# texture and/or primer flaking off



## Frabeco (Nov 13, 2011)

I know this is DIY, but I cant find any help anywhere else......we are building a new home. The drywall is completed with knock down on the ceilings and in the closets (yes, for our area that is the standard) then the the walls and ceiling where given two coats of primer. Now every single ceiling and wall (closet) that has texture on it is cracking and flaking off. There is some areas that are smooth that are also peeling (bad) along the top of the wall where the walls meet the ceiling. It does appear that the ceilings that are smooth, master bedroom, dining room, are not cracking and flaking off. Every one is blaming 
everyone else. What is the problem and what is the fix? Please help.

Pictures:

https://picasaweb.google.com/115298...&authkey=Gv1sRgCL_40p2njKSleA&feat=directlink


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

Were the ares primed BEFORE the texture?


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## Frabeco (Nov 13, 2011)

No they were not.


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## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

Frabeco said:


> No they were not.


Problem identified I suspect. Sorry. The texture had nothing real to adhere to.


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## Frabeco (Nov 13, 2011)

Wouldn't a "professional" drywall person know that the surface needs to be primed before they texture? So, I have to basically have all the texture sanded off and start over? 

Thanks for your responses thus far.


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## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

"Professional" drywallers sprayed popcorn ceilings for ages knowing they were doing the work of the devil. They would slurry texture and the cheapest ceiling paint together and spray away over non-primed, non-taped, non-mudded ceilings. It was, for a time, cheap and common practice so people put up with it. The ceilings evntually and inevitably fail and you can try to patch them but they just fall apart somewhere else.

If you have no recourse against your drywall or painting contractor? And they performed according to contract and within price quoted? Should they have known and warned you? Of course. 

You are probably going to have to scrape and sand it off or layer thin drywall over it and start over. You might as well do it know before you have flooring in (I hope) and furniture in the way. 

There is no product I know of that will seep through the primer and texture to adhere all to the drywall.


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

Frabeco said:


> Wouldn't a "professional" drywall person know that the surface needs to be primed before they texture? So, I have to basically have all the texture sanded off and start over?
> 
> Thanks for your responses thus far.


 
Well, yes they would. and yes you will


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## 95025 (Nov 14, 2010)

Frabeco said:


> I know this is DIY, but I cant find any help anywhere else......*we are building a new home.* The drywall is completed with knock down on the ceilings and in the closets (yes, for our area that is the standard) then the the walls and ceiling where given two coats of primer. Now every single ceiling and wall (closet) that has texture on it is cracking and flaking off. There is some areas that are smooth that are also peeling (bad) along the top of the wall where the walls meet the ceiling. It does appear that the ceilings that are smooth, master bedroom, dining room, are not cracking and flaking off. Every one is blaming
> everyone else. What is the problem and what is the fix? Please help.
> 
> Pictures:
> ...


It's anybody's guess what variables came together to cause this mess. It could be the "perfect storm" of problems coming together. My speculative guess is that the problem lies in the knock-down texture they sprayed on.

Where are you in the financing of this home? I hope you have some legal way to force the issue, and make sure this problem is corrected PROPERLY before you have to pay for it.


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## bjbatlanta (Jul 16, 2008)

As a "profesional" drywaller, I have to disagree sdsester and I take offense, having been in the business for 35+ years. The drywall contractors were doing what the general contractor asked for. In this area, only ceilings were/are textured and they ARE taped and bed-coated prior to texture. You can't "pile on" enough texture over un-taped drywall that it will not crack all of the joints within a few days. Textured ceilings were the "in" thing for years. I hate them (my house is "stippled" as I bought it). I have done sprayed ceilings also. I don't like them any better. They're a pain to repair. The problem was, during building "booms", finding enough finishers who could actually do a "slick" finish was a problem, so texture was the answer. Why anyone would want walls and ceilings textured is beyond me, but that's how it's done in certain parts of the country.....


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## 95025 (Nov 14, 2010)

sdsester said:


> Problem identified I suspect. Sorry. The texture had nothing real to adhere to.


That's not true. As you know, knock-down texture - as pictured by the OP - is drywall mud that has been thinned and splattered onto the wall. So why will drywall mud adhere to bare drywall when you're taping and mudding, but not when you're texturing? Same drywall. Same mud.

In all the homes my wife & I have renovated, I have never primed drywall before splattering on the texture - everything from subtle orange peel to heavy knock-down. Never once have I had an adhesion problem. I'm not saying that there can't be problems, but _not_ priming first does _not_ automatically mean there _will_ be problems.


The OP is facing a different problem, and it's manifesting itself in more than just the knock-down.


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## 95025 (Nov 14, 2010)

bjbatlanta said:


> As a "profesional" drywaller, I have to disagree sdsester and I take offense, having been in the business for 35+ years. The drywall contractors were doing what the general contractor asked for. In this area, only ceilings were/are textured and they ARE taped and bed-coated prior to texture. You can't "pile on" enough texture over un-taped drywall that it will not crack all of the joints within a few days. Textured ceilings were the "in" thing for years. I hate them (my house is "stippled" as I bought it). I have done sprayed ceilings also. I don't like them any better. They're a pain to repair. The problem was, during building "booms", finding enough finishers who could actually do a "slick" finish was a problem, so texture was the answer. *Why anyone would want walls and ceilings textured is beyond me, but that's how it's done in certain parts of the country.....*


Well... Deadening flat-wall reverberation could be one reason.


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