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Peeling paint in newly renovated bathroom

18 years ago

First time posting so forgive me if I'm in the wrong forum. I thought this would be the most appropriate but please let me know if this should had been posted elsewhere. Having said that, HELP!

I have a very small bathroom on the third floor that has a shower that is used regularly. This bathroom was redone a year ago and at that time the contractor refused to put in a fan because it was too complicated (old house). Everytime we use the shower, we open the window to deal with the humidity -even in the winter. However, the paint is beginning to peel off brand new walls. The paint is Benjamin Moore, which is a good brand. I've done a small poll amongst friends and no one has had this problem, even in the abscence of the precautions we are taking. Can anyone help me understand this problems. Does it have to do with the size of the bathroom? As for the contractor, he is long gone and his name is never mentioned in our household! Thanks and sorry for the length.

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Comments (5)

thombat4
18 years ago
Hi Sara,

Do you recall if the new walls were primed before they were painted? Surface preparation is probably the most important factor when it comes to painting. You may want to seriously consider an exhaust fan in the bathroom to adequately remove moisture, it may be a pain to do but it sounds like even with opening the window you're not getting enough venting of the moisture.

bryan
User
18 years ago
Hmmm, putting in a side exhaust vent was too complicated??

Agree with the primer/preperation question. Primer is more important than the paint. At this point, scraping/sanding/stripping all the paint off and priming then repainting is the only long term cure.

Using an acrylic enamel semi gloss is a good idea, that resists moisture better than a flat finish.
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I feel your pain. We used SW Paint in our bathroom and had the same problem; I was so mad because their paint isn't cheap and we used exactly what we were told to use. The bubbling was on the ceiling around the vent but all the walls had water stains from when moisture would drip and those wouldn't clean off at all; it looked horrible. We have an open window and vent that we use religiously, so ventilation was not the culprit. To fix it, we had to sand down the areas that were bubbling, wash the walls thoroughly with TSP and paint using BM Aura paint. That's what the guy at our local Benjamin Moore store recommended and yup, it was even more expensive then the Sherwin Williams was; it was worth it though because it worked. We followed the guys directions and let the paint cure for a week before using the shower. This did the trick, no more issues. The nice thing is that I didn't want a very glossy finish and the finish of this Aura paint is egg shell. It went on super easy and looks great! Oh and they were able to mix the SW Color I wanted as well which was a bonus!
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gzec
18 years ago
Was the bathroom previously to the remodel used for showering so often?
What was done in the remodel?
sdello
18 years ago
premature paint peeling is most often associated with poor surface preparation not necessarily to moisture. Moisture will cause mold and localized peeling where it condenses. If you have a global peeling condition then he didn't prep the wall well enough for the new paint to bond. Contractor problem. if you're not going to contact him then you need to do it again.

Scrape all the loose stuff wash well with TSP prime and paint. You might consider a product like Zinsser Perma-white or similar product designed for moisture prone environments.

Hope this helps.
bostonsara
Original Author
18 years ago
Thank you all. This is very helpful. The general consensus is that it is a badly done job.
gzec: The bathroom was added. Green board was used appropriately. The bathroom was painted but we did not like the color. We think that the contractor just quickly plastered the new color on. The contractor is completely out of the picture so we are on our own for this one!

handymac: turns out that the side vent was not possible because it would have snaked up and down, which would have made it ineffectual.

handymac and sdello: You both are confirming my though: a well primed wall with proper bathroom paint will not peel. Plus, it's not exactly steam bath conditions! So we'll have to get to work.
Thank you all

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