Mike Halmarack wrote:

There's a border separating the top and bottom of the walls. The top
area has beeen painted with different emulsion than the bottom area.
The bottom area is powdery and has started to bubble under the fresh
paint. Is there some kind of stabilising coating that can go between
the old and new surface?
Otherwise, what is an effective way to solve the problem?

Perhaps https://www.sealantsandtoolsdirect.co.uk/everbuild-406-stabilising-solution-treatment-5-litre-stab5

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On 04/02/2025 14:02, Mike Halmarack wrote:

Thanks, I did do a search earlier and found this brand of stabilising solution and some similiar options, but reading the reviews about the
stuff when applied to emulsion and distemper type problems weren't
very reassuring.

30 years ago my experience with distemper applied thickly to the walls
was that most of it had to be removed. A previous owner of the house
had attempted to wallpaper over it but that paper was already detaching
from the walls and stripping it off from a whole room took all of 10
minutes. :)

I found the easiest solution was lots of soapy water a scraper, some
scouring pads and a large sponge. I used a garden sprayer to wet down
the walls and with many applications over a period of hours to keep the distemper constantly wet. The distemper was then scrapped off as a
sludge - a messy job.

I then treated the wall with an (exterior) solvent based sealer which
soaked into the trace amounts of distemper left on the wall a
sealed/glued it to the plastered wall (old type 1 inch thick plaster)

I might take a chance with the stabiliser if my current, less than
joyous method of soaking the wall with soapy water then scraping down
to the pink skim becomes too horrendous.

If it's that bad you need to get it off first. Once you have the worst
off try pan scourers.

Eamaple https://home.bargains/product/0c2a2bc2-32be-4a92-aaf7-f203951d0f2f/power-action-stainless-steel-scourer-3-pack-x3

Don't use them individually - combine a pack or two together and you can
cover a large area in one go before having to rinse off in a bucket of
water.

Even if I get right down to the skim finish I'm not sure if it will
the be safe to apply a coat of emulsion straight onto this.

Possibly paint was applied incorrectly to a freshly plastered wall and
all the moisture was immediately sucked out of the paint. If you are
unsure about the previously painted surface I would recommend using a primer/sealer type product.


--
mailto : news {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk

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On 04/02/2025 14:02, Mike Halmarack wrote:

On Tue, 4 Feb 2025 13:21:27 +0000, No mail <[email protected]> wrote:

Mike Halmarack wrote:

There's a border separating the top and bottom of the walls. The top
area has beeen painted with different emulsion than the bottom area.
The bottom area is powdery and has started to bubble under the fresh
paint. Is there some kind of stabilising coating that can go between
the old and new surface?
Otherwise, what is an effective way to solve the problem?

Perhaps
https://www.sealantsandtoolsdirect.co.uk/everbuild-406-stabilising-solution-treatment-5-litre-stab5

Thanks, I did do a search earlier and found this brand of stabilising solution and some similiar options, but reading the reviews about the
stuff when applied to emulsion and distemper type problems weren't
very reassuring.

I might take a chance with the stabiliser if my current, less than
joyous method of soaking the wall with soapy water then scraping down
to the pink skim becomes too horrendous.

I bought a job lot of wet'n'dry sanding blocks which is a hard
sponge rubber block encased with wet and dry paper.

Dip in a bucket of water and spray water on the wall and they
remove 'emulsion' paint really quickly and you also end up
with a wallthat is as smooth as the proverbial babies bum.

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Mike Halmarack <[email protected]> wrote:

There's a border separating the top and bottom of the walls. The top
area has beeen painted with different emulsion than the bottom area.
The bottom area is powdery and has started to bubble under the fresh
paint. Is there some kind of stabilising coating that can go between
the old and new surface?

https://www.johnstonesdc.com/paint-woodcare/high-performance-paints/primers-undercoats/alkali-resisting-primer-white-2-5l

It ain't cheap, but completely solved the problem where paint on a wall was peeling off in giant sheets due to a powdery dust coming out of the plaster.

Although having done all the prep to clean and sand the now-exposed
plaster surface, the proof of the pudding is whether it continues to stick
over the course of years (and whether there was something substandard in the way the original paint was applied).

Theo

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Mike Halmarack wrote:

There's a border separating the top and bottom of the walls. The top
area has beeen painted with different emulsion than the bottom area.
The bottom area is powdery and has started to bubble under the fresh
paint. Is there some kind of stabilising coating that can go between
the old and new surface?
Otherwise, what is an effective way to solve the problem?

A thought ... could it be damp? What's on the other side of the wall?

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On 06/02/2025 12:48, Mike Halmarack wrote:

On Wed, 5 Feb 2025 13:18:19 +0000, No mail <[email protected]> wrote:

Mike Halmarack wrote:

There's a border separating the top and bottom of the walls. The top
area has beeen painted with different emulsion than the bottom area.
The bottom area is powdery and has started to bubble under the fresh
paint. Is there some kind of stabilising coating that can go between
the old and new surface?
Otherwise, what is an effective way to solve the problem?

A thought ... could it be damp? What's on the other side of the wall?

Well, there is damp and mould which is being worked on.
The powdery part isn't damp. It might be the result of earlier mould
and damp treatments though.

Fix the damp first and wait for summer to make sure the wall has
dried out before wasting time and money on trying to decorate.

How old is this property ?. I always thought you lived in a
block of flats that are not-exactly 'historic'

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On 10/02/2025 11:21, Mike Halmarack wrote:

On Sun, 9 Feb 2025 18:30:22 +0000, Andrew <[email protected]>
wrote:

On 06/02/2025 12:48, Mike Halmarack wrote:

On Wed, 5 Feb 2025 13:18:19 +0000, No mail <[email protected]> wrote:

Mike Halmarack wrote:

There's a border separating the top and bottom of the walls. The top >>>>> area has beeen painted with different emulsion than the bottom area. >>>>> The bottom area is powdery and has started to bubble under the fresh >>>>> paint. Is there some kind of stabilising coating that can go between >>>>> the old and new surface?
Otherwise, what is an effective way to solve the problem?

A thought ... could it be damp? What's on the other side of the wall?

Well, there is damp and mould which is being worked on.
The powdery part isn't damp. It might be the result of earlier mould
and damp treatments though.

Fix the damp first and wait for summer to make sure the wall has
dried out before wasting time and money on trying to decorate.

How old is this property ?. I always thought you lived in a
block of flats that are not-exactly 'historic'

I do live in a block of flats, built in the early 70s.
There's been a west facing gable wall damp problem which is being
worked on.

70's builders were a right sloppy lot (I'm all right jack; you
can't get me I'm part of the union etc etc) and could have
chucked the snots that ooze out when laying bricks inside
the cavity. I assume it does has a cavity gable end wall ?.

There may also be design errors where water penetrates the
outer leaf (which it will with a west-facing wall) and then
encounter whatever pre-stressed concrete beams are used to
make the floors and cross the cavity.

Also, it might benefit from re-pointing, which I *think*
you mentioned once.

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