How to repair and prevent paint peeling on ceiling?

Janet
by Janet

Our family room ceiling's paint is peeling. It looks like the paint just cracked and peeled off the drywall. The house was built in 1981and was primed and painted before we moved in, in 1984. We have since painted a few times with no problems. There are no pipes between the ceiling and our bedroom above so it's not from water. It seems like the paint dried out in some spots and just peeled off. You can see the drywall where it peeled off. It seems to only be in the area where we had pod lights installed and the electrician cut a hole in the ceiling to run the new wires. The odd thing is it's not on the spot he cut, nor the spackled area, it's near it but not on it. It cracked and peeled in several spots. I am not sure if I should just scrape off the peeled and cracked spots and prime and paint over it or should I Spackle the areas, prime and paint them? I noticed a spot on the wall in my hall also down near the woodwork. That wall too is not near any water so it wasn't water damage. What causes this? I am not good at replacing/patching drywall so if this is going to be difficult I might have to hire someone. Any ideas?

  4 answers
  • Ebbjdl Ebbjdl on Sep 19, 2018

    Janet Hi,. Start with finding a contractor to do the ceiling, this is a job for a professional. Check HomeAdvisor and Angie's List. These people are screened, and their backgrounds are checked. You have various problems that need professional know how. Aloha!

  • Sherri Sherri on Sep 19, 2018

    Janet, before you spend a lot of time and money on re doing the whole thing, why don't you take one spot, get the peeled paint off, prime and paint it and see how it holds up. It sounds like there places where the primer wasn't done well, or where the dry wall coating wasn't thick enough. Give one spot a try and go from there. I'm a big fan of not doing a lot of work if you don't have to! Good luck.

  • Brenda Brenda on Sep 26, 2018

    Sisk

  • Laura Cooper Laura Cooper on Sep 26, 2018

    Hi Janet.... This is a water issue. It is condensation. Warm and cold air are meeting near your can lights. Can lights are notorious for this because they don't seal. You need to stop air infiltration AND insulate above and around the can lights. Personally, I would remove them and replace with LED lights, seal the drywall and insulate the ceiling cavity..... But that's just me.