How to Fix Peeling Paint on Drywall – Discover the Best Guide

Do you want to know how to fix peeling paint on drywall? There are various ways to get rid of unsightly or damaged paint coatings, for example:

• Flaking, cracked, or weathered paint
• Heavily soiled, overgrown, or molded paint
• Very thick or dark old coats
• Old effect coatings, for example, glitter
• Color on textured plaster or textured wallpaper

How to Fix Peeling Paint on Drywall

The most obvious method is painting over. For example, if the old paint is clean, dry and stable, and you can retain the old surface, you can start painting immediately.

If not, you can usually make the old coat of paint salon- and load-bearing again with a few preparatory works. However, the effort to remove the wall paint is usually much greater.

1. Painting Over

Whether you can paint over an old paint depends mainly on the quality of the new paint. It has nothing to do with the color of the old paint. For instance, you can paint over black or bright red walls with white or delicate pastel shades without any problems.

All you need is high-quality paint with as many color pigments as possible, and a high proportion of binder. It is more expensive than wall paint from discounters. The advantage is two undiluted coats are usually enough to permanently cover even the darkest old paint.

When buying paints, pay attention to opacity class and wet abrasion resistance. You will find both information on the buckets, and also in the technical data sheets of the products.

Choose a color of hiding power class 1 (hiding power at least 99.5%). These colors have the highest pigment density, and therefore cover best.

In terms of wet abrasion resistance, class 1 indicates the colors with the highest abrasion resistance. Remember a high binder content enables the paint to have this property.

If the old paint is dirty, dusty, greasy or yellowed, you should clean it as much as possible, before painting over it. Washing or scrubbing old walls is not a joy, but it still produces far less dirt than removing the entire layer of paint.

Moreover, to increase the adhesion and covering power of the new coat of paint, a primer can be useful, but is rarely absolutely necessary.

   2. Smooth off Paint

You can sometimes remove old paint from smooth surfaces with a spatula. However, this requires so much patience, strength, and time. That means this method only makes sense if you want to get rid of the lower layer of paint not only visually but also physically.

You will probably reach your goal faster by applying a new, thin layer of smoothing filler. It will save your muscles and nerves, and you do not have to dispose of paint residues.

3. Knock off Paint

If you want to free a wall from all the old paint, you can also go the whole hog.You can remove the layers of paint together with the plaster base (hammer and chisel, plasterer’s hatchet). Then, you should plaster the wall again.

However, if you want a completely smooth surface (for wallpapering, for example), you need a lot of experience. On the other hand, you can hire a plasterer who does this every day, and can work precisely with large smoothing tools.

4. Sanding Down the Paint

With a sanding machine, for example, an orbital sander or belt sander, you can get old paint off the wall. This method is also only suitable for smooth surfaces.

That is because when using painted textured plaster or similar, the sander destroys the structure, and a lot of plaster is also sanded off. Remember you can desire this effect – a smooth surface(s).

When sanding plaster or walls, you will produce a lot of dust. Moreover, working with large or fast-moving sanding machines is noisy, dangerous, and strenuous. To remove loose, flaking paint particles, or “paint noses”, it is often sufficient to sand down the old paint by hand.

In addition, you can also use a small orbital sander. Whatever then still adheres firmly to the wall is stable, roughened by the sandpaper, and thus well prepared for the new coat of paint.

5. How to Fix Peeling Paint on Drywall – Remove Old Paint with Water

This method is suitable for water-based wall paints. You can gradually remove them from the wall with lukewarm water, sponge, or brush. However, this is also a real test of patience, where no dust is produced, but even more dirty water.

In addition, one question arises: do you really have to remove the paint completely? Perhaps it is sufficient to thoroughly sweep off the unappetizing, and clean it with mild soapy water. That is instead of laboriously washing away the entire layer of paint.

6. Remove Paint with a Pressure Washer

This works wonderfully, but is only suitable for exterior walls. Moreover, the work is so dirty and risky to people  that you must prepare, protect, and secure the working site.

This means, for example, wearing protective equipment, erecting scaffolding, covering the garden, pavement and more. Moreover, it can involve temporarily closing off the road.

7. Remove Paint with the Heat Gun

Many outdoor paints become soft and stand out from the surface as a result of heat exposure. You can remove them with a spatula. Moreover, in the case of structured surfaces – you can remove the old paint with a wire brush or a joint scraper.

This method is particularly suitable for latex and acrylic paints. Its disadvantages are the odors or vapors that result when you heat the paint, and the heat itself.

To protect yourself, you should wear breathing protection. Further, the surface must be heat-resistant or non-flammable, as you will heat the paint to several hundred degrees.

8. How to Fix Peeling Paint on Drywall – Paint Stripping or Leaching

In this process, you will remove the paint the paint with chemical agents such as caustic soda, caustic potash, or ammonia. In addition, you brush the agent on or apply it with a roller.

This method also removes the paint from depressions, cracks or subsurface structures. You should then remove or wash it off with water.

With this method, you also need full protective equipment, and a well-ventilated construction site. That is because the alkaline solutions or stains are dangerous to eyes, skin, health, and the environment.

Furthermore, they usually have to be left in place for quite some time before you can remove them together with the paint. Finally, you need to ensure professional disposal of the paint waste.