Paint peeling on outside of house

[deankham]

On the exterior walls we get the paint peeling / flaking off. It only happens from ground level up to about 0.5m high.

When we paint the house should I treat the bottom sections or the walls with anything?

In our last house we tiled the lower section of walls which worked well but I don't want to do that again if there is a simpler option.

Worth noting that the house is only a couple years old and so is still the builders heavily watered down cheap paint. We will paint with good quality exterior paint.

Thanks.

[Marcosteffano]

If it's just started to blister and peel it will probably be rising damp.no matter what quality paint you use it will peel.the problem is Thai construction methods are used on western type building.thai houses are usually build on stilts or legs.when they build a western house they look nice but not a drop of damp proofing is used.i was a bricklayer in the uk and the standard way was at 6inch above ground level a dpc or damp proof roll of plastic was laid down and the walls built on it.thus a barrier was there to stop the rising damp.also a damp proof membrane was laid before concreting the floors in.here in Thailand I have never seen any of this even on boundary walls.in the uk it would be sorted with damp proof injection on old buildings but you've got more chance of being bit by a daffodil out here.if your property is laid low to the ground level around your house then it will get moisture beneath it and it will attack your outside walls first.all I can suggest is that you look at ways of keep the ground around your house as dry as possible and transfer water away.things like guttering and sending to water away from your land.if you've got a road drain to the front then pipe the water there.other methods are digging a gravel trap around the house and sending the water to what we call a soak away.google that one.also if you live on a new farang estate do your neighbors suffer the same problem.also just paint one wall and let the scabby ones peel and breath.just painting walls will seal the moisture in and help it rise more.painting is a good disguise for an underlying problem.

[JohnG]

If the preparation / original painting's bad it'll peel / flake whatever paint you use unless you strip it back, paint with a sealer, and start again (primer, topcoats, etc).

There are no shortcuts - sorry.

[Marcosteffano]

If the preparation / original painting's bad it'll peel / flake whatever paint you use unless you strip it back, paint with a sealer, and start again (primer, topcoats, etc).

There are no shortcuts - sorry.

Yes I would of suggested that but it's coming from the ground up and not all over the walls which is a different story.

[deankham]

Thanks guys. Yes it is definitely coming from the ground up.

Most of the houses on the estate look the same once they are a couple years old. Some look mouldy.

In our house for some reason it is worse on the rear and one side of the house and hardly anything on the front and other side. Could water from the bathrooms be effecting it as well?

We recently had gutters installed so the rain water from the roof now drains away into the main drainage system. Since we did this I've not noticed it getting worse.

Cheers

[Marcosteffano]

Loads of possibilities on this.does the front of the house get the sun most of the day which would keep it drier.if the back wall is near to the back of the house then it might not be draining away from there.also no air circulation leaving it damp and humid.ive been to many houses where you walk around the back and it's rotten green concrete pathways.also how high has the land been raised to the surrounding area.have the builders short changed on raising the land.your going to have to be a detective on this one.my advice is don't just go and waste time and money on painting until you've done a bit of research.

[pipoz4444]

Most likely the Thai Builder did not use a DPC (Damp Proof Course) in the first or second course of the block wall

pipoz4444

[Dixie Dean]

Even if they put a damp course in would you still not get rising damp because the render over the courses. I think the term they use this is bridging.

[Marcosteffano]

Another thought.if you have a concrete path right up to the side of your walls then it could be from there.we used to put a gravel trap 4-6 inch around the house as the window sills drip and splash up the walls.

[deankham]

Thanks for all the comments guys.

Actually its the walls that have concrete all the way up to them, are the ones that are ok.

The worst walls are the ones that used to have grass right up to them. Recently we took up the grass and covered the earth with small stones.

I've started to take off all the loose paint with a wallpaper scraper. Will leave it for a while and see if it gets any worse.

[minimiglia]

Most likely the Thai Builder did not use a DPC (Damp Proof Course) in the first or second course of the block wall

pipoz4444

I have never seen any house with a damp proof course here, very western not Thai, would be useless anyway as most house are built with concrete pillar and the bricks.blocks are just infill,

[pipoz4444]

Most likely the Thai Builder did not use a DPC (Damp Proof Course) in the first or second course of the block wall

pipoz4444

I have never seen any house with a damp proof course here, very western not Thai, would be useless anyway as most house are built with concrete pillar and the bricks.blocks are just infill,

I used Pluvex No 1 DPC on my house build in Udon Thani

Block walls are reinforced and parts of them are concrete filled

pipoz4444

[minimiglia]

A complete waste of time with the concrete pillars.

[Marcosteffano]

The only real answer I'd to build high to the ground level.the concrete piers (pillars) are usually of a dense concrete and won't take on so much moisture.its the blocks that are the problem.they seem to be made from weetabix and soak up a large amount of water.also the render don't help as it's a way for the water to travel over the dpc.rendered houses in uk start above dpc.

[pipoz4444]

No it is not and and it depends on how you construct /protect your footing & column , and how you keep the water/dampness away from your foundations. I have no peeling paint problems.

[minimiglia]

sorry but clearly you are no civil engineer, a complete waste of time or have you totally waterproofed the your footings as well?? if so you do not need DPC at all.

[pipoz4444]

You are very presumptuous and very wrong. Enough of this crap with you. AAAOTF

[minimiglia]

5555555555555555

[JohnG]

A complete waste of time with the concrete pillars.

Exactly - not just the concrete pillars but the rendering make a DPC on just the blocks completely pointless.

[Marcosteffano]

. Uk rendering starts above the dpc.