# Painted wallpaper peeling/cracking



## Jmayspaint (May 4, 2013)

Has it always been like that ? It looks like wallpaper paste left on top of the paper caused that. If that's the case you could sand it, prime it with Guardz and repaint.


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## ron45 (Feb 25, 2014)

I would have it removed, steam is wallpapers enemy.


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## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

........and, I would guess, a proper primer was not used before painting. Most vinyls are hard to paint unless a good bonding primer is used such as Cover Stain.


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## grebus1 (Feb 27, 2015)

We believe it was painted shortly before we bought the house, and the peeling/cracking started within a few months of moving in. We have just been living with it for a year or so, but it's finally time to do something about it.

If I decide to try to sand and use Gardz, is it worth trying to skim coat the seams with compound? And should I use coverstain over the Gardz before topcoating? Thanks.


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

You would be best off just removing the paper and getting back to the original wall. It most likely will not be that big of a job, but, it depends entirely if it was properly primed before the paper was installed. You already have a mess, if it were me, I would go ahead and scrape off some more paint at one of the seams and spray some hot water on there and see if the paper will just peel right off. It might.


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

This is just another prime example of why one should not paint over paper:yes:


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## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

I'm with Chris in that the best solution is to get it off the wall and get back to a sound surface; however, it would be possible to make it work with a skim coat. First I would use a utility knife to cut away the paper where it is peeling at the seams. Then prime with Cover Stain or Guardz but you won't have to prime with both. Then you can skim coat the seam area with joint compound much like you would do with drywall. Two coats should do it. Sand, remove dust, prime and paint.


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## Queef (Jan 26, 2014)

My money says that if you try and peel it off, it will come off in small little 2" pieces, take forever, and you'll end up gouging the wall with a scraper and need to skim coat anyway. I'd leave it, primer, skim, sand, and paint.


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## ToolSeeker (Sep 19, 2012)

I am on the side of completely removing. As stated you already have a mess why chance compounding it. Could possibly have been primed with latex and painted with latex and the moisture from the paint and primer loosened the edges Since it started not long after. There could be other loose places your not seeing now but could show up in your finished job.


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## grebus1 (Feb 27, 2015)

OK, thanks for all the input.


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## Startingover (Apr 18, 2012)

You don't have anything to lose by trying to remove one area, like at back of tub, to see what you're dealing with. 

If I could remove old wallpaper (with advice of everyone here) anyone can.


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## Nestor_Kelebay (Jun 17, 2008)

Grebus:

That to me looks like the cracking and peeling you can expect from using a vinyl acrylic paint in a wet area like a bathroom with a shower. The reason why the cracking and peeling is worst in the corners is because that's where heat is lost in two directions at once, so that's also where the condensation occurs.

You see, over 90 percent of interior latex paints in North America are made from either one of two different kinds of plastic:

1. Polymethyl methacrylate, which you probably know better as the plastic "Plexiglas", or PMMA for short. In the business, paints made from this kind of plastic are referred to as being made with "100% Acrylic" resins. But, there are literally hundreds of different resins made from this kind of plastic to make everything from floor finishes, paint, grout and masonry sealers and even nail polish for the ladies. So, the wording "100% Acrylic" on a can of paint means as much as the wording "100% Cow" on a package of meat. It tells you what type of meat it is, but not whether you're buying prime rib or dog food. It's there to hoodwink people into thinking it's a better quality paint than one that doesn't have that wording on the label, and really only means that it's not the worst paint you can buy. In general, however, paints that use PMMA resins are better at sticking to moist surfaces, resist moisture better once they're dry, dry to a harder and more impermeable film, have better alkali, acid, UV and mildew resistance.

2. Polyvinyl Acetate, which you probably know better as white wood glue, or PVA for short. In the business, paints made from this kind of plastic resin are referred to as being made with "Vinyl Acrylic" resins. Paints made with vinyl acrylic resins are prone to a problem called "blocking", where the paint will remain slightly sticky even when it's completely dry. If you've ever rested your head against a wall and found that your hair stuck to the paint on the wall afterward, it's because the wall was painted with PVA paint. PVA resins are best used for general purpose primers where they won't be exposed to moisture, acids or alkalis, mildew or UV light from the Sun because of the protection offered by the top coating(s) of paint. Moisture causes paints and primers made with PVA resins to become soft enough you can scrape them off the wall with your fingernail. The cracking I'm seeing in your pictures looks very much like the way PVA paints crack up and peel when repeatedly exposed to water and/or very high humidity.

What I'm seeing in your pictures is typical of what happens when someone uses a PVA paint to paint the walls in a wet area like a bathroom with a shower. Since PVA paints have relatively poor resistance to moisture, the condensation that forms on the paint causes it to get soft, and crack and peel.

The fix is just to scrape off the damaged paint and paint over the walls with a paint intended for wet areas like Zinsser's PermaWhite Bathroom Paint in either Satin or SemiGloss. The PermaWhite is impermeable enough to moisture to prevent the PVA paint under it from continuing to crack and peel. And, since you're buying a paint that's intended to be used in bathrooms, you can be sure that the PMMA resin used to make the paint has outstanding moisture resistance.

Paint peeling on the ceilings and high up on the walls of bathrooms is commonly misdiagnosed as insufficient prep work or not having removed a soap film on the walls before repainting. This can be exasperating to the DIY'er that did the best prep job they could prior to painting that bathroom. Really, it's just a matter of having used a cheap paint in a location where paint of much better quality was called for.

Hope this helps.


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## tsajfalduto (Aug 14, 2021)

ron45 said:


> I would have it removed, steam is wallpapers enemy.


 even if its been under there forever? mine isn't just seams peeling all through


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