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We moved into our 1924 bungalo last July and the bathroom was fine. A 1960’s style remodel job was a little tackey (some plastic “tile”) but it was otherwise very respectable.
Within two weeks of moving in, the paint started to “antique” in a few places (cracking through shrinkage) Within a couple months it spread to affect almost the whole bathroom. Now, in the area above the bath/shower, some small areas are beginning to peel and blister. I would guess the previous owner repainted just before she sold. Nothing I can do about that now.
I’ll confess, we sometimes forget to turn on the vent when we shower, but not often enough to justify this kind of deterioration. There is no moisture problem behind the plaster lath or anywhere else in the house. What should we do to fix this? Is there a paint to use for this situation?
If I re-tile the whole bath do I have to worry about the tile adhering to the paint-scraped plaster surface?
Any suggestions?
-Randy
Replies
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they might have used BIN over latex.
near the stream,
aj
Sand...tile...done.
*Randy, When I was doing remodeling in the 70's, I had a similar experience on several baths. I would repaint after standard prepping of the walls and the paint would not stick. It would blister and peel within a month of applying. I forget what the surface was called( some type of applyed surface) ,but no matter what I did I could not get paint to stick. From what I could gather it was a fairly common bath finish from the late 50's-early 60's.I am not sure if that is your problem. Like AJ suggested sanding may help, if you can break down the surface enough for mastic to stick. Try a test patch before you do the entire bath.If I were serious about tile, I would screw 1/4" durorock to the walls regardless of the original surface and use a good thin-set mortar for my tile.walk gooddavid
*Randy - We still occasionally see calcimine paint used as late as 1924. God help you if that's what it is - you'll have to remove the new paint i andthe calcimine or cover it as suggested - try here for a start or here.Jeff
*Don't admit not using the fan all the time.It is important to use the fan to get rid of the moisture.My wife hates listening to the thing but I wired the fans to come on with the lights because I hate mildew.I'm going to hook up one of those remote fans that sucks the moisture from both baths without the noise.I'm not a painter so I can't help you much there, but I'm guessing the trapped moisture isn't helping the situation.Bob
*There are quiet fans on the market these days. Some are downright un-obtrusive. I lived in a place many years ago with a fan in one of the baths. It was several months before I realized it was there!
*I was in a 30's building that had new paint applied over milk paint. This too resulted in the cracked pattern you describe.
*Randy,Think how lucky you are! There are people right now paying good money to specialty faux finish painters to antique their walls and you got it for b free.I think you've got it right -- the previous homeowner probably spruced it up with new paint just before your purchase. Could be calcimine. Could also be that they tried to slap some latex over the glossy oil enamel that alot of old baths have. As the paint cures it contracts and, without primer or prepping/scuffing the surface, it cant hold tight and you see the crazed effect. Moisture doesnt help it but probably isnt the principle cause. The problem is, at this point you have to get down to solid material for b anythingto stick for certain. Which means stripping exsiting coatings or mechanically fastening something over it.Or tell people you paid good money to that painter for the retro look.I tell my wife our house looks historically faithful to what a 100 year old house would look like after 100 years of hard use....
*Thanks everyone. I like the idea of screwing up durorock and tiling everything, but I may try to repaint once first and see if it takes or not. Go for the $50/5 hour solution before the $500/20 hour solution (it's a small space).The latex over glossy oil enamel seems like a strong possibility as the bedroom area woodwork still has the glossy oil enamel.I wouldn't mind the antique look as it is in most areas, but the peeling over the tub has become unsightly.-Randy
*Randy - In our bathroom (with the same problem) we had our painter level the surface and then apply a membrane that was painted in. Not NuWall, I'll have to ask him what it was. It worked well - forms a vapor barrier (in fact trapped vapor causes surface 'bubbles' on it that eventually all subside) and covers the old without lowering the ceiling. So far, I'm pleased - I'll ask what it was.Jeff
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We moved into our 1924 bungalo last July and the bathroom was fine. A 1960's style remodel job was a little tackey (some plastic "tile") but it was otherwise very respectable.
Within two weeks of moving in, the paint started to "antique" in a few places (cracking through shrinkage) Within a couple months it spread to affect almost the whole bathroom. Now, in the area above the bath/shower, some small areas are beginning to peel and blister. I would guess the previous owner repainted just before she sold. Nothing I can do about that now.
I'll confess, we sometimes forget to turn on the vent when we shower, but not often enough to justify this kind of deterioration. There is no moisture problem behind the plaster lath or anywhere else in the house. What should we do to fix this? Is there a paint to use for this situation?
If I re-tile the whole bath do I have to worry about the tile adhering to the paint-scraped plaster surface?
Any suggestions?
-Randy