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firsttimer · 09-19-2008, 09:31 PM

I got to repaint my washroom ceiling as the paint is peeling out and there are some black dots. I think they are molds or mildews. My friend suggest to use just Kilz oil base primer without top coat. Sounds right for humid environment. The Home Depot guy advised me to buy the Behr Premium Plus Enamel Undercoater Primer and Sealer followed by Behr Interior Sateen Lustre Enamel for Kitchen and Bath. It is also Premium Plus grade. He said only water based paint can contain anti-molding chemicals while oil based paint cannot. I am confused which type of paint I should used and hope the experienced or experts can give me some help. Also how should I properly prepare the ceiling for painting? How should I deal with cracks and holes on the ceiling? Would the Behr Primer and Sealer good for that purpose? Which type of paint should I used for the walls?

mikemeier · 09-19-2008, 09:51 PM

I would wash down the ceiling with a tsp solution. Depending on how much mold is left you might want to spray a mildewcide on it if it is not too deep in the drywall. Are the holes dents? If so you might have a leaking roof and the mold could be coming from the top. As far as primers I prefer Zinsser primer or KILZ premium. The oil based would keep moisture from penetrating that layer which could delay your awareness of a roof problem, plus it's a pain for cleanup and the fumes can be bad. To patch very small sections smaller than a quarter I would use a light weight spakling compound otherwise use topping compound. Always use caulking in corners before painting for a clean look without cracking later. The most important step in painting is the prep. Hope this helps

firsttimer · 09-22-2008, 01:36 PM

Thank you, Mikemeier. The molds in one of the bathroom ceiling are dots about 2 mm in diameter. In another bathroom, I have a skylight. I notice that in the winter, cold air leaks in at one corner and the vertical drywall have a crack of about 8 inches and the paint on this wall peels in large piece. I guess the resulting moisture condensation on the wall and drying caused the crack. I have planned to caulk the wooden base frame of the skylight first to seal off the leak. I do not have hole in the ceiling at present but when I replace the exhaust fan, I guess I would have holes.

mikemeier · 09-23-2008, 10:07 PM

If you have a skylight that is leaking, the worst thing you could do is to caulk it from the inside. The water will just go somewhere else. Skylight installs are tricky and depending on how much roofing experience you have you might want to consider hiring a professional (skylight installer not roofer). Having said that if the skylight is a curb mount and the curb is fine you could easliy replace just the skylight top. If it's acrylic (plastic dome) those tend to leak very quickly. I used to rep for a couple of skylight companies and we had a saying... There's no such thing as a defective skylight, just a defective install. Most skylights are installed by a roofer who has very limited experience. You can check out Velux for their installation instructions to see how your install differs from how it should have been done. I would be surprised if your mold problem isn't coming from the syylight. If you do need to replace it I would only go with Velux, and I have done business with the other top manufacturers. Once that leak is fixed and you have your fan your problem shouldn't come back. When you do install your fan try to put a timer on it. The fan should run about a half hour after a shower if possible to get the remainder of the moisture out.

firsttimer · 10-14-2008, 11:43 AM

Now that I have the loose paint on my washroom ceilings scrapped off and ready to put on the primer. Should I paint the whole ceiling with the primer or just paint the scrapped area? The current paint color is white and I would paint it white again. By the way, my skylight leaks cold air but not water. It's there for ten years now. I am caulking it to save energy. At the skylight the dry wall ends with some steel angle. After scrapping, the metal is exposed. The stuff I scrapped off is hard. Should I just paint the primer on it or should I put some spackling stuff on it first?

Square Eye · 10-14-2008, 05:14 PM

Prime it all.

Prime those spots and the steel, then caulk and spackle, then prime the whole thing. The finish will show where you used primer and where you didn't. A solid coat of primer will help hide your repairs.