Dulux Paint over Powder Filler all Peeling off in Huge Quantities General decorating topics, questions and answers. find help, tips and advice on completing your decorating projects

[katie067]

I'm redecorating the house and done two bedrooms no problems, washing walls off the glue, filling with powder filler and paint over with Crown paint.
Started on hallway, all the same routine but used Dulux natural hints. Oh my God it was a disaster.
By the time i finished downstairs, upstairs were cracking and peeling in quantities i couldn't image.
So i scrapped off, filled painted again. Some cracking gone, but lots reappeared.
So i used diluted undercoat to seal the walls, thinking they weren't sealed originally, filled and painted with diluted first coat of dulux . Looked ok, so i went over with second coat and cracking came back in full force.
I scraped it again, sealed and filled and painted with diluted dulux but to compare, i used Crown left from bedrooms next to it.
What i noticed is dulux dried and flacked almost instantly over filler. Crown is still drying out on filled areas and NO cracking or signs of peeling!
Has anyone experienced it before? As most of the hallway is basically painted now, i have to use undercoat everywhere and then go over with Crown... Just hope nasty dulux doesn't lift it in the future...
Appreciate any ideas as to why it happens?!

[anthony martin]

old properties have bad plaster or worse could been painted with distemper, sadly only way you can win is apply oil based eggshell cheapest brand works, then start filling again and paint with any brand , if you can sand back any old distemper then do it, but you will find the old plaster surface can come off too, i usually oil base them thin skim of easy fill gryprock £17.00 a bag @ selco
all over, next day light sand required, but once done ? never comes off I'm decorator 36 yrs now, been there done that! hope this helps,

[Hugh Schkok]

"What i noticed is dulux dried and flacked almost instantly over filler. Crown is still drying out on filled areas and NO cracking or signs of peeling! "

The answer is clear from your question part shown above. Your wall is extremely porous and when you paint on emulsion it suck all of the moisture out just leaving the pigment (colour component). Where you say 'you put a filler on a defect the paint dried almost immediately...'. You must prevent this from happening otherwise go to the paint vendor pay them for the paint and don't take it with you. Get some PVA sealer, mix it up in a clean bucket and roll it over all the walls. Sit back and have a cup of coffee or two after which it will feel slightly sticky to the touch. Sealer has no colour component even though its white in colour when you have poured it out. Thin it out at 1 unit of sealer to 3 parts of clean water preferably warmed to nice to touch but a bit hot to wash your face in. The warming will ensure that the sealer plastic component will thin down evenly. When you roll it on get it everywhere you intend to paint plus 2-3" of the ceiling that way the ceiling wont suck out the moisture at the top. When you are happy that it has been evenly and completely covered, go back to the place you started and feel it. It will feel dry and slightly tacky. Now add more warm water to your bucket at a ratio of 3 water to 1 part of you mix. You will have a mix with a ratio of around 5:. Go all over the painted area previously treated and when finished leave it to dry. DO NOT pour any sealer mix down your sink but if you really have nowhere you can pour it then pour it down the can and flush immediately followed with three full bucket's of cold water. Leave it to dry over night and you will be able to paint next morning. If you have any filling to do then that is the time to do it. However you must repaint the filler again with a thin mix of sealer. Mix a 4:1 mix of sealer with your emulsion Then paint away to your hearts content.
Very important advice is don't buy high priced branded paint and DO NOT use trade paints. They are not good. B&Q's own brand is good and Wickes own brand is better but that is my opinion. Trade brand actually translates as paint left over and thinned until it is almost drinkable. Dulux - Oh! Please

BTW Crown has sealer already in it. However Crown is not the royalty of paints. Own brand's knock branded paints into a cocked hat.

Good luck and let me know how you get on.
Hugh

[katie067]

Hi there
Well it's 4 years since I've done the job...
Eggshell would be A LOT of work and it takes forEver to dry AND it didnt work. I tried on the worst patch... Last resort was BIN which worked like magic but sat me back a few quid, but dried so fast!
4 years later i see paint started cracking in the same places tho...not all of them but some.
After days of pain i figured out its Dulax issue and not fillers. Peeling was happening over new filler not old plaster. Old plaster holds like superglue!

I sent company claim for my work and all materials i wasted and eventually they paid off.

[katie067]

Hugh
Thanks for detailed help.
In 4 days back then i tried ALL you mentioned, sealed and resealed and eggshelled and Only BIN had worked eventually. I'd have used Crown had i not fallen in love with the colour of Dulax i used (i know such a Girl thing but its Girls house so girls rules haha)

Like i said, Dulax manufacturer paid off my claim eventually but they tried not to initially. Claiming its my bad application ie filler wasnt sanded down well, and all their products are tested for compatibility.
When i requested tests certificate for this paint over the filler, that, funnily enough, is also manufactured by the same company, they just sent be cheque for full amount i was asking for (about £250!)
I used white Dulax trade emulsion without any issues at all, all ceilings and 2 rooms, but coloured collection was a total pain!

Later i had similar issue with Valspar mixed paint although nowhere near as bad , quantity wise.
I just took pics and went back to b&q next day with what paint i had left and said I've not paid 100 quid for This! They were "surprised" said never happened before but refunded in full even for what I've used already.
I wasnt prepared to pay 40 quid (and put up with its stink!) to BIN another room so i got Crown instead, mixed colour myself and 4 years later i haven't got a single hint of a cracking!!

:)

[Hugh Schkok]

It's my pleasure Princess
Should you need anymore help and advice don't hesitate to get back. If I can't help you there are a plethora of excellent skillsets here that are more than capable of putting you on the right track and even some sad act's like me, just waiting around to help out. I used to contribute to the Screwfix forums but there were too many "suck it and see" donor's, whose general response was "...you need a Structural Engineer because bird's may land on it", sort of rubbish. There doesn't appear that they have found this place … yet.

Any other hassle then get back, trust me when I say "We need you more than you need us". Good luck and I hope we 'speak' again soon.

Hugh