Newly painted shower room wall is peeling/cracking

trotter_inc

Hello!

I painted our shower room walls about a month ago and the paint is starting to crack and peel already! We are living in the house about 5 years and this is my first time painting these walls.

Before I started to paint them we had a 'professional' painter in doing some other painting work for us and I asked him if we should buy the special 'bathroom/kitchen' paint on it and he said that the standard vinyl/matt paints would be fine to use.

From looking at the original paint that was on the walls he said that the stuff that was already on the walls was normal paint anyway, that lasted us 5 years without any peeling so I was happy to go with the same stuff again. However, about 2 weeks after painting the paint started to crack and peel. It wasn't just the new paint which came off, it took the previous paint off the walls as well, so it went back as far as the plaster on the walls.

I honestly don't think it's from the steam off the shower as we always use the extractor fan and the room is very well ventilated. But, what else could it be??

Anyone any pointers?

I scraped some of the cracking off last week, but once I started it came off in larger and larger sheets! I then painted it with a sealer and the sealer seems to staying put without any cracking or peeling. However, now other sections of the walls are peeling too

What's the solution?? Scrape the paint off all the walls and start from scratch??

Paul.C

peel loose paint off, sand and fill with lightweight filler where needed and lash a layer of polybond/water mix. Repaint and it should be fine

trotter_inc

Paul.C wrote: »

peel loose paint off, sand and fill with lightweight filler where needed and lash a layer of polybond/water mix. Repaint and it should be fine

I've done something similar to the sections which have peeled since I painted it, but the problem is that new sections are continually starting to peel

Paul.C

Honestly I have never had to take a further step than the polybond technique so unless you mixed it too watery (should be creamy consistency) then I really dont no. When you say similar what did you put on it.

Other than that, all I can really think of is damp in the plasterboard. This can happen very easily inside external walls as damp can absorb into brickwork and work its way in.

Also If this doesnt help then consider putting a new thread or request this to be moved into the DIY section. You will get a lot more responses a lot faster.

Best of luck

irelandspurs

It will be the first coat of paint not applied correctly and will have just been sitting on the plaster and not absorbed in.Did you notice any bubbling when you painted recently.

trotter_inc

irelandspurs wrote: »

Did you notice any bubbling when you painted recently.

Yes, I did as a matter of fact! When I applied the paint with the roller, in some sections the new paint sort of mixed in with the previous layer of paint and went bubbly (similar to when you apply those heat guns to scrape off old paint). This mainly happened close to where the wall meets the ceiling. I scraped it off when it was wet and re-applied, in some sections it was fine but in others I waited until it was dry before scraping.

The solution suggested above of applying polybond and filling in before repainting might work, but from what I can see it's going to be ongoing process. There are still new sections of the paint cracking :mad:

irelandspurs

trotter_inc wrote: »

Yes, I did as a matter of fact! When I applied the paint with the roller, in some sections the new paint sort of mixed in with the previous layer of paint and went bubbly (similar to when you apply those heat guns to scrape off old paint). This mainly happened close to where the wall meets the ceiling. I scraped it off when it was wet and re-applied, in some sections it was fine but in others I waited until it was dry before scraping.

The solution suggested above of applying polybond and filling in before repainting might work, but from what I can see it's going to be ongoing process. There are still new sections of the paint cracking :mad:

Yes thats what it will be then i've recently done a ceiling where this has happened and have had to remove all the old paint and reseal plaster.Don't use polybond use thinned down matt emulsion.How big is the ceiling.

trotter_inc

irelandspurs wrote: »

Yes thats what it will be then i've recently done a ceiling where this has happened and have had to remove all the old paint and reseal plaster.Don't use polybond use thinned down matt emulsion.How big is the ceiling.

Ah crap, in the back of mind I sort of knew I might have to do it, I suppose in the long term it will save me time as I don't want to be constantly sraping, filling, re-sealing and re-painting.

The problem is actually on the walls of the room, ceiling is Ok. It's only our shower room so it's small enough, main problem is that the room is small and pokey.

Thanks for the tips, I might get stuck in to it over the weekend....the joys

liptonvillag

Surprised the painter advising you didn't mention Zinzeer Anti mould/Anti mildew Bathroom ceiling paint. Costs about 45.00 for 5 litre can. It's worth it weight in gold. Your problem is as common as weeds. When your house was first painted, your painters never thinned the first coat with 10% water. All new plastered walls need the first coat to be thinned down with 10% water. Reason been, the plaster is dry and the first coat needs a bit of soakage for the plaster. The paint if its not thinned will dry quickly as a film on the plaster and will not soak into the newly plastered wall. The bathroom and kitchen ceilings are the first place it will reveal itself 5 or 6 yrs later. All newly plastered walls need to be primed with a pourous and thinned mix of paint. My advise to strip the old paint of the ceiling. No matter what you put on it'sgoing to be undermined by the base underneath and will crack aqnd lift the new paint off. Thin down 10% regular emulsion or use primer sealer undercoat by colourtrend for first coat and then apply two coats of Zinzeer bathroom kitchen anti mould/mildew paint. It used on ceilings with a high steam and condensation ie, kitchens and bathrooms. As the old saying goes - Preparation is everything. It shouldn't be too hard to get the old ceiling paint of as it never bonded to the new plaster in the first place. If you need any other help on it let me know.

irelandspurs

liptonvillag wrote: »

Surprised the painter advising you didn't mention Zinzeer Anti mould/Anti mildew Bathroom ceiling paint. Costs about 45.00 for 5 litre can. It's worth it weight in gold. Your problem is as common as weeds. When your house was first painted, your painters never thinned the first coat with 10% water. All new plastered walls need the first coat to be thinned down with 10% water. Reason been, the plaster is dry and the first coat needs a bit of soakage for the plaster. The paint if its not thinned will dry quickly as a film on the plaster and will not soak into the newly plastered wall. The bathroom and kitchen ceilings are the first place it will reveal itself 5 or 6 yrs later. All newly plastered walls need to be primed with a pourous and thinned mix of paint. My advise to strip the old paint of the ceiling. No matter what you put on it'sgoing to be undermined by the base underneath and will crack aqnd lift the new paint off. Thin down 10% regular emulsion or use primer sealer undercoat by colourtrend for first coat and then apply two coats of Zinzeer bathroom kitchen anti mould/mildew paint. It used on ceilings with a high steam and condensation ie, kitchens and bathrooms. As the old saying goes - Preparation is everything. It shouldn't be too hard to get the old ceiling paint of as it never bonded to the new plaster in the first place. If you need any other help on it let me know.

Don't seem to have heard of zinzeer,where do you get it have 3 ceilings in same estate to do and it will come in handy because there a nightmare.

trotter_inc

liptonvillag wrote: »

Surprised the painter advising you didn't mention Zinzeer Anti mould/Anti mildew Bathroom ceiling paint. Costs about 45.00 for 5 litre can. It's worth it weight in gold. Your problem is as common as weeds. When your house was first painted, your painters never thinned the first coat with 10% water. All new plastered walls need the first coat to be thinned down with 10% water. Reason been, the plaster is dry and the first coat needs a bit of soakage for the plaster. The paint if its not thinned will dry quickly as a film on the plaster and will not soak into the newly plastered wall. The bathroom and kitchen ceilings are the first place it will reveal itself 5 or 6 yrs later. All newly plastered walls need to be primed with a pourous and thinned mix of paint. My advise to strip the old paint of the ceiling. No matter what you put on it'sgoing to be undermined by the base underneath and will crack aqnd lift the new paint off. Thin down 10% regular emulsion or use primer sealer undercoat by colourtrend for first coat and then apply two coats of Zinzeer bathroom kitchen anti mould/mildew paint. It used on ceilings with a high steam and condensation ie, kitchens and bathrooms. As the old saying goes - Preparation is everything. It shouldn't be too hard to get the old ceiling paint of as it never bonded to the new plaster in the first place. If you need any other help on it let me know.

Crikey, thanks for all that info! The kitchen is my next port of call for re-painting, I can't wait to tell the wife that we need to strip the current paint off before even starting to put on the new paint

Will check out that Zinzeer stuff, never heard of it before now.

liptonvillag

trotter_inc wrote: »

Crikey, thanks for all that info! The kitchen is my next port of call for re-painting, I can't wait to tell the wife that we need to strip the current paint off before even starting to put on the new paint

Will check out that Zinzeer stuff, never heard of it before now.

In saying the old paint should be stripped off...it's easier said then done. In a perfect world thats what should be done but I don't think if the shoe was on my foot that I'm not sure I would actually invest the time to do it. It's a heart breaking job. Ya could be lucky and the Zinzeer will seal it and do the job without stripping. If ya find it starts lifting the old paint off when you apply fresh paint well then ya've no choice. The bathroom always tends to be the worst and easiest to get the old paint off due to the heat and condensation. It's usually a small enough area.

mcvince

What type of paint did you use? You can repaint it. But its a lot of work and expensive.