In preparing the surface for the repainting of peeled work, the same care should be exercised as with cracked paint. Where the paint has commenced to peel in small chips and upon examination it is found that the trouble is with the last or finishing coat, such is called chipping or fluffing. The trouble can usually be traced to the improper application of the paint or its having been applied over dampness caused by dews or frosts, also the paint becoming chilled or applied in freezing weather, not allowing sufficient penetration, which caused it to soon chip or fluff off. This trouble can very easily be overcome by scraping or going over the building with a wire brush and coarse sandpaper, removing all the loose paint and then applying one coat of paint of good consistency mixed elastic with 1/8 gallon turpentine to the gallon of paint. This mixture will thoroughly penetrate and bind to the undercoats, generally making very satisfactory work.

If the paint is peeling in small thin scales and the trouble only goes as far as the priming, it usually will be found upon examination that this coat was of material like yellow ochre which has been applied heavy and dried with a gloss, the second coat not reduced with a sufficient amount of turpentine to penetrate the hard surface. To repaint this surface, the scales and loose paint should be scraped and brushed off and a coat of paint, mixed with sufficient turpentine to penetrate the priming coat, applied over the spots where the paint has peeled, then apply a well brushed finishing coat over the entire building. This should not be too oily or elastic, otherwise it will break loose from the undercoats, but it should carry from 1-32 to 1-16 gallon turpentine to assist in brushing and penetrating the old surface.

Where the paint is peeling in patches, exposing the bare wood, and it is found upon examination that the backs of the scales have a heavy coat of ochre or some other dry pigment which is absorbing the oil from the wood, and the paint has not been applied uniformly and is breaking away in spots, these places can be scraped and thoroughly brushed, then a coat of paint mixed with a percentage of turpentine to assist in penetration applied over these spots. One coat of paint can then be applied over the entire building, if the surface is in fair condition, and the undercoats have not been applied too heavily. However, if the building has been standing and one coat is not sufficient, the first coat should be mixed half flat so as not to leave an excess of oily paint on the surface. This will even up the work and an elastic finishing coat can then be applied over the entire building.

When a building has been painted a number of times and the surface is peeling to the bare wood, the only satisfactory way to repaint this is to burn the surface to the wood, following special instructions given for burned surface.

Where the paint has peeled in spots from dampness, caused either by wet basements or plaster, the surface can be successfully repainted after the house has been allowed to dry out, by cleaning it and touching up the spots where the paint has peeled, then covering with one coat of paint. This will even up the surface and avoid repainting the entire building if only part of the house is peeling.