Why does my plaster ceiling keep peeling and flaking?

Why is the paint peeling and flaking off my plaster ceiling?

Calcimine paint applied long ago in older homes is usually the culprit of peeling and flaking paint on plaster ceilings because the paint does not offer a durable base for modern paint coatings. Calcimine is a very soft coating; any movement or weight by today’s stronger and heavier paint products will cause the calcimine paint to pull away. Environmental and climatic changes (temperature shifts, unheated rooms during winter, moisture, and humidity) also significantly accelerate the peeling. The consequence is lots of peeling paint – especially on ceilings or in corners of rooms.

We get many calls from confused customers in the Boston area who are frustrated with their plaster ceiling paint peeling, which is peeling. While they’ve tried everything to fix it, it just keeps peeling.

Homeowners’ attempts to fix the peeling ceiling may look like it’s corrected the peeling for a week, month, or even a year, but often, the peeling resurfaces again, to the homeowner’s frustration.

What is calcimine?

Calcimine was a widely used, chalky finish that was inexpensive and quick to apply to plaster, especially on ceilings in older homes. However, it is soft, and applying today’s durable paint finishes over it often causes peeling and flaking.

Calcimine ceilings tend to be fine until the finish coat on top of the calcimine becomes compromised. Often, peeling starts to occur because of a water leak, moisture or temperature fluctuations in the room. And once a ceiling with modern paint on top of the calcimine begins to peel, the frustrating loop of painting and fixing begins. To make matters worse, one part of the ceiling seems fixed, and another often starts to peel.

Many times, you will see the peeling in rooms where the heat has been turned off to save energy.  The fluctuation in temperatures is one of the reasons calcimine paint pulls away.

How do I identify if my ceiling has a calcimine coating?

Because the coating is made of chalk, dampen your finger or a rag on the surface of the ceiling and look for chalky residue. If you have calcimine, your finger will look and feel like it rubbed a dusty chalkboard.

Sometimes, even our estimators can miss calcimine ceilings when quoting your project!

If your calcimine ceiling has not been painted in years, it may still look in good shape.  When our estimators enter the room to give you a quote, they peer at the ceiling and assume it’s not covered in calcimine.  In most cases, they are correct – no calcimine is present, so they simply quote the ceiling to be painted like a regular ceiling.

How do you permanently fix a flaking plaster ceiling?  You’ll need to replace the ceiling or add sheetrock over it:

Of course, many people have many ideas for fixing a flaking paster ceiling. The only one we can warranty involves placing sheetrock over the existing ceiling—it’s the only way we’ve found that will permanently correct the problem.

If you’re having trouble with calcimine paint that’s peeling, we can help you replace the ceiling or sheetrock over it. Schedule a free quote online or call us at 781-585-7246.

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Written by: Paige NeJame – Franchise Owner

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Meredith “Paige” NeJame is a 1988 graduate of Boston College and is still surprised by how much she enjoys running a painting business. “It’s always fun to surprise customers with great service. They don’t expect it from a contractor”