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Filled cracks behind newly painted walls highly visible and cracked?

Posted by Aaron John-Baptiste, on Wed 09 Sep 2015 02:30pm

I recently painted my living room. Beforehand I filled holes and cracks with 'Homebase multipurpose interior polyfilla' that was "ready to paint when dry" - left it to dry for 2 days. Sanded it down before applying Matt emulsion paint - 2 coats, 4-5 hours inbetween. The next day it was fine, looked smooth and nothing visible underneath. 2 days later every single spot that was filled is visible and the paint on top of the areas is cracked (very very fine cracks, like dry mud). No idea why this happened, perhaps I should have used a primer, but still didn't anticipate it would have been that bad. Thanks to any kind soul who can help!

Paul Collins

Tue 15 Sep 2015 05:18pm

I suspect that you may have used Dulux emulsion, over the last few years the formulation has changed and this ALWAYS happens over caulk, I've not heard of it happening over filler. If you prime over the spots with a good sealer like Zinsser and then re coat it should be fine. Johnstones is a far better emulsion nowadays. Tetrion or Tupret are good fillers.

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