Paint peeling off bathroom walls! General decorating topics, questions and answers. find help, tips and advice on completing your decorating projects

[Bobbi]

I am trying to find what I'm doing wrong when painting my shower room walls. It was newly plastered when converted a few years ago. It's 3/4 tiled but I want to keep the ceiling and rest of the walls painted. I've used emulsion recommended for bathrooms each time I paint it, but after a while, the paint starts to bubble and peel away in the same places! Can anyone tell me what I've done wrong and advise me please? It's ready to decorate again and I want to try and get it right this time! :(

[kinglee]

Hi

Have you made sure the walls/ceiling you are painting is 100 percent dry? if the plaster is still moist then any paint you put on will peel off, as it cant bond properly.

Also im guessing the paints you are purchasing is from a retail shop like home base?, i know the types of paint the sell for kitchens and bathrooms can be ok but personally i use Dulux Softsheen.
If you look up your local paint supplier for the trade, they will be willing to help you with it, i use it my self on all bathrooms and kitchens and neva had a call back.

hope this helps,

lee

[theshedman]

Hi Bobbi, there are a number of things it could be even down to the plaster itself, ie the plasterer could have trowelled the walls too much which makes them too smooth for the paint to stick to. This doesn't happen often though. The most likely thing is that the walls were not given a proper mist coat. You haven't mentioned doing this in your post. A mist coat which is a thinned down coat of emulsion helps the topcoats to adhere properly as it seals the walls first. I would take off the bits that are flaking first, then rub down the bad bits to rough them up just a litttle then give it a mist coat or 2 followed by a couple of coats of the finish paint. I would use Dulux paint too. I have always used it and found that it covers better than the cheap ones so you use fewer coats which in the long term saves money. You will also get a better washable surface which you often don't get with cheaper ones, ie the paint comes off on a cloth when cleaning.

[Bobbi]

Thanks theshedman and kinglee for replies. I think the problem was as shedman says, I hadn't given walls mist coat. I've since done what you suggested - scraped, sanded and put thin coat on before final colour (and good quality paint) - and it was finished yesterday :lol: Hopefully I won't have anymore problems!
Many thanks again