how to remove bathroom paint from plaster - new paint is peeling off

[Question]

We had a "decorator" recently who painted on new plaster in our shower room.  The paint has started peeling.  We can lift some of it off with like a skin, and in some places it is more stubborn.

 

When we can't peel the paint away, we have tried heating the paint, sanding it, and watering it (in the hope it will loosen).  Sanding is incredibly slow. We are somewhat reluctant to use paint stripper, as it will get absorbed in the plaster.

 

This is hugely time consuming and stressful. 

 

Any advice extremely welcome. 

[SteamyTea]

Have you tried steaming it.

I usually get most wall paints off with a wallpaper steamer. It can take a few minutes of steaming to get the really stubborn stuff off.

[Question]

Thanks.  How you used a wall paper steamer with bathroom paint?

[SteamyTea]

1 minute ago, Question said:

Thanks.  How you used a wall paper steamer with bathroom paint?

Just like normal, start at the top and heat a bit up, then carefully scrape away.

 

[JohnMo]

With new plaster the first coat is normally a primer, either a diluted emulsion or a specific paint for new walls.  The problem with the plaster it sucks the water out of the paint, before the drying process has occurred and I think this can lead to poor adhesion, hence the first coat has added water or is specifically for new walls.

 

I would get the painter back to fix, his issue.

[Question]

Thanks.  The tradesman won't come back to fix it, and we have other issues with his work.   

 

We think the problem is that they either didn't put a mist coat on the bare plaster or they used the wrong paint.  Whatever they did, the paint is peeling off in places and we need to remove it.   It is bathroom paint so it can peel off like a skin in places and in other places it sticks on the plaster.   Bathroom paint probably didn't have much water in it, so it is not surprising that it is peeling off.  

[Roundtuit]

Sorry to hear you've got this problem; no mist coat by the sounds of it. I repainted a bathroom ceiling for someone last year with a similar problem, and it was a real pain in the ass to get an acceptable finish by the time I'd soaked, scraped, sanded, gouged the plaster etc. If you don't get all of the old stuff off, you can still see it through the next coats. If it had been mine, I'd have had it re-skimmed.  If its walls, have you considered tiling instead? It will still need some prep work, but might be easier to get a satisfactory finish.

[Question]

We are just scraping it off or just peeling it off when we can (and sometimes we get loads off).  It is going to take many hours. We have tried hot water, sanding and heating it with a heat gun, none of which work well.   Tiles would not look good, and we don't know how to re-skim but could pay someone (presumably they would have to score the existing paint).

[Temp]

We had a mould and peeling paint issue above our shower. Some of it was also well stuck, some not. I scraped off the loose stuff and used a palm sander (with care) to feather edges of the paint that was well stuck.

 

I then painted it with Zinsser primer sealer. Sorry I can't remember which one (BIN or Bullseye 123). Then a Zinsser top coat. That has totally fixed the problem. 

Edited July 16, 2022 by Temp