The bathroom cabinets were a disaster, so I decided to give them a coat of paint to improve their look. I used a coat of primer paint, then applied two coats of a good quality latex paint (brown).
It’s been a week since the paint dried, and I just started using that bathroom again. When I got out of the shower earlier I noticed some discolorations in the paint that looked like water ran been splashed on the surface and discolored the paint as it ran down the surface.
I painted the walls years ago (white) with no issues, so why am I seeing this on the cabinets? Should there be some sort of sealing top coat? If so, why are the walls behaving?
House is going up for sale in a few days, so need answer rather fast if I need to do more work.
Random guess, they were stained and sealed to begin with and that seal coat needed to be removed, or at least scuffed (physically or chemically) before you painted them. Or maybe it’s just the wrong paint (latex over oil/stain/varnish? super high gloss that hasn’t dried?)
I’m sure they can be saved, weather it’s something to put over them or sanding, I don’t know. Since you’re in a hurry, I’d suggest taking one of the doors off, even better if the inside hasn’t been painted and take it to a ‘real’ paint store. Not Home Depot or Lowes. Go find a Benjamin Moore or Sherwin Williams or one of those paint stores that’s been tucked away for decades and has two old guys working in there…talk to them, they’ll tell you how to fix it.
Neglected to mention I sanded them with 220 grit before priming, and washed with TSP. Good suggestion about the door. Sherwin Williams provided the paint I used, so I can take it there.
In case the problem remains after it dries … couple of nitpicks … you must have worked you own pinkies to blisters sanding with 220, I use 150 and get excellent results, but this wouldn’t have cause your problem … primer paint I assume you cleaned up with water, I always use oil-based primer on bare wood and just final coat paint on already painted surfaces, you scruffed it up good with sandpaper remember but again probably not the problem …
I’ve had this happen to me before, it’s as though the water droplets get partially reabsorbed by the paint especially by some of the pigment particles … as the water runs down it leaves behind the binder and some of the pigment, giving you your “discolored” look … BUT this only happens to me if I paint 6 or 12 hours before the water intrusion, be it rain or dew …
In these types of matters I’m loath to disagree with JoeyP … but I’m kinda sorta left with nothing except bad paint … did you buy the $75 a gallon Sherwin Williams, or did you use the $10 a gallon Sherwin Williams? … because a fair to good quality paint should have cured enough to withstand a bit of moisture after a full week …
QUESTION: Why did you put two coats of brown latex on? … this sets off my alarm bells, the cheap-o Tru-Value paint I’ve been using for almost always covers with one coat … I’ve a gallon of Lowe’s Valspar white that covered dark purple in a single coat … this could be simply the paint was mixed using the wrong base, or it could be just crap paint to begin with … if JoeyP has high regard for Sherwin Williams as a brand, then I’m stuck … if we eliminate all the possible causes, then we must consider the impossible causes … take a bit of sandpaper and try sanding the new paint … it won’t sand clean but there also shouldn’t be little balls of paint coming off either … if the paint comes off in little balls or gums up the sandpaper, then you have bad paint …
Throw on another coat and never use that bathroom again … let the next owners worry about it … by then the crap paint might have cured and they’ll never know …
I was worried about leaving scratch marks that would show through, and I had a bunch of 220 lying around so I used that. I’ll try 150 next time.
Behr Premium Plus Ultra (could have sworn it was Sherwin – I used them everywhere else).
When I rollered it on, I always had a little of the white coat showing through. Rather than slather it on and risk dripping, I went for two coats. The doors I had to do by brush, and the nooks and crannies required three coats.
I did indeed have better luck on the exterior with S-W, but I heard Behr was good, too. Maybe I should have stuck with S-W. I tried sanding the underside of a drawer front. It sanded clean, with nothing gumming up the sandpaper.
120 is borderline … I can get by with this because I tend to put a really thick coat of paint on …
Behr is good, just a little overpriced I think … for homeowner tasks it’s good value, I’m buying four or five 5-gallon buckets at a time so it’s worth it to me to shop around …
It take touch to slather the paint on with a roller, something learned through experience … spray rigs is another method that takes an experienced touch … but just about anyone can put a nice thick coat on with a brush … I don’t paint often enough so I’m strictly a brush cub …
Especially with latex, the rule of thumb is that if you are having no runs, you’re thinning out the paint to much … you should always be having to go back and take a few seconds to clean up these runs … latex sets in a hurry, try to use that to your advantage …
You said the door returned to normal after it dried … that means the pigment has been bound well enough in the base … I’m guessing this will just be annoying for a few weeks, but no permanent harm is being done …
It takes a hell of a long time for paint to cure … the trick is making paint that will cure enough in a few weeks to be serviceable … take some wall paint and paint the top of a shelf … wait a week and set a jar full of pennies on it … wait another week and break the jar loose … see the ring imprinted in the paint? … didn’t cure enough for the load … wall paint isn’t formulated for such abuse …
I’m not sure which part you disagree with, but I’m confused about the whole issue, so I’m just sort of tossing out ideas here. And yeah, any paint, I’d think, would have dried after a week. That’s why I was thinking it didn’t grab onto the surface which is why I was wondering if maybe it had a seal on it to begin with that wasn’t prepped properly, but it sounds like it was.
Like I said earlier (I think), I painted my bathroom with super duper high gloss and it was tacky for like a month, at least, but there was no issues. No water damage, it wasn’t coming off on your hands if you touched it. It was odd, I’m sure the hot showers everyday weren’t helping, but that was it.
Sorry, no. I’ve used Benny Moore. Sherwin Williams was the only other place I could think of off the top of my head that had independent stores. My point was more that the OP really needs to find someone to talk to that’s been working with paint their entire life, as opposed to working at Home Depot for 3 months.
Going to an actual “paint store” for advice is probably going to be the best option. Either that or biting the bullet and sanding everything all the way back down to bare wood and starting over. But depending on what he’s up against and considering the time crunch, that might not be feasible unless he wants to hire someone.
I did see that Patch used Behr paint. Personally, that’s my go to paint. I’ve never had a problem with it. I’ve had problems with other paints, but never Behr. A little more expensive but I hate painting and I’d rather get a $35 can of Behr and do two coats than get a $10 can of garbage and do 5 coats since it won’t cover.
Thanks for the advice everyone. Learned a lot for the next paint project. I assume it’s still got a little curing to do, so I’m just going to let it sit. Too much going on for me to try and deal with a whole new problem.
