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Yes, You Can Paint Marlite! We Did!

ellimacgardens
6 years ago
last modified: 6 years ago

We recently renovated our severely outdated bathroom. We had a contractor install a new tub and shower surround, then we tackled the rest. This included painting the marlite walls. Yes! It's possible! Doing an internet search we found instructions to lightly sand the marlite, nothing major, and then cover the surface with an oil based primer. We used Zinsser brand oil based primer. My husband was quite the skeptic, not believing it would work. However, as soon as the primer went on, he knew without a doubt that paint would most definitely stick to it. So, that was the next step, rolling on the paint color. I used one with a satin finish, and voila!

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An out-of-the-way corner low on one wall had, for many years, some peeling of the marlite. I couldn't understand how it got that way because it was in a place where nothing would rub up against it. My son pointed out it was probably damage from the sun coming thru the window and hitting that spot year after year. Made sense to me! My husband lightly sanded that section, primered, then painted it, and altho it has a few small bumps, they're hardly noticeable in the overall scheme of the whole bathroom re-do.

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I'm writing this post and including photos to inspire others because I didn't find much in the way of painted marlite before our project. Painting is a pain but I do it often because I believe in its transformative power and it gives you the biggest bang for the buck..










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