On 1/18/2005 12:36 PM US(ET), Alan took fingers to keys, and typed the
following:

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...


"Alan" wrote in message
...


"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
...


"Alan" wrote in message
...


After being in the house for about 7 years, we decided to repaint. We
hired
a professional painter. Everything came out fine. A few months later,


the


paint in the smallest bathroom started to blister. We had used the


best


paint available for bathrooms. Prior to repainting, there was no
blistering,
though the tape on some seams had started to peel a bit. The painter


came


back out, scraped off everything that was loose, reprimed and
repainted.


A


few months later- same problem. He came out again. This time, we


replaced


the exahust fan with a stronger fan and vented it to the eave. He


scraped,


primed, painted. This time we let the primer dry for a month (and no
blistering). He then painted, and we let it dry for a week before


using


the
shower in that bathroom. A few months later- same problem. In each
case,
the
blistering occurred in the spring or fall, when the heat pump/ac was


least


active, so the air was not drying very quickly.

Anyway... What is the least expensive way to fix this problem?
Wallpaper
is
fine, if that will work. Our painter doesn't think it will, but I am
not
so
sure of his knowledge now. I don't know if the previous owners had


used


an


oil-based (or other non-latex) paint prior. Oh, one other intersting
thing-
when he scraped the last time, in some areas the paint came off all


the


way
down to the greeenboard. No mold or mildew, just blistering like


crazy.




Did he use oil or latex, and which one for primer and finish paint?




Latex for both.




Hmm. Someone will disagree with me here based on their own luck using


latex,


but personally, I would never use latex paint in a damp environment. You
could still have problems with oil paint if the prep work wasn't done


right,


but barring that, oil will always hold up better. Do whatever you can to
assure perfect conditions such as temperature, even if it means you have


to


wait till spring so you can open the windows & prevent damaging your brain
cells from the fumes.





What kills me is that I asked this guy about that, and he said that latex is
no problem- he uses it all the time. He would probably come back out again
if I asked him to, but he's already convinced me that he has no clue- so why
bother.... Well, onward... What is involved with the prep for oil? Scraping
down to bare geenboard is probably not realistic. Just scrape off whatever I
can? I will defintely wait till spring.


My 20 year old bathrooms (with showers) were all originally painted
with latex and have been repainted with latex a couple of times since.
I have never had a problem with bubbling of the paint.

--
Bill