Paint Preparation (Chipped up Paint on Walls)

Hello everyone. I am painting the walls in a bathroom and I wanted to know the best thing to do for these walls to prepare them for painting. I want the wall to look smooth and professional. :help:

Here is a PIcture of the walls...

From what I can see, you need to remove all the loose and cracked up paint and skim coat the walls with joint contact to make them smooth. Then prime any bare joint compound or bare plaster and paint over the primer WITH A PAINT MEANT FOR BATHROOMS, like Zinsser's PermaWhite Bathroom Paint, available at Home Depot.

By far, the most common problem is that people don't understand that there are different kinds of paint binders, and the binders used in inexpensive paints simply don't stand up will under humid or wet conditions. The result is that inexpensive paints used in bathrooms will will crack and peel. People will misdiagnose the problem as being due to insufficient prep work because that's normally what causes paints to crack and peal as though there wasn't proper adhesion. In a bathroom, however, it's common to see inexpensive paints crack and peel because the paint that was used wasn't intended to be used under the wet and humid conditions you find in bathrooms.

You might want to take ALL of the paint off the wall, or at least all of the latex paint. Just score through the paint with a razor knife and chip the paint off. It'll typically come off at the interface between the oil based paint and the latex paint. You can then prime with an oil based primer and paint with a paint intended for bathrooms.

I would agree with Nestor, however I will primer it with kilz primer for the bathroom.

O wow thankyou that helped alot. But when u say chip off all latex paint... how am i supposed to if paint is latex or not? and do u mean like do that thruout the WHOLE bathroom??? Jeez. I'm new at this SO PLEASE BARE WITH ME

oOoLaLaALA said:

............SO PLEASE BARE WITH ME

Click to expand...

I think you mean BEAR with you.

... okay thanks for fixing my typo... lol

Those look like plaster walls to me, and it appears they have multiple coats of both oil based and latex paint on them.

In the areas where the paint is rough, what I'd try doing is using a razor knife to cut through the paint. Now, dig the point of the razor knife under the paint and see if it comes off easily. It's been my experience that sometimes the paint comes off the wall quite easily. In that case, grip the back of a single edge razor blade with a pair of needle nose style locking pliers, and use that to remove the paint from the walls (and probably ceiling, too). But, if the paint doesn't come off the wall easily, then don't fight with it. Just remove what comes off easily in the rough areas. Also, don't remove the paint behind the toilet tank unless there's enough room behind it to paint.

I wouldn't use KILZ as a primer here as there's no need to. KILZ get's it's stain blocking properties from it's very rapid drying rate. And that, in turn, is due to the fact that it uses a mixture of 60 percent naptha and 40 percent mineral spirits as it's thinner instead of 100% mineral spirits like a normal alkyd primer. If it weren't for the naptha, KILZ would be an ordinary alkyd primer. You're not blocking any stains here, so I don't see the point in using a rapid drying alkyd primer that's gonna leave lots of brush marks where you use a brush rather than just using a normal alkyd primer.

You have provided great bathroom painting ideas that cover all part of bathroom. Thanks for sharing such an informative post.

Tape around moldings, doors and windows with removable painter's tape. Masking tape sometimes gets a bit sticky and hard to remove, so I recommend the painter's tape to save time.Cover the floor and the furniture with plastic drop cloths. They have plastic drop cloths cheap at the discount or dollar store, so pick up some extras.Remove any nail and screws in the walls. Fill the holes left behind with spackle. Let dry and sand smooth.Scrape or sand any loose or peeling paint until the walls are smooth.Using TSP (Trisodium phosphate), wash down all the walls. You are removing all the grease, grime and grit. Then wash down again with water to remove the TSP. Allow the walls to dry completely.