# Forum Home Renovation Painting  Peeling paint on ornate plaster ceiling

## lordmule

Hi everyone, 
I've been browsing this forum and found that the problem of removing peeling/flaky paint from plaster ceilings is typically done via scraping and sanding back (lightly) the surface which is usually flat. Our ceiling has very large and detailed patterns (not flat!). How can I strip the old paint without damaging these flowery patterns? 
So far we've been using the scraper for the flat sections. Of our silly ideas we thought maybe:  use a heat gun to soften the paint and hopefully rub it offan air compressor (decent capacity) to blast at the surface  :Confused:  
Any thoughts?

----------


## Gooner

Ugggh.. Sounds like a tricky one. 
I can't speak from experience when it comes to removing paint from an ornate plaster thingys, but I have seen some products that are made to stop peeling by binding the existing paint. Not ideal, but perhaps your only option. 
I know that Zinsser make a product called Peel Stop (See http://www.zinsser.com.au/html/Zinsser_PD_PeelStop.htm). I'd be looking at removing the obviously flakey parts and then using this stuff. Unfortunately, you will probably see the ridges between the chipped and non-chipped sections after painting. Only other option I can think of is to apply small amounts of top coat over the ridges and then sand them to obtain a feather edge. Then apply the Peel Stop and then paint over the whole thing. 
Again, not talking from experience here.

----------


## Blocker

The peeling is normally caused because a water based prep coat is used instead of oil based.Try a coarse non metallic scourer pad or thin foam sanding pad to help remove peeling paint from decorative shapes.When ready for painting, first apply an oil based sealer binder(almost mandatory on raw plaster substrates)before top coating is applied.
Regards,
Blocker :2thumbsup:

----------


## lordmule

Thanks for the quick responses! Its good to have some advice before the weekend begins  :Smilie:  
Someone suggested to me that I should use paint thinner leave it for a few minutes and then rub it off with a heavy cloth. He also told me that I should be very careful not to let it touch my skin. A bit hazardous but is it effective?

----------


## Gooner

> The peeling is normally caused because a water based prep coat is used instead of oil based.Try a coarse non metallic scourer pad or thin foam sanding pad to help remove peeling paint from decorative shapes.When ready for painting, first apply an oil based sealer binder(almost mandatory on raw plaster substrates)before top coating is applied.
> Regards,
> Blocker

  Blocker, I recently used a oil based sealer on a ceiling and then painted over it using a water based paint. I found that it seemed like the oil based sealer was repelling the water based paint, kind of like mixing oil with water. The oil based sealer said it could be recoated in 2 hours. After 2 hours it certainly felt touch dry, but I waited 4 hours before I applied the water based paint. Final result showed some surface "ripples" like water beading on an oily surface. Wondering if I did something wrong here.

----------


## Blocker

Paul,
Turps based Sealer Binder normally requires around 24 hrs drying (longer in cold weather) before finishing with acrylic undercoat and topcoats of ceiling flat etc.This type of product has a "capillary"action that soaks into an unstable substrate, like raw plaster, that generally can't be acheived with water based sealers.If you are using fast drying solvent based sealers I would suggest leaving for longer than the label's minimum stated time to allow proper curing and lessen the chance of drying agents upsetting your top coats.
Regards,
Blocker

----------


## Rob Carter

Did the ceilings in my 1920's house which had multiple layers of oil and water based paint applied over the years and was peeling heavily, it's very labor intensive.
If your place is the same vintage it may have calsomine (sp?) paint which is a bastard to remove without gouging the plaster underneath, it may have white lead as the pigment so don't use a air compressor.
In the areas with patterns I used a 1" plastic scraper to get all the big loose chunks off then put masking/gaffa tape over the delicate parts waited a couple of hours and when it was removed all the remaining
bits came off stuck to the tape.
There was some product that you paint on then cover with cling wrap when it dries the paint flakes are embedded in the goop that peels away with the cling wrap, can't remember it's name but it was hard to find in Aus.

----------


## poppamango

Hi,
We have a home built in 1906 that has flakey Calsomine over the walls (down to the picture rails) and on the ornate cornice and patterned ceilings. It scrubs off the rendered walls well using scotch-brite and soaping water (and elbow grease). I used a scrapper on the flat bits of the ceiling but I wanted advice if it is ok to use the soapy water approach on the plaster work? (if ok, how long do you need to wait to dry out the plaster before painting?) I plan to use a solvent based undercoat after this.
cheers

----------


## rantenNraven

> Hi everyone, 
> I've been browsing this forum and found that the problem of removing peeling/flaky paint from plaster ceilings is typically done via scraping and sanding back (lightly) the surface which is usually flat. Our ceiling has very large and detailed patterns (not flat!). How can I strip the old paint without damaging these flowery patterns? 
> So far we've been using the scraper for the flat sections. Of our silly ideas we thought maybe:  use a heat gun to soften the paint and hopefully rub it offan air compressor (decent capacity) to blast at the surface  
> Any thoughts?

  Alright, there are a few reasons why the paint is flaking, poor quality paint which gets harder with its aging therefore getting brittle and cracking, no undercoat used, wrong undercoat used, cheap undercoat used, some old tin roofs get alot of condensation on the inside of there roofs (cold wether) with constant water droplets onto the plaster ceilings, another water problem from another source, AND LAST BUT LEAST (IN MOST CASES) TOOM MANY LAYERS OF PAINT OVER THE YEARS, IF YOU HAVE OVER 20 LAYERS THAT EQUALS TO OVER 500 MICROMETERS, work out the weight spread accros the ceiling and thats alot of wieght , there is only one weigh for it to go when it reaches it toll, just think on a room 3m x 3m (2 coats) thats approx 2 litres of paint (approxmiate 2kg in weight) times that by 20 coats throughout the years (maybe more)   thats a whopping 40kg's. its just to much, i am a painter by trade.  the product i use to is called PEELAWAY.(i use haymes paints and they are a stockist for it)  you paste it on then put fibre cloth onto it and wait, then you peel away. it is good, the chances of it containing lead is BIG.  probably not the best idea to go scraping, air compressors will make it worse, uses scrapers will wreck your ceiling, if you do not care about your ceiling there is other ways, put in a new ceiling over the top of the existing.  if you do not remove all the ceiling paint layers you WILL have the problem again, because of more weight. after you remove it make sure you use a good selaer/binder before you paint it again.

----------


## tomkat

I had this same problem a while back and after seeking advice from experienced tradesmen i painted my ornate ceilings with great results.Firstly i scraped away as much flaky paint as possible.then i rubbed the areas where the flakes wouldnt come away with a plastic bristle scrubbing brush.Next step was to sugar soap the ceiling and once dry wipe down with a damp rag (rinsing the rag with clean water regularly).When dry,apply a coat of oil base sealer/binder and then two top coats of good quality flat ceiling paint.It has now been two years since i painted my ceilings using this method and the ceilings still look as good as when i did them...I know its labour intensive but with ornate ceilings getting a great finish is well worth the effort.hope this helps.

----------


## Dr Tony

A couple of years ago I helped at a friends place with 3 rooms that had these ceilings. We found that the best way to get the paint off was with very fine woodworkers chisels, some about 8mm wide, the other about 4mm (very fine).
This was an incredibly slow process and took us a very long time per room. But this was the only way to get the paint out of the fine detail.
Another reason that it took us so long is that we found if you leave a worried up edge for a while (stop when you can't scrape anymore) and come back to it in a couple of days time it then starts to peel again.
We ended up using the sealer binder as we went to lock whatever was left in. We did a pretty thorough job, so there was not much paint left on the plaster.
Re-panelling might have been quicker, but when you have this level of relief (and there were larger beam like bits as well) covering up is just not an option. Plus there were heritage issues and labour was cheap in our case.
Cheers
Tony

----------


## phillman

would a heat gun work or will it stuff the plaster

----------


## Black Cat

Don't think I would use a paint gun. The only time I did this I was being paid to do it - it is a rotten job, but elbow grease is really the only way you will get a good result. This usually happens when the old paint was a distemper which goes to powder as it ages, then some bright spark probably added a layer of water-based modern paint, which has started to move ...

----------

