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Q I’ve had no success getting paint to stick to my bedroom walls. I’ve painted them three times over the years with oil and latex paints and primers. I’ve even tried BIN shellac primer. Within a year or two, it peels again right down to the bare drywall. Do you have any suggestions?
A After about 15 calls to drywall manufacturers, professional painters and numerous paint companies, I still can’t definitively tell you what the problem is. Considering that adhesion is the No. 1 priority when manufacturers formulate paint, and the fact that you’ve tried so many brands, obviously there’s a problem with the drywall surface.
The (sometimes bizarre) theories I heard include:
The pH level (level of acidity) in the drywall is too alkaline. Ideally the pH should be between 7 and 8. Surfaces with levels above 11 need to be treated with a product like Gripper made by ICI Corp. (800-984-5444).
The recycled paper on the drywall surface may contain wax contaminants that prevent the paint from sticking for long.
Excessive moisture penetrated the drywall either before or after painting.
Water damage to the drywall (even years before) can leave residues that’ll reduce adhesion.
The room had a high humidity level during painting.
How about this one? The drywall contains oil residues from the fork trucks that haul it in warehouses!
The bottom line is that since the paint sticks to the taping compound, as your enclosed photo shows, but not to the paper, the drywall surface is obviously contaminated with something. Because only a few walls are affected, the simplest solution is to rough them up with 100-grit sandpaper and trowel on a 1/16-in. thick skim coat of taping compound, sand that smooth, and reprime and paint. Before trying this fix, closely examine the walls to make sure there’s not a serious moisture problem, most likely a chronic leaky roof. Look for rusty drywall screws and jab a sharp screwdriver between an electrical box and the drywall into a stud to see if there’s any rotten wood. Repair moisture problems first.
If you had a houseful of problem drywall, I’d suggest getting the brand name from the binding tape on the back of a sheet and contacting the manufacturer to have a rep come to your home to investigate. You may be entitled to compensation or at least some free drywall.
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