Please Help! Paint removal from drywall a disaster.
#1
Please Help! Paint removal from drywall a disaster.
So this is our first home. My boyfriend just purchased our 2 bedroom coop apartment and we've painted & updated every room with a good amount of success - except the master bath. It was a plain, drab semi-gloss white when we moved in, and since we'd used vibrant fall colors throughout the rest of the apartment, we chose a sharp red in a satin finish for this small bathroom.
Well, the first coat went on all smeary and drippy, and not knowing any better, we figured that a second coat would help. The red was way too bright - it advanced far more than was comfortable in such a small space - and the dripping was only accentuated making it look as if a hideous murder had been committed. So we let it dry and selected a warm, safe beige. We put two coats of primer over the red and then 2 coats of the beige. Satisfied with our work, we began to remove the blue tape protecting the ceiling and woodwork, only to have large patches of paint come peeling off in strips. Apparently the original home's semigloss paint underneath was resistant to the satin finish of our first coats of red.
This was bad enough, but unfortunately it didn't all come off so easily - we were left with bald patches and an incredibly ugly bathroom. We tried using a sander in one area, but even with a fine grade of paper it ate right through the drywall's paper. We tried Peel Away 6, the kind that's supposedly safe for drywall, and ended up with a stubborn, gummy mess. Then we tried sanding that stubborn, gummy mess after it dried and found it still ate away at the drywall's paper, exposing bits of gypsum.
We are on the verge of a nervous breakdown. My boyfriend refuses to even use that bathroom anymore except to take showers. No one can stand to go in there - it seems to be laughing at us, taunting us with our failures!
Will we have to cut out all the walls and hang new drywall to fix this mess? Short of doing that, is there anything we can reasonably do to remedy the situation? Money is a huge issue here - we're just starting out and blew most all we had into just purchasing this darned place.
We are KICKING ourselves for not priming in the first place. Please don't make it hurt any more than it already does by telling us "I told you so..."
Best,
Julie & Steve
Well, the first coat went on all smeary and drippy, and not knowing any better, we figured that a second coat would help. The red was way too bright - it advanced far more than was comfortable in such a small space - and the dripping was only accentuated making it look as if a hideous murder had been committed. So we let it dry and selected a warm, safe beige. We put two coats of primer over the red and then 2 coats of the beige. Satisfied with our work, we began to remove the blue tape protecting the ceiling and woodwork, only to have large patches of paint come peeling off in strips. Apparently the original home's semigloss paint underneath was resistant to the satin finish of our first coats of red.
This was bad enough, but unfortunately it didn't all come off so easily - we were left with bald patches and an incredibly ugly bathroom. We tried using a sander in one area, but even with a fine grade of paper it ate right through the drywall's paper. We tried Peel Away 6, the kind that's supposedly safe for drywall, and ended up with a stubborn, gummy mess. Then we tried sanding that stubborn, gummy mess after it dried and found it still ate away at the drywall's paper, exposing bits of gypsum.
We are on the verge of a nervous breakdown. My boyfriend refuses to even use that bathroom anymore except to take showers. No one can stand to go in there - it seems to be laughing at us, taunting us with our failures!
Will we have to cut out all the walls and hang new drywall to fix this mess? Short of doing that, is there anything we can reasonably do to remedy the situation? Money is a huge issue here - we're just starting out and blew most all we had into just purchasing this darned place.
We are KICKING ourselves for not priming in the first place. Please don't make it hurt any more than it already does by telling us "I told you so..."
Best,
Julie & Steve
#2
You have a mess here for sure. I feel your pain
The best way to fix this mess is to buy a gallon of oil based enamel underbody, or a slow drying heavy bodied oil primer. Not Kilz, it dries way too fast. A penetrating oil primer would work too.
Apply 2 coats, allowing dry time in between. After fully dry, lightly sand the surface, and smooth over all the rough areas with joint compound, as many coats as needed.
Then prime with a quality latex primer, then paint.
Hopefully the red paint left on the walls won't fail underneath the new surface.
Good luck.
The best way to fix this mess is to buy a gallon of oil based enamel underbody, or a slow drying heavy bodied oil primer. Not Kilz, it dries way too fast. A penetrating oil primer would work too.
Apply 2 coats, allowing dry time in between. After fully dry, lightly sand the surface, and smooth over all the rough areas with joint compound, as many coats as needed.
Then prime with a quality latex primer, then paint.
Hopefully the red paint left on the walls won't fail underneath the new surface.
Good luck.
#4
Thank you both for your help. We really learned our lesson on pulling up the tape between coats and the importance of priming!
So, just to be clear - using an oil-based enamel will hopefully penetrate the remaining layers of paint, helping them adhere while smoothing the surface in preparation for the latex primer?
Also, shouldn't we patch the tears in the drywall before we do the oil-based enamel? Won't the joint compound or mud have trouble adhering to an enameled surface, and won't the enamel seep into the exposed patches of gypsum?
Have patience with us - we're obviously in over our heads here!
So, just to be clear - using an oil-based enamel will hopefully penetrate the remaining layers of paint, helping them adhere while smoothing the surface in preparation for the latex primer?
Also, shouldn't we patch the tears in the drywall before we do the oil-based enamel? Won't the joint compound or mud have trouble adhering to an enameled surface, and won't the enamel seep into the exposed patches of gypsum?
Have patience with us - we're obviously in over our heads here!
#5
using an oil-based enamel will hopefully penetrate the remaining layers of paint, helping them adhere while smoothing the surface in preparation for the latex primer?
Also, shouldn't we patch the tears in the drywall before we do the oil-based enamel? Won't the joint compound or mud have trouble adhering to an enameled surface, and won't the enamel seep into the exposed patches of gypsum?
If you try to patch the wall before priming, it could pop off just like the paint did when exposed to humid conditions. If properly primed, then patched, and primed again, you can create a new stable wall surface.
But the ugly thing about all this is the fact the paint was applied incorrectly, or without sufficient surface preparation, so you are at the mercy of that first layer of paint. Hopefully with one or two coats of the oil primer, it will lock it down and you won't have a problem again.
I've seen about 10% failure in this technique, it really depends on the 'why it failed' to know if it will fail again.
And always use the exhaust fan when showering, or crack a window to give someplace for the steam to exit.
Good luck.