# Help, oil, latex problem



## marc_the_painter (May 13, 2016)

Here is what I am dealing with right now, oil based base boards, top coated with latex 100% acrylic paint, then top coated with oil based primer, then top coated with 2 more latex paints, but if you peel a little it comes off, so I went out and purchased paint striper, it makes it even harder to remove, turned into a pasty mess. What am going to do?


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## jacob33 (Jun 2, 2009)

run away


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

If it truly is only the baseboards, talk to the customers about new ones. It _should_ be more cost effective to prime, paint, cut, and install new ones than it will be to charge them for what it will take to redo the existing ones. New ones will look much better as well.


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## marc_the_painter (May 13, 2016)

Taking them off is not an option, they are in an 80 year old apartment buildings, they are about a foot high and on a wall that is made of metal lathe and plaster. I really need help on this one.


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## marc_the_painter (May 13, 2016)

I don't even know if I take them off if there is wall behind it, or are they closer to the lathe.


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## jacob33 (Jun 2, 2009)

Like I said before I would run away but if that is not an option I would try to remove only the extremely loose paint. Than I would oil prime and use a good acrylic paint in this situation since it is flexible I think that will help. If its 80 years old you might have some lead issues to deal with too. Look up RRP.


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

Is there lead paint involved? Eighty year old structure with multiple layers of paint...


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

jacob33 said:


> Like I said before I would run away but if that is not an option I would try to remove only the extremely loose paint. Than I would oil prime and use a good acrylic paint in this situation since it is flexible I think that will help. If its 80 years old you might have some lead issues to deal with too. Look up RRP.


We were thinking the same thing at the same time. Especially an issue if this is an inhabited apartment building with multiple residents.


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## KamRad (Nov 30, 2015)

Sand the hell out of them>prime>paint


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## marc_the_painter (May 13, 2016)

Oh god I didn't even consider the lead, and the problem with oil primer, and the acrylic is that there is already latex over the oil, so I primed with oil primer, but it peeled right off


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

marc_the_painter said:


> Oh god I didn't even consider the lead, and the problem with oil primer, and the acrylic is that there is already latex over the oil, so I primed with oil primer, but it peeled right off


Have you tried the UMA bonding primer by XIM? If you can get things to a sound surface (non-peeling) using that primer should give you a surface your top coat will adhere to. 

You really do need to look into possible lead paint issues. It just takes one person in an apartment building to report it and the poo will collide with the fan. It's also the law _and_ the right thing to do.


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## slinger58 (Feb 11, 2013)

marc_the_painter said:


> Taking them off is not an option, they are in an 80 year old apartment buildings, they are about a foot high and on a wall that is made of metal lathe and plaster. I really need help on this one.


Why is taking them off not an option? Even in the days of metal lathe and plaster, the baseboards and other wood trim were installed after the plaster, not before.


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## marc_the_painter (May 13, 2016)

Thank you for all of your input, very valuable, I have only been a painter for the past 7 years and I feel that there will always be something new to learn in this trade, maybe even after 20 years


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## driftweed (May 26, 2013)

Do you know what a "copycat" is?

Go buy a plastic bondo blade, cut it to the EXACT profile of your trim. Now comes the "hack" part. 

Clean that trim good, slap a fresh coat of caulk on the trim. Cover the ENTIRE peeling area and use your copycat to blend it in. Mask, and use a proshot with a 211 ff tip and spray that trim. Don't even think about brushing it.


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## driftweed (May 26, 2013)

No lying, I saw a guy fill in over a foot of missing trim using that method, and you would never have known until you touched it.


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## chrisn (Jul 15, 2007)

This thread has me at a loss for words, so I will hold my tongue and say nothing.


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## epretot (Dec 17, 2011)

I made a matching profile. I used it as a sanding block. Worked pretty well.


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## marc_the_painter (May 13, 2016)

@ chrisn if you know of something please don't hold your tongue, share instead. @ epretot, can you please explain a little more to me about what you did .


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## PACman (Oct 24, 2014)

marc_the_painter said:


> Oh god I didn't even consider the lead, and the problem with oil primer, and the acrylic is that there is already latex over the oil, so I primed with oil primer, but it peeled right off


This wasn't Kilz by chance was it?


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## marc_the_painter (May 13, 2016)

What is the matching profile made of


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## marc_the_painter (May 13, 2016)

Yrs it was kilz


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## chrisn (Jul 15, 2007)

marc_the_painter said:


> @ chrisn if you know of something please don't hold your tongue, share instead. @ epretot, can you please explain a little more to me about what you did .


If it was me I would run away but what is a fact is you need to get down to the original coat of oil or bare wood, one way or the other.


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## slinger58 (Feb 11, 2013)

chrisn said:


> If it was me I would run away but what is a fact is you need to get down to the original coat of oil or bare wood, one way or the other.


That's it right there. Anything else is just a bandaid.


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## epretot (Dec 17, 2011)

marc_the_painter said:


> @ chrisn if you know of something please don't hold your tongue, share instead. @ epretot, can you please explain a little more to me about what you did .


Sure. I took a piece of the existing trim an laid saran wrap over it. Then poured bondo over it. That's about it. I sprayed it with 3M low adhesion spray and attached a piece of sand paper. 

You will need a more precise mold than I. You can see mine stopped short of the edges. Not a problem for what I was doing.


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## marc_the_painter (May 13, 2016)

The bondo idea is a bit intricate for me, but none the less, an amazing idea, but I will just work at it until I reach the original coat, I am thinking heat gun


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## Wildbill7145 (Apr 30, 2014)

How much of this do you have to do? Hopefully not much. If you're going ahead with the heat gun, be sure to protect the surrounding surfaces. Like others have said, if you don't get down to the oil or raw wood, anything else is the same as putting paint on peanut butter.

Personally, I'd also run from this one and tell the customer to never ever touch the baseboard ever again.

It'll be fine.


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## marc_the_painter (May 13, 2016)

I just don't understand why the stripper didn't work out. It made it pasty instead of eating at the paint


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## driftweed (May 26, 2013)

Try other chemical strippers until you find one that works


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## lilpaintchic (Jul 9, 2014)

just explain the problem and the solution (s) to the ho. you can put a bandaid on a bleeding artery but unless the the root of the problem is addressed you're hands are tied. I'd put $$ on the presence of lead. and unless you are RRP certified you can't disturb it. It doesn't really matter what you put over the existing problem, caulking over it is great for filling dings or ??, but if the first latex over oil failure isn't addressed, the caulk mess is just another layer, the problem is still there and will fail as the rest of it does, little by little, ding by ding. Pay special attention to high traffic areas and around door knobs and such as those areas will be the worst and fail first. Just educate your ho and go with it. those things suck but again, if they're not willing to deal with the i$$ue, they're gonna have to deal with the maintenance. its not like its all just going to fall off....it's just going to show signs of wear ore often and need more maintenance to keep it looking nice. it's part of the "charm" lol of old buildings and such.

it'll be fine....;P


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## driftweed (May 26, 2013)

I'm doing a hoarder house now. House built in 1880's. Peeling paint on fireplace. I'm not touching that crap, because I am fairly sure there's lead in the mix. So I injected caulk, shellac, then oil, and then 2 costs semi gloss. The owners are aware of the massive price increase to "do it right" and are perfectly happy with the solution I am providing. They actually like the crackling paint effect...as long as I am paid, and they are happy it's a win win.

You just can't "do it right" on all jobs. Do what you can with what you have.


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## driftweed (May 26, 2013)

Here ya go, pictures prove it as they say. 7 days hard work. 

1 coat shellac primer
1 coat problock oil primer
2 topcoat
2 tubes of caulk in this room alone

I went overkill because I wanted ZERO risk of the cat urine smell to linger, and being it was already a hazmat job, the $ was there


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## chrisn (Jul 15, 2007)

I don't know if that would be considered a hoarders house, looks more like a filthy pig lived there


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## PACman (Oct 24, 2014)

marc_the_painter said:


> Yrs it was kilz


amazing how i knew that isn't it.


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## PACman (Oct 24, 2014)

driftweed said:


> Try other chemical strippers until you find one that works


Look for a product called Peelaway. They make a stripper that is a paste that would be ideal for this application. You put a coat about 1/4" thick and cover it with a special paper they have. Let it set for the specified time and it will strip up to 8-9 layers of paint If I remember correctly. I had several contractors doing lead/asbestos abatement that used it in Socal back in the 90's. Works great and you don't have to sand,scrape,or burn something that could and probably does have lead in it.


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## driftweed (May 26, 2013)

chrisn said:


> I don't know if that would be considered a hoarders house, looks more like a filthy pig lived there


The before is AFTER we spent a full day of moving the tenant. That's what was left behind. 400 sqft studio apt, 3000 lbs trash


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## RH (Sep 7, 2010)

driftweed said:


> The before is AFTER we spent a full day of moving the tenant. That's what was left behind. 400 sqft studio apt, 3000 lbs trash


Work is work, and I admire your fortitude in tackling all aspects of this project. However, for me, this is one I would have turned over to my disaster restoration buddy to deal with up to the painting part and then I would have come in - maybe. I've done a few like this over the years but now I am past wanting to deal with the crap (sometimes literally) this kind of job entails.


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## SemiproJohn (Jul 29, 2013)

RH said:


> Work is work, and I admire your fortitude in tackling all aspects of this project. However, for me, this is one I would have turned over to my disaster restoration buddy to deal with up to the painting part and then I would have come in - maybe. I've done a few like this over the years but now I am past wanting to deal with the crap (sometimes literally) this kind of job entails.


Sure...a couple of weeks "slumming" it in that beautiful place on the Oregon coast, and now you are spoiled beyond all hope. :jester:


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## chrisn (Jul 15, 2007)

driftweed said:


> The before is AFTER we spent a full day of moving the tenant. That's what was left behind. 400 sqft studio apt, 3000 lbs trash


OK ,but it was still a filthy pig lining there


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## epretot (Dec 17, 2011)

driftweed said:


> Here ya go, pictures prove it as they say. 7 days hard work.
> 
> 1 coat shellac primer
> 1 coat problock oil primer
> ...


Isn't it amazing what paint can do? Good job.


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## driftweed (May 26, 2013)

This job I kinda took a fair amount of pride in. I rescued that unit, and today I found out the tenant is moving back into it.

I did get a $200 tip though, the owner was so impressed.


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## lilpaintchic (Jul 9, 2014)

Job security! Sweet!


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## radio11 (Aug 14, 2015)

driftweed said:


> Here ya go, pictures prove it as they say. 7 days hard work.
> 
> 1 coat shellac primer
> 1 coat problock oil primer
> ...




Is that one of those hand-held plastic urinals to the left of the vinegar jug? Maybe they're both vinegar jug/hand-held urinal combos.


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## driftweed (May 26, 2013)

Nope just an empty.milk gallon


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