How to Repaint a Wall With Peeling Paint

Step 1: Protect the room 

Paint begins to flake or crack if the wall hasn't been suitably cleaned ahead of painting or if there is excess moisture in the walls, so be sure to fully address these areas ahead of applying your primer and top coat in future projects. Our guide on How to Paint a Wall can help you learn how to prepare your walls like a pro.

For walls that have already started peeling, the process is a little different. 

• Begin by removing any furniture near the area you will be working on.
• Lay down a Seriously Good Cotton Rich Dust Sheet to prevent any dust, drips or spills from ruining your floor or furniture.
• To keep you safe from tripping, we recommend using some Essentials Masking Tape to secure the dust sheet in place. This will also stop paint from bleeding through to the floor or skirting boards below and prevent avoidable damage and challenging clean-ups.

Step 2: Scrape the paint

The next step to repainting a wall with peeling paint is to remove imperfections and smooth the surface of the wall.

• Depending on the size of the peeling paint, you can begin to break the flakes away with your fingers. For larger areas, we recommend using an Ultimate Paint Scraper to gently buff away peeling paint. For smaller surface areas, the Ultimate Fine Sandpaper and a Seriously Good Cork Block are the best tools to rapidly clean the area up.
• When the loose paint has been removed, you may find some sections are still lifting away from the wall, but are quite solid! In this case, use the Seriously Good Paperhanging Knife to cut around the area of flaking paint, and strip the paint away up to the line. Follow this up by sanding the area again with the Ultimate Sandpaper and clean any dust away with a damp Seriously Good Microfibre Cloth to guarantee an even finish.

Step 3: Clean the surface

The next step is filling any holes or cracks in plaster walls to prevent any future peeling.

• Use the Ultimate Filling Knife to apply a small amount of fine surface filler to the areas where the top paint layer meets the bottom paint layer or plaster.
• When the filler has fully dried and solidified, use the Ultimate Fine Sandpaper and Seriously Good Cork Block to buff the area down until it is smooth to the touch. Once again, use a damp Seriously Good Microfibre Cloth to clean the dust away and ensure your surface is pristine and ready for painting.

Step 4: Paint the surface

Now onto the painting! To repaint your plaster wall after repair:

• Take the Ultimate Walls and Ceilings Flat Brush and begin painting around any detail areas on the wall, including your light switches and skirting.
• Next, switch to the Ultimate Walls and Ceilings 4″ Roller to transform your walls, ensuring fast and even coverage of the affected area. Depending on the amount of paint removed in the initial phases, several coats may be required to fully cover the area.
• If bare plaster is exposed when removing the paint, you will need to apply a mist coat as a first coat to effectively seal the plaster. Follow our How to Paint New Plaster tutorial for more guidance on this step!

Discover more expert guides and handy top-tips to DIY success in our How To, Tip Exchange, and Let’s Plan sections now!