Looking for some "opinions" or ideas on how or why this happened.

I intended to peel off a wallpaper boarder and much to my surprise I discovered the paint peeled off down to the primer on the drywall.

The house is a '70s ranch and there were probably 6-8 layers of paint. The paint was peeling off in sheets after getting hit with the steamer for only about 10 seconds. I've done a fair amount of painting and have peeled wallpaper off most of the rooms in this house since we bought it. *I've NEVER see this happen*. I ended up "peeling" the entire room in about 5 hours (10x12 bedroom).

So... the question is ... What happened that the paint never properly adhered to the substrait?

My plan is to skim the walls with a quality mud to fix the few areas with damage then apply the best quality (oil based) primer I can find.

Any and all comments welcome.

what happened is that incompatible products were used. you could mix some spackle and fill in the peeled area, prime, and paint. and if any moisture got under the paint from inside the walls, oil paint will be debonded quickly. use latex instead.

but it would be wrong. it's done in thousands of apartments every day, but the rest of that wall is ready to flake off.

I would take a stab at using that steamer and a big ol' putty knife to see if the rest of that dodgy paint can be knocked off. warning, danger, fattening, etc... there are layers of lead paint in that mess, no kids allowed. cover up the vents and furniture, wear a mask, etc etc etc.

once you get to a solid surface, then wash it with TSP or a "TSP Replacer" where the Phosphate Gods have been banned, rinse, let dry. I'd use a good bonding primer like KILZ or Zinsser 1-2-3 in latex, and then come back within the recommended time (2-24 hours) and paint with a superior washability eggshell formula using microspheres. those are generally the top of everybody's lines... Miller, Hirschfelds, Valspar, Sherwin, PPG, etc.

and that would be a safe fix and be a solid base for the rest of the home's life.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: swschrad,

You are fortunate that the mess came off so easily. My first house I had a multi later wallpaper/paint situation after hours of frustration decided to bite the bullet and I actually pulled down the drywall. As it turned out that was a good decision since I replaced the armored cable wiring and addressed the lack of insulation in the walls at the same time. Follow swschrad's advice and you should be fine.