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Scrape, sand, scrape some more, sand again, then apply 2 coats of a moisture resistant primer (Kilz is a great brand) before repainting the ceiling.

As this is most likely caused by excess moisture/ humidity in your bathroom, you might also want to look into a way to ventilate your bathroom to prevent this from happening again in the future...

Hope this helps. Good luck!

I'm so sorry to see another person suffer the same dilemma my husband and I had to deal with recently. Our paint peeled on the walls as well. We spoke with a number of painters and they said in our situation the problem was caused by someone painting latex over oil based paint. We were told that often the paint doesn't peel immediately but years down the road or when someone put a second or third layer of new paint on. The second cause for you may be moisture.

My advice (not claiming to be a professional) to you would be to peel as much as you possibly can with a putty knife and sand the walls lightly with an electric sander. Be sure to sand the edges of old paint that don't come up really well. After clean the ceiling with a damp rag and simple detergent (to get the nasty sanding dust off). Then clean the ceiling with Windex (the painter we hired used this in place of TSP because it prepped the surface well without being nearly as hard on the environment as TSP. The lesser of evils you could say).

The prime the ceiling with a good quality water based primer such as Zinsser or Kilz and make sure you have the good stuff not the cheaper version sold at places like Wal-mart or Sears.

This should work regardless if it is moisture or oil based paint. We did all of this to avoid painting with more oil based paint because it is really HARSH.

I recommend going to a Frazee or other high quality paint store used by painters. They can help you and give you additional tips.

Good Luck!

Oh and be sure to put a fan in your bathroom if you don't already have one. You want to avoid moisture in your bathroom at all costs!

I also had this problem and then the paint peeled again so I had to start from scratch. I would recommend talking with painters and really making sure you use the right type of primer. I also recommend not using the shower in the bathroom until you are completely done repainting because it can interfere with everything drying.

Some good advice! We have this problem both over our tub/shower and in the hallway just outside the bathroom door. Been meaning to take care of it for ages...

I have the same thing happening to the walls and ceiling of bathroom in the apartment I rent. I was wondering, is it the responsibility of my landlord to fix this? I also do not have a fan in my bathroom, nor an electrical outlet. How else can I increase ventilation? Thanks, Victoria

This is a really common problem in older houses/apartments without modern bathroom ventilation systems. Do all of the above, then paint the ceiling with two coats of SEMIGLOSS PAINT - it is much more moisture resistant than flat or ceiling paints. Also leave the bathroom door open when showering if possible, and if the bathroom has a window, leave it open or at least cracked for as much of the year as you can. I scraped, primed, and repainted my whole bathroom with semigloss about 3 years ago, and it has held up very well so far.

My solution:

Call my painter. He removed and then skimcoated (I had additional plaster damage).

Once he fixed it he warned me not to keep the door or window closed while I showered since I have no vent. Water damage was going to compromise my paint no matter what if I didn't keep the steam from condensing on the ceiling.

Also, not sure of the vintage of your house but always be careful if you think the paint may be lead paint.

Also, make sure it isn't a ceiling that was painted with calcimine. This was a type of paint used in days of yore and it is impossible to paint over, the paint will always peel away (usually in large pieces) The picture doesn't look like it, but do a little research.

I had the same problem, a result of putting latex over some oil based paint from years before without the proper primer. In addition my exhaust fan was old and cranky! I cleaned it up, installed a new fan to be safe, and rather than peeling and sanding and priming and painting (not my favorite) I COVERED IT UP. I used engineered wood flooring to match the trim in the bathroom, found an odd lot that was just the right size, just stapled it up with a brad nailer and ran some trim around it. it looks great. Make sure you have any moisture problems dealt with though because you don't want mold growing between the flooring material and your ceiling. (I was going to use bamboo but heard it warped and twisted too much in the moisture?)

thanks, i needed this advice too!

I triple agree about "check to see if it's calcimine!" Many of the old houses in my neighborhood have this plastery paint on their old ceilings. Lots of young painters don't even know what it is, and they paint over it, and VOILA!, nothing sticks. My neighbor paid a young guy to paint her ceiling, and it literally started peeling two days after he left. Ugh.

My stairway hall is calcimine-ceilinged. I did find a painter who knew about the stuff, and he primed with something and oil painted over that, and still he couldn't promise me that it would work. It seems to be holding after 4 years. Crossing fingers...

Good luck!

I agree with the advice to get your ventilation fixed. I think it's code in most places now, but i don't know if people get grandfathered out of it. I can't believe you have proper ventilation in that bathroom, so ask your landlord to fix that before any painting happens. If they refuse, you could call the building inspector and check to see if that is a violation. (Of course, then you have to deal with any fallout from doing that...)

Zinsser makes a product called "Bathroom Ceiling Paint." I used it on my bathroom walls as well as the ceiling, and it has held up wonderfully for 7 or 8 years now. I bought it at Wallpaper City in Roslindale.