Your paint might be failing, even after a fresh coat.
Did you know your room shrinks by about 0.02 cm² every time a coat of paint is applied? Thousands of dust particles could fit in that lost space, how tragic! You know what’s even worse than that? Inter-coating failure.
Paint layers can accumulate over time, since the old layer of paint is not removed when applying a fresh coat. Eventually, the adhesive in the initial paint coats begins to fail, and because every coat depends on the first one, the whole thing falls apart.
Many things can accelerate inter-coating failure, like moisture buildup, improperly applied primer, and low-quality paints.
Do not fret, dear reader, as there are solutions to these problems. Inter-coating failure doesn’t generally happen when the primer is applied properly. Sanding the primer down gives the paint more surface area to stick to, preventing it from failing. Also ensuring the primer is completely dry before applying the first layer of cosmetic paint can do wonders.
There are two types of adhesion, chemical and mechanical. Chemical adhesion is when your sticky substance of choice, wet paint in this case, seeps into the material it’s on, in this case a wall. The paint sort of becomes one with the wall. Mechanical adhesion is when thing stick together simply because of their shape. Like a jigsaw puzzle with its grooves and bumps, or a velcro strap with it’s hooks and loops. When you sand down the primer, or even previously applied paint, you create microscopic grooves for the paint to go into, which both gives the paint more opportunities to chemically adhere, but it also mechanically locks the paint in place.
I think I have inter-coating failure already, am I doomed?
In a way, yeah. You’re doomed… to fixing the problem. The first thing you should do is check if there could be any obvious cause to your paint bubbling or chipping. Is is next to any source of water? Is an air conditioner or heater blasting that specific area? Get rid of it. Move your kettle away from the wall, turn your air conditioner to the farthest corner of the room. If is wasn’t that bad in the first place, problem solved.
Now, if you are seeing bubbles all over the place for seemingly no reason, It might be time for professional help. The paint has to be removed in all failing spots, cleaned, and sanded. This will ensure you don’t have to redo it all over again. Then you apply quality primer and paint, I recommend getting a paint consultant, with Viking Painting it comes with the package, you might need to repaint the whole house, and if that isn’t necessary then you need to match your existing coat.
Inter-coating failure, a painter’s worst nightmare. I couldn’t imagine having to cover everything up, do all this pressure washing, get all the paint on, and then it bubbles. Just because. Sure, there are many, many preventative measures can be made, but inter-coating failure can happen to anyone.