Walls and Ceilings - Remodeled Bathroom Mistake

A couple of years ago, my wife and I began remodeling our house. One of our first projects was a bathroom. We used regular wallboard (sheetrock) and water based primer and paint.

Since then, I have leared that we should have used water resistant wallboard and oil based primer to seal things up.

Since we learned too late, is there anything we can do at this point to "seal things up" so that we will not have to redo the walls and ceiling a few years down the road?

Thanks,

Is thier a shower, bath, or fan in the bathroom?

Yes, there is a shower/bath and a fan but no window. We now try and use the fan whenever we take a shower but we don't always remember.

The thought of having to rip apart this bathroom in a few years makes me cringe.

Might think about rewiring the fan so it's activated whenever the light switch is turned on, or just remember to turn it on prior to using the shower.

As far as using M/R board, code requires it in new construction in alot of places, but IMHO it's hardly worth the added expense , because I absolutely guarantee that if it's directly exposed to water, like from a leaky pipe, the results will be the same as if it was regular drywall, same thing applies for fire rock, you expose it to direct flame & quess what the paper will burn.

Only thing I would have done differently in your bath reno would have been to use a oil-based primer & paint, but if you used a decent quality latex it should be fine for a long time. Certainly not worth ripping out all your hard work & starting over.

I would not advise trying to paint over the latex with oil-base paint now, the results most likely will not be good.

You can apply oil over latex with no problems if the latex paint is sound. I would suggest putting 2 coats of Drawtite over it. This is a clear primer made by Scotch Paints in Cali. Or Zinsser makes a product called Gardz, which doesn't have as many solids in it as Drawtite, but compares decently to it. These primers are very resistant to rewetting. Then paint it with a semi-gloss paint, once again 2 coats for durability. This is about waterproof as you can get without applying an epoxy of some sort.

But as Dell said, if you got a leak, nothing is going to stop it anyways.

Ok I stand corrected. Prowallguy is the painting pro, I do paint, but I'll sub it out if I get a chance, not one of my favorite tasks. :D

I had a bad experience once trying to apply oil primer over some existing latex, old paint peeled off in big sections & it turned into a nightmare job that I lost my shirt on, ever since then I just avoid it.

Never too old to learn something new, thanks prowall;)

If I ever come across drywall jobs bigger than 1 sheet, I sub it out too.

Is there any damage to your walls or are you just worried? Also, did you tile your shower? If you did whats behind that?

No damage as of yet. Just worried I will have to do it all over again as soon as damage shows up. There is no tile in the shower. It is a three piece tub/shower insert.

I think the only mistake you made was the paint. If moisture can't get through the paint then it can't affect your drywall. Greenboard is all in your head. If it gets wet it falls apart just as much as regular.

Two thoughts on your about your fan:

1. Consider installing a timer switch so that it keeps running for a period of time after you have left the bathroom so as to completely eliminate the humidity (or odor). Available at the Orange Plague and other home improvement centers. Make sure it is rated for motor use (will cost more than the ones for lighting use).

2. Consider installing a dehumidistat to work with the fan. This would power the fan automatically when the humidity gets too high and keep the fan running until the humidity is brought back down. Some fans come with one installed in the fan unit themselves. Just leave the switch on.

or you can just wire the fan to the light switch as suggested before.

These are all exclusive of each other - can't really do all at once.