Has anyone experienced problems painting silk emulsion on silk? You hear of problems painting matt on to silk but not really silk on silk. The wall was painted with a white silk emulsion (Leyland Contract Silk) about two months ago but I wanted to add a bit of colour. I bought a pot of B&Qs colours silk and when opening the container the paint was coagulated much more than I had experienced in the past. Even after stirring i had to scoop out a lot of the coagulated paint. Luckily the wall was small so didn't have to worry about wastage. Having applied two coats and let them dry, I started to remove the masking tape and the whole thing peeled off the wall (see photo). I appreciate silk isn't as permiable as matt however i didn't expect the new coats to come away as it has. So the question is; is the B&Q paint at fault (really didn't have the right feel or consistency) or is it the base silk coat? Or could it be both? I'm not sure if i need to take a fine sander to the wall next time. I might do that anyway.
Hi. Wow... Since all the layers of paint came away, the problem seems to not be with the B&Q paint (a light cream colour?). It seems pretty clear to me the problem lies with the first coat of contract silk that was applied to the bare walls... Really, you should have used matt paint for this first coat, and possibly even thinned it a small amount (10%-ish) as well, tho' that depends on what finish the walls had to start with. Can you tell us what that deep purple finish is? (Looks pretty nifty ). In any case, do you really want your walls to be 'silk'? Silk looks yuck... If you want 'durable', then there are lots of really hard-wearing emulsion paints out there without having to resort to 'silk'.
Hey DA, So this was a new wall and the builders applied a thined matt emulsion base coat and then the subsequent coats was the white silk. TBF i dont normally go for silk but for the reason that we were painting a hallway and just had a baby and thought it wont be long until i get grubby hands all over them. It wasn't a purple colour at all but an asphalt grey colour> the camera must have given it a purpley hue. I guess i'll sand down that wall a little and start again. I may wait and see what B&Q say about it as well. Thanks for the input!
So the builders applied a thinned matt emulsion paint to that wall? So the builder-applied paint layer has also peeled off? Before you go bothering poor ol' B&Q , can I say that I cannot see how it can be any paint's fault except for the first one applied by the builders. And then it ain't that paint's fault either, but almost certainly that the lovely plaster finish we can now all see again was simply too darned good. Ie: it was 'polished' too well by a show-off plasterer (they like to do that sometimes just to show how talented they are, and to pee-off the painters... ) What does that bare wall feel like when you pass your fingers over it - dead smooth? If so, then you've provided your own solution above - it needs a very light sanding to provide a 'key'. Then a 'mist coat' of cheap matt emulsion, diluted 10-15% with water. Then further neat coats (once dry) of good quality 'scrubable' matt. Hey, new babe or no - just leave out the silk, man...
....leave off the silk? Bit late for that now fella! I was watching them apply the plaster (had the whole house done) and it was like watching a masterpiece being created. I was astonished with how smooth and faultless the finish was....little did i know 'that' would be my problem. Now i know what the problem is it'll be fairly straightforward sorting out. I just hope the Misses doesn't ask my to do the hallway and landing otherwise i'll be forever sanding it all down. ...we could always move i guess.
I'd suggest waiting for advice from the pros on here regarding what grade of paper to use. I suspect it'll just require the lightest of going-over - just enough to break that shiny finish and provide a 'key'. You certainly don't want scour marks from using too heavy a grade to spoil that lovely work.
Once all new silk paint has been removed wash wall with sugar soap and rinse off, this may be all you need to do, failing that lightly abrade the wall with 150 grit abrasive paper and repaint.............and if that don't work use Zinser bullseye 123.
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