Repainting chimney breast after damp repair General decorating topics, questions and answers. find help, tips and advice on completing your decorating projects

[hoogerbooger]

Hi

A long standing leak from the chimney now to be fixed ( back in November & wall seems dry). Water had tracked to several places on the chimney breast and marked the emulsion, cracking and lifting it in a few places. I started to remove paint.....and it looks like even the unmarked paint isn't stuck well to the plaster ( picture attached.. but looks like resolution too low to help !)

However note how clean the plaster looks. I painted the fresh plaster 20 years ago and am sure I used a diluted 1st coat of emulsion...but the plaster has only the very occasional minute marking of white paint.

Now I'm left a bit unsure of what to do & if I need to remove all paint that that will dislodge using a sharp paint scraper ? (which will leave a large length of edge needing to feather out use fine filler on......or whether I go a bit lighter with a blunter edge....or what? I'm not trying to avoid work, just thinking this area is right in front of the sofa and how do I make a unlumpy seamless paint finish...or as close a possible.....that isn't going to look naff.

I was going to:
1) sand to lap the edges of the paint
2) paint with Zinner Cover Stain the bare plaster and any emulsion remaining that is marked but sufficiently stuck to plaster (and at least 3-4 inches any either side)
3) use toupret fine filler against the paint edges and then lightly sand to lap out edges...hopefully to a not very visible edge
4) repaint those areas with Zinner Cover stain
5) paint with matt emulsion

Advice welcome on approach to getting a reasonable finish very welcome

[stoneyboy]

Hi hoogerbooger,
What you propose should work well but do scrape the surface first to remove all loose paint. Go round the edges of any bare plaster with a filler knife to check good adhesion.
Regards S

[hoogerbooger]

Thanks Stoneboy

Further queries:

Will the Zinner Cover Stain block salts/should I block for salts ?
Do I need a very wide filler knife/edge for best chances of the edges not showing in the final finish. How wide ? I now have a lot of paint edge to fill against ( paint removed 0.4 -0.5 mm thick) I’ve sanded to feather the paint edge.

I'm not sure, but think my problem is probably just water penetration ( now sorted), rather than chimney salts. But if I did need to cover for salt penetration, the Zinner Cover stain instructions ( & B-I-N) says nothing specific about blocking salts.

( For Info: 1970 bungalow , brick chimney with 8 inch clay liners. Had had a chimney fire before I bought house in 2002 which had cracked the clays and bricks in breast. Breast area replastered in 2003. Have not set a fire in the chimney since. The leak in the chimney found the cracks in the clays and the wet marks on the paint essentially lined up with the cracked clays/bricks below the plaster)

As you will see below I’ve taken a lot of paint off, as it wasn’t well adhered. All of the areas of paint that was previously marked or split are now removed. The area that looks darker is very smooth, like fresh plaster. The paint here wasn’t really stuck at all and came off in large strips. The lighter coloured area was better adhered…but not enough and came off in small flakes. Th plaster is rough here. There are a few light dips due to scraping/ sanding.

The white areas are what remains of the mist/first coat.
Plaster is dry, no hollow or bowed bits and seems good ( to my eye as a novice).

Can I check if anyone thinks I need to do more than I outlined in the OP

[stoneyboy]

Hi hoogerbooger,
Suggest you buy a small plasterers float and use this to blend in the edges. Otherwise continue as you proposed in your OP.
Regards S