and a rubber cuff on the other. This rubber cuff just happens to fit onto a regular vacuum cleaner hose. Use a shop vac or equivalent for the filter and amount you can suck up. This way, you don't need to empty the little filter or have dust flying all over the house. If you get the better filter for the shop vac, it doesn't clog as fast as the paper ones they come with.I have a duplex and some genius in the past painted latex over oil base, so I got the enjoyable task of fixing everything. I went around and scraped off a bunch of the loosest paint, then feathered where the ransition was and sanded the whole place. Oh boy! Vacuumed the surfaces with a wide brush attachment and wiped it with Paso, which is for knocking down gloss and giving the surface some tooth. Just to be sure, I primed with Gold Zinsser before painting with latex. I won't even go into the bedroom trim (all of the windows) that had latex paint jumping off of it when I tried to smooth it by sanding so it would look like something. I said, "screw it!" and yanked it all off and replaced it. Better than trying to strip it in place and affecting the wall paint. It looks brand new, too. Nothing beats new trim with the first coats of paint.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
You might also try a couple of other things to remove the paint (I concur that's where you're at for options now). Alcohol (i.e. Denatured) will melt it, and you can take it off that way, but I'd be sick to think of how much you'd spend on alcohol to achieve that. Pine Sol won't melt it, but it will make it gummy. Its a good thing for getting old latex out of brushes. I'd maybe test a spot with a spritz bottle and let it sit ten minutes and see if it doesn't make everything easier - kind of like wetting wallpaper. I don't know that it will work. I haven't been in that boat. But, hey, you're kind of open for options at the moment.
"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man." - Mark Twain