Peeling paint from ceiling

Hello all, have this paint peeling off from the hall way/living area ceiling. The house is from the 70s and the bedrooms' ceilings are just fine. There is no sagging or wetness anywhere. Have mixed opinions from tradies who we consulted. Some said, just strip back the paint and do an undercoat primer and then paint again. Another advice was to remove the whole ceiling and put new Gyprock that also involves new cornice replacement. Looking for your valuable advices on these if you had come across a similar situation. Thank you! unnamed (1).jpg

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MitchellMc

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @JoshKing. It's fantastic to have you join us and many thanks for your question.

It appears that there is significant delamination of the products applied to your plaster ceiling. This could be due to age, moisture or inferior/incompatible coatings being applied. On this scale, it would indicate to me that the entire ceiling would need to be prepped and not just the individual areas peeling. I would suggest investing in some quality scrapers like the Uni-pro 50mm Precision Tungsten Carbide Scraper and Uni-pro 75mm Angled Heavy-duty Paint Scraper to remove any loose material.

In an ideal circumstance that entire coating which is peeling away should be removed from the whole ceiling. The amount of paint that has peeled now is just an indication that more of the ceiling coating is destined to come away. You'll need to start scraping away the loose material and then extensively chase the degraded paint across the ceiling until you hit a solid area. My guess is that you won't find too many areas where the paint is still binding well to the plaster.

After the degraded paint layers have been removed you'll need to sand and patch any damage before a good quality primer similar to Taubmans 3 in 1 Interior And Exterior Primer Undercoat Sealer White Paint 4L can be used.

If you are having a tradie do the job make sure they are prepared to remove all the degraded paint and not just the localised areas which have peeled away already. This will ensure the new coating has a solid surface to adhere to.

Let me mention a few of our helpful members @Brad, @Peggers, @redracer01, @MartyH that might like to give their opinions on the situation.

Please let me know if you need further assistance or had questions.

Mitchell

redracer01

Hello @JoshKing

If the house is from the 70's there's every possibility that there has been moisture damage to the primary barrier of the ceiling gib board. There are many causes to paint peeling but the most common one is moisture contamination between the substrate and paint. What kind of roof do you have? Is it tiled or steel roof. If your ceiling gib had a moisture barrier odds are it might have failed or there was none placed when it was built. It is a more common occurrence in tiled roofs where moisture gets in and forms condensation on the gib. A good remedy for it is to use a Dulux primer with a sealer and binder. This should shore up any of the failing gib. But before doing that I suggest doing a little investigation and see if you are getting condensation in your ceiling cavity. Worst case scenario is you may have to replace the ceiling gib all together. Please ask our paint professionals at the store to get a second opinion. Good luck and stay safe.

Cheers,

Red

Anthe

Hi Red

I am no professional but live in a 1970's building and our plumbing contractors use moisture readers on the ceilings, a handy little device. We have a couple units with ceilings with significant paint flaking like in this picture but both in non ventilated areas, signs of mould and yes moisture coming in from the apartment above.

I have contractors at my apartment now fixing up the sins of the 70's and patched over ever since...I've been trolling this amazing forum for ideas all day! Excellent ideas and contributions by the way.

Cheers

Anthe

Siani

This is apparently very common for 70’s houses and ceilings. Mine has been terrible for years and we don’t know how to change it. Paint just peels again. It has been suggested we cover it with some thin material. It’s in lounge, kitchen and hallway. It’s too expensive to scrape it all off and any not removed causes it to peel first there next time. It seems improved ventilation in the roof from whirley bird helps ensure roof cavity is dry, but doesn’t fix the ceiling. Any ideas on what we can use to cover it in all 3 rooms? Thanks for your help.

EricL

Hello @Siani

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's sensational to have you join us.

I propose replacing your ceiling with Gyprock CSR 2400 x 1200 x 10mm 2.88sqm Aquachek™ Plasterboard RE. It is specifically designed for use as a lining in wet areas of residential or commercial buildings, it is perfect for use in bathrooms, kitchens and laundries. Due to its ability to resist moisture and humidity it is an ideal product to use.

I believe your builder will possibly suggest removing the old ceiling boards as they will add to the weight of the ceiling if the Gyprock plasterboard is placed in front of the old one. The ceiling frame might not be strong enough to hold all that weight and it might bow or collapse.

I recommend engaging the services of a registered builder so that you can get a quote on the replacement.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

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