We have a crawlspace to our attic in the ceiling. To access it you just push up on the door and push it aside. This is a wooden door that has been painted before, but is peeling badly, so I would like to repaint it. I've scraped as much of the paint off as I can, but not all of it came off. I've also sanded it down as much as I can. My question is, can I just prime over the entire door, then repaint it - or do I have to completely remove all of the paint, then prime it, then paint it? Also, we have a popcorn ceiling and I was thinking about spraying some ceiling texture on the door to match it, but didn't know if I can spray it on wood or not. Anyone have any suggestions?

DO not try and texture it, first time someone hands touch it, it will stain and pop corn will start to fall off.
Just prime the bare area, let dry then paint it two coats with latex paint.

And, no, you don't need to remove all of the old paint.

Why remove paint that's sticking well only to replace it with paint that won't stick any better. The smarter thing to do is just paint over the old paint.

Use a small roller to do your painting if you can. Wrap the roller (or brush) in one plastic bag and the paint tray in another and keep them in your fridge (NOT the freezer) while the first coat dries. That way, you only have to wash them out once insteada twice.

Bagging the roller and tray ensure that the cold dry refrigerator air doesn't suck the moisture out of the wet paint.

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

Prime and repaint is also my suggestion.

I am wondering why it peeled in the first place? Make sure you have a piece of insulation (same depth/R value as the rest of the attic) glued or attached to top of the trap door, so it stays in place when you pull it over to close it.
I am thinking that the cooler air from your home is condensing on the back of the ceiling trap door and causing moisture to cause the paint to bubble/peel? And then that brings up whether you have adequate attic ventilation ....but that is a whole other subject.

Good point, Conrad. I'll have my husband check that out right away. Thank you for the suggestion!

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

Thank you, Nestor, for the great suggestion. I ended up scrapping/sanding off as much of the old paint as I could, then primed it, then painted it with 2 good coats. Old paint left on actually made it look like it was the grain of the wood, so it ended up looking pretty cool.

Thank you, joecaption, for reminding me what a pain in the rear popcorn ceilings are! Ended up NOT spraying with texture, just scrapped/sanded, coated with primer and 2 good coats of paint.