Peeling Paint On Interior Wall

Whenever you see peeling paint like this, you've got some big problems. Most of the time the paint is peeling because, the walls weren't cleaned properly before the peeling paint was applied.

There could be another problem though, if paint is thinned excessively, it will also peal off in layers like this. This is a big problem with water-based paints.

Home Repair Story Time: I rented a 750 square foot condominium for a while, and the homeowner had paid someone $100, to paint the entire inside of this condominium. That was labor and materials. It took two people two days and it's hard to imagine, but they thinned the paint out and within three months, one of the bedroom doors started to peel.

Home Repair Tip: Try to remove as much of the peeled paint as possible. Then I would recommend cleaning the walls with Tri Sodium Phosphate or TSP. This can be purchased at almost every grocery store and home improvement center. Next, I would paint the wall with a good primer and then you can apply your paint and color of choice.


If you can only remove sections of the peeling paint, you could find yourself with patches of paint, all over the walls or ceilings. Try to sand the edges until they are flat and if this isn't working, grabbed a 3 inch putty knife and some all-purpose joint compound and start spreading it over the areas that you're trying to repair.

Here's the bad news, there's no guarantee that the existing paint that hasn't peeled off, won't peel off in the future. This is a real nightmare. This is a good example of getting what you pay for and then paying a lot more money, just to get your walls or ceilings back to their original condition.