Wooo!!! Cat, I am stuck at home because of the snow storm so wandered around here not looking at anything in particular and came upon your thread. I totally agree with you on the shower curtain choice. Regardless of whether I have the money to spare or not, keeping those suckers clean is a nuisance over time. We have a glass shower door that was installed back in 2003 and I can't tell you how much I hate cleaning it. Not that the door is all that dirty, but a shower curtain is way easier, and you can change the look/style whenever you feel like it. Can't do that with a pricey shower door. Anyway, everything looks lovely as usual, including the "prom" dress :-) Love, love those circular tiles, and the floor tiles that look like fabric. Gorgeous. What colour is that again? It looks greyish on my monitor.

GreenDesigns, thanks for your input. I am not plastering, just skim coating a thin joint compound over the entire drywall surface to even out the contrasting textures between the dry wall paper and the smoother areas of joint compound at the seams and at the screw sites. Maybe "skim coat" is the wrong term, or used loosely in this application. I have read multiple opinions on the use of moisture resistant wall boards. Opinions are very divided. I was miss leading in my OP in that this is a moist room, as this room has never gotten steamy in the 22 years we've lived here and there was no fan. There is no shower, just a tub. But, because this is a bathroom I can assume there is more moister than, say, the living room. What I have read regarding regular drywall is that if it is used in the non wet areas of the bathroom it really is more important to have a proper primer and paint installation to protect the wall system. When my kitchen was done last year the drywallers did skim coat my walls, I just wasn't there to see how they did it. I have watched the USG video and it is straight forward enough. I have attached a link below. Lastly, to provide some context, this room is not our main bath, that is why there is no shower. This bathroom is next to my kitchen. The bathroom is really a combo utility room/bathroom for our farm house. Here is a link that might be useful: US Gypsum video on level 5 finish.

I would suggest the following: 1) Know what type of prep and paint is required for the surface of your home 2) Obtain at least 3 quotes for the prep (there is more to prep than cleaning) and painting from licensed contractors 3) Hire only a licensed contractor 4) Check the contractorÂs license 5) Check to make sure the employees are full time trained employees of the contractor and not day workers picked up on some corner 6) Obtain 3 to 5 recent client references and check all client references before hiring a contractor Absolutely 2 coats of paintÂno paint manufacture will back a warranty with one coat. When paint is pressure washed it is damagedÂthe pressure of the water weakens the bond, there is no getting around it. So it doesn't matter how good your existing paint. No matter how much they tell you it won't damage the paint, it simply not true...the force is between 2,200 to 3,500 psi. What other prep work are they going to do? Are they handscrapping areas that need it? Filling holes? Sanding? On an exterior, scraping and sanding is usually a must for good adhesion. I can't imagine they are just going to wash and slap on some paint. Prep is not just "cleaning". You need to find out what is necessary prep for the surface of your house and then you need to get quotes that do the necessary cleaning, prep, and painting. Anyone can slap paint on to the side of your houseÂdoing it right is another matter. If itÂs not done right, you will be paying to have another paint job in about 5 or 6 yrs. The more reputable painting contractors do not power wash because of the damage it does to existing paint and the risk there is to the structure. Power washing will etch wood and brick; it will blast mortar out of the joints, and it will easily damage stucco. Power washing is also not a substitute for handscrapingÂyet some painters try to use it for this purpose. When we had the exterior of our last home cleaned and the wood trim repainted we had it hand washed with a bleach solution and brushes; then we let it dry for a couple of days. Then the wood was handscraped where needed, holes/dents filled, surfaces sanded; then 2 coats of oil based BM paint applied. We didnÂt have the stucco painted as it was still in good condition. It took a bit longer and was a bit more expensive but no damage to the wood trim and stucco house. You need to find out if the contractor employs full time TRAINED employeesÂor if he is picking up untrained day workers on some corner. Makes a huge difference in the quality of the work. If you are paying top dollar, you should be getting trained professionals on the job. If you are paying beer money..well, you will get what you pay for.

Thanks Casey, What is a good oil based primer. I will be using BM paints for the room. I could get their primer. I have only used Zinzer primers up to this point, in my kitchen, and now bathroom. My progress: Last night I went ahead and thinned down some green topped joint compound (drying type, I believe it is called, as opposed to setting type) and rolled it over the Gardz primed walls. After I knifed it off you could barely see the application, just a soft haze. My thought is that I will now apply another thin skim, then when dried, prime for painting. I just don't want these layers to delaminate in the bathroom. This isn't a steamy room because there is no shower and the tub is rarely used. But it is a bathroom none the less.