Painting over peeling paint on walls -- prep & products?

The paint on our kitchen walls has started to peel off in large, slightly stretchy pieces. This is a paint job done by the house's (pin-headed) previous owner, probably in the 1970s.





If the stretchy peeling top coat is rubbed with rubbing alcohol, the paint comes off, while the layer underneath does not react to rubbing alcohol. (A paint person at Lowe's told me about this trick of determining what kind of paint you have, but I don't remember which result means what...)





Big question: I want to repaint all these walls. What prep work do I need to do and what type of paint should I use to effectively cover this mess?Painting over peeling paint on walls -- prep %26amp; products?
I would sand the peeling paint. Once all the walls are smooth, paint all surfaces with a primer. They have primers that will cover oil based or water based so that you can then paint over it with the base you choose.





Good luck and I hope this helps!Painting over peeling paint on walls -- prep %26amp; products?
Peel the wall first. If you paint over it, the old paint is going to peel the new one. There's no way to fix peeling paint.
Zinser Bullseye Primer seals any cracking/chipping and you can paint over it then. It sounds like the people painted acrylic over oil based paint- and that is a good way to get cracks! In fact, some decorative painters use this approach to get crackled paint! Anyway, the above primer works wonders, I reccomend letting it dry for a week though. Sounds crazy, but that's what I did. Otherwise its like painting on plastic and is streaky and takes many coats. Get Zinsser Bullseye primer (ACE,Lowes, etc) and then KILZ paint from Wal-Mart and give it a go.
it sounds like another person that doesn't know what they are doing that painted those walls. i am sure that the pin head applied water base paint over oil base paint. to find out for sure do not use rubbing alcohol use methyl hydrate { gas line anitfreeze } pour some of the methyl hydrate on a rag or paper towel and rub the paint in a swirling motion. if the paint comes off it is water base paint if not it is oil. next try to scrape off as much of the newer paint as possible. once you have done that clean everything with some TSP and water and rinse well and allow to dry.give everything a sand and apply 1 coat of alkyd { oil base } primer undercoater to all surfaces that are going to be repainted. after that has dried give a light sand and skim coat with atleast 2 coats of drywall joint compound. once that has dried give all repaired areas a sand and apply 1 coat of water base drywall primer. if you can get the primer tinted to the colour that you are going to paint. once that has dried apply your finish coat sanding between coats. it is alot of work but you will be happy that you did the job properly and don't buy that crap from home depot or any of those box stores. benjamin moore is a good paint. pratt and lambert is better but if you want the very best find a farrow and ball dealer.
It sounds like a water-based paint (latex, acrylic, etc.) has been applied over an existing oil-based product. It's possible that the surface was glossy at the time it was painted (strike two). The rule of thumb for painting is that the surface needs to be clean, dull, dry, and in sound condition. My advice is to completely remove the top layer of paint by sanding and scraping. I would be careful and wear an approved respirator while sanding. If it was painted in the 70's, the underlying coating may have contained lead. After removal, clean the surface with a product such as TSP %26amp; water (tsp doesn't leave a residue on the wall if mixed properly. Some cleaners leave residue which can cause adhesion problems with coatings.) I would then apply a coating such as Porter Paints Blankit Primer/Sealer or Sherwin-Williams Prep Rite Classic Primer. These products are excellent primers and will bridge between oil %26amp; water-based products. Finish the wall with two coats of high quality acrylic paint in an eggshell or satin finish. You don't need a semi-gloss on the wall if you use quality products (not Lowe's or Home Depot, use a quality manufacturer like Pittsburgh Paints, Porter Paints, or Sherwin-Williams). Two finish coats will give you durability, washability, and true color %26amp; uniformity. Remember, the more you can remove of the existing top coating, the longer your next coating will last.
listen to her ^