We painted walls and ceiling in a condo with latex paint but it now looks like the old paint is an oil-based paint. What will happen now to the latex paint job, and what can we do to correct the situation?

We just never thought anyone would have painted walls and ceiling with an oil-based paint. How can you tell if the paint on a wall is oil-based or latex?

 

It is doubtful that the walls have oil paint. I can't remember the last time I ran across oil enamel on residential walls, even then it was usually limited to kitchens and baths. Oil enamel on wood work is found quite often. Generally without good prep [sanding & priming] latex does not adhere well to interior oil base. What usually happens is the paint is prone to chipping and peeling. I don't know of any easy fix. Removing the latex and starting over is really the only good fix.
What caused you to think that you painted over oil? Is the paint peeling or was it a coverage issue? Products like 'goof-off' will disolve latex but won't oil.

 

One or two small spots of the latex peeled off so we started to wonder because the old paint was semi-gloss. We tried scubbing with 409 a 'sample spot' we had put on earlier to see if we liked the color. The latex paint just scrubbed off. The paint is Benjaminin Moore latex paint that has been on there for about a week or so.

Is what you call 'goof off' the same thing as 'goo gone'? 'Goo gone' is something I use to get the sticky residue off of something that had a label on it and I removed the label. leaves on.

Supposing we have to take the latex off. How can we do it? Will the latex peel off soon or gradually?

It just looks like someone did not know what they were doing and painted everything, except the ceiling, with the same paint, which was an oil-based paint.

 

Not aware of 'goo gone', 'goof-off' and 'oops' are 2 brands of paint remover [not stripper] that I am familiar with. The paint may peel right off the enamel or it might be stubborn and just chip here and there over time. If it comes off easy I would work at removing it, prime with an oil base kilz or similiar primer and then repaint. If you can only get small areas off you may want to live with it but from your post it sounds like removable although no fun shouldn't be too dificult. My guess is someone had oil enamel laying around and figured to use it up on a quick clean up job. Wish you luck

 

I'm not sure of the exact ingredients, but it's the same idea
It would probably work also

 

Can they not just prime with Kilz over the latex (assuming the paint surface is still consistent)?
My thought is that the new primer would form a solid shellac type surface over the latex (which is over oil). Would that not be easier than removing and priming anyway?
Just a thought

 

It would be easier, but still wouldn't fix the problem. It would form a nice hard shell, but its foundation is still poorly adhered paint, which will be prone to fail quicker from the added weight and rigidity of the oil.

My only thought beyond stripping it is to apply 2 strong coats of DrawTite, bacjkrolling it in vigorously to penetrate the layer of latex, and bond with the original layer.

Also, my thoughts are this: it probably wasn't oil, but just a latex gloss or semi-gloss that wasn't prepped/sanded before applying the new layer. I've seen many failures with this scenario.

 

I could certainly see that giving someone the impression that it was oil that was painted over

 

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sticky post.