Hi again,

this weekend's project was to mount a new shower curtain rod in the
bathroom. The girlie insisted on a curved one because she likes
'em... eh, whatever. So I had to patch the holes from the old one.
Got that done, but while doing so I noticed that there was a soft spot
in the wall just above the tile in the shower area. This is a house
built in the late 40s and has the typical walls tiled halfway up
around the room, going up higher in the shower area. After fixing
everything up and spot painting, I started paying attention in the
shower and noticed a couple of things:

1) The PO painted the bathroom with some environmentally friendly crap
paint that frankly doesn't work. I'm noticing alligatoring and
peeling on the ceiling already, and it's only been maybe 6 mos. since
it was painted (not long before we moved in.)

2) There's evidence of repairs in the plaster above the tile in the
shower stall. I had no idea how recent it was, but when showering
this AM I noticed that simply by standing under the shower and letting
the water hit my back, water was hitting the wall above the tile.
Doesn't appear to be anything I can do about this.

So... it looks like at least a repaint is in order in the near
future. I am guessing to get a proper job I need to sand all the
plaster surfaces at least 1-2 coats of paint back to get a smooth
surface that new paint can grip to.

questions:

1) what do I use to sand? Regular garnet paper, or would a drywall
sanding screen actually work better for sanding paint?

2) Is there any specific product that would be good for leveling out
problem areas? Is there such a thing as a spackle or patching plaster
that is more water resistant than normal?

3) Could really use some recommendations for primer and paint, as to
what would be the MOST water resistant. I realize that the "right
fix" would be to add another course or two of tile in the shower area,
but I don't see that happening this year. I'm thinking Zinsser primer
followed by a good coat of high quality paint, but I don't know what
paint to use or if there is a better primer product.

4) I'd like to add an exhaust fan as well. It would have to be a
through the wall type due to the unique configuration of my house,
unless I find that the actual wall of the house extends above the
level of the ceiling enough to install a vent up there. I kind of
doubt this is the case, so... any gotchas on a through-wall fan?
Recommendations for any specific brand/model? Currently I am just
using a fan in the window, but it is a PITA to open the window and set
it in every time I want to take a shower.

thanks for any advice...

nate