Spent 3 years painting trim the wrong way and didn't know it

I was painting my living room baseboards last weekend and my neighbor Bob came over to borrow a ladder. He glanced at my setup and asked why I wasn't using a liquid deglosser before painting. I had no idea that was a thing. I've been painting trim in my house for 3 years, just sanding a little and slapping on paint. Bob showed me how the paint was peeling off in sheets because the old gloss finish never bonded right. He handed me a $8 bottle of deglosser from his garage and I tried it on a test spot. The paint stuck like glue after that. Now I gotta strip and redo every piece of trim in my house because I skipped a step everyone apparently knows. Has anyone else found out they were skipping a basic prep step for years?

3 comments

3 Comments

lane.cameron8d ago

Bob's advice isn't the only way though, lol.

jesse9948d ago

Agreed @lane.cameron, the real trick most people miss is how the setup changes based on the season. Winter installs vs summer installs need way different prep work.

anna_ross198d ago

You mentioned Bob's advice not being "the only way" but I used to think sanding alone was fine until I ran into the same peeling problem last year. A neighbor showing me the deglosser trick changed my whole approach, and now I prep everything the same way Bob showed you. It's frustrating to redo work, but the paint bonding properly makes it worth the extra step.