Why is my newly painted door peeling in 2024?

You (or you painter) have just finished painting your doors. They look great. But whats this? A small area has been knocked and some new paint has come right off.

You pinch the edge and more paint peels off!  Then more! Then More! Oh no! Whole sheets are coming off!

What is going on???

I’m going to bet that you (or your painter) applied regular water based paint over a door that was previously painted with oil based paint.

*(If you have peeling paint on ceiling or peeling paint on walls I have a blog here that talks about that.)

It always starts with the doors because they get the hardest treatment. But the windows will follow shortly then the skirting boards.​

This is a trap that many home renovators fall into because they just don’t know.

So here’s the golden rule:
Oil based paint CAN go over water based paint.
Water based paint CANNOT go over oil based paint.
(And not surprisingly oil CAN go over oil. Water based CAN go over water based.)

How you SHOULD paint trim - doors, windows, skirting etc.

1. TEST the current paint surface to see if its oil or water based. Rub a splash of acetone (available at Bunnings) or Nail Polish remover (same stuff) with a dark coloured rag. If the acetone seems to melt the paint which comes off onto the rag the door surface is painted in water based paint.

(Watch out though, because sometimes a tiny bit of old oil based paint might come wear off).

To double check sand part of the door. Water based paint often comes off like grated cheese. But oil based paint will come off as a fine powder.

So if you have existing oil based paint on your doors you can paint NEW oil based paint over the top if you want. But oil based paint really smells and most people don’t love it.

If, like most people, you want paint water based paint over an old oil based door, this is what you do next.

2. SAND & WASH the door. I use a ‘sanding sponge’ dunked in sugar soap and water, rinsing regularly. This roughens the surface without creating dust which could well be full of lead. It also  cleans away a lot of dirt and oil. Tip the rinse bucket down the toilet regularly too.

3. WIPE If you want to be really keen (as I do) you let the sanded door dry then wipe down with a damp rag to get rid of the last bits of super fine paint dust.

Sanding and scrubbing is important but priming is vital!

4. PRIME - Your door now needs to be painted with a primer coat. There are water based primers and superior oil based primers. Both are designed to grip to the old oil based surface and allow the new water based paint to grip to the primer.

I’ve written a whole thing about primers and sealers here.

So now you’ve done the test/sand/scrub/prime process you can FINALLY apply your exciting new colour to your doors (and windows, skirting, picture rails, stair banisters etc)


BUT if you or your painter has not gone through this process, and water based paint film is starting to peel off an oil based door I have some bad news.

The new paint has to be completely stripped off. And a final insult is that 95% will come off easily while the rest sticks like mad. Its a long, messy process.

A relative of mine had an apartment painted by a guy who did the job for at least half what I would have charged. AND he did the work in about a third of the time I would have taken. I was suspicious when I heard how fast he was. The doors started peeling after 2 weeks.

I’ve seen many home owners make the ‘water over oil’ mistake but I get really angry when so called professionals do it. They are ALWAYS the cheap guys. And the homeowner can’t understand why one quote was so much lower than the other … until the paint peels off.

Fixing this sort of stuff up costs MUCH more than doing it properly in the first place.

It can be patched up but a new paint job shouldn’t need constant maintenance days after it’s finished.

So if you are hiring a painter make sure they carry out the above steps and are sure they know what they are dealing with.


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