# Paint bubbles after heavy rain



## emerthor (Sep 2, 2012)

Hello all,

We hired a guy to paint our house and take care of our windows. Our house has a lot of windows and he's just about done with them. Anyway, the house was painted about 10 days ago. Everything was looking great. However, after 2 days of continual rains, bubbles appeared this morning on some areas of the house. Is this something that will dissipate soon or are these going to require sanding and more painting? Should we expect the painter to take care of this, or is this kind of issue something that we should now be responsible for since it happend several days ago?


----------



## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

Most likly moisture pushing the paint off the wall trying to get out.
What did the wall look like before it was painted, peeling paint, wood rot ECT.
What did he do to prep the area before painting?
Was he painting latex over oil?


----------



## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

http://www.sherwin-williams.com/hom...sagging-wrinkling/bubbling-foaming-cratering/


----------



## emerthor (Sep 2, 2012)

It is old metal siding that he thoroughly power washed.


----------



## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

What did he use for paint?


----------



## emerthor (Sep 2, 2012)

Behr premium plus ultra satin enamel


----------



## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

There's part of your problum.


----------



## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

I've been in this business of painting all my life and I have never heard of paint doing such a thing on ALUMINUM. I've seen it happen on wood just not on metal. With wood it's very easy to get moisture trapped underneath the paint film. Metal is a whole different story. The paint lays on the surface and does not soak into the substrate so it is difficult to get water trapped under the coats of paint. I would give it a week or two. Sometimes bubbles like that tend to lay down and disappear as the paint cures. Not a fan of Behr paint but I don't use it so I can't comment on how it reacts on certain substrates under certain conditions. It could very well be that with the constant heavy rain and water laying on the newly painted surface, it is somehow wicking moisture through the paint film or moisture is making it's way underneath the paint film somehow. Where's "Ric knows Paint" when you need him?


----------



## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

emerthor said:


> Behr premium plus ultra satin enamel


has to be moisture somehow


----------



## notmrjohn (Aug 20, 2012)

emerthor, its painters responsibility, it only happened a *few*, not several days ago. Some things that happen weeks or months down the line can also be painters responsibility. 
Gymschu, away back when I was in collitch, I worked for a sign painter, well established, had more years of experience in area than I had years. One job was a yellow square 15' on a side with a black capital Gothic A in it on the side of a metal building. Building was baked enamel finished, huge bay doors spaces still open. This was farm country in Texas Panhandle, nice dry climate, humidity 40%, not yet summer, temps reaching 80's mebbee 90's in afternoon. This guy had done hundreds of similar jobs. First morning we masked off area, lightly scuff sanded, wiped and hosed it down. Next mid morning everything nice and clean and dry, we paint a big glossy yellow square with sign painters oil enamel (that is some great paint I've since used it for non sign purposes, kinda pricy) 3rd morning we come to paint the big A. Yellow paint had bubbled up, some were huge 2' across on down to lil bitty ones, places falling off, paint running down wall below. Sign painter actually slowly sunk to ground and sat there staring at it. We never figured out exactly what happened, called paint tech rep but couldn't wait for him to actually see B4 we had to try again. he did take paint samples but reported no problems. Of course places where it didn't bubble off paint was a ***** to remove. And the repaint had no problem at all. Best we could figure was that day to night temp variation (that time of year it can be from 90's day to below 60 night) caused condensation on the paint, it somehow penetrated instead of just running down and streaking. Then the oil floated on the water, in Biblical proportions. I had to drive by that big A building two to four times a day for years on way to and from school, work, and home.


----------



## Will22 (Feb 1, 2011)

Early moisture, especially heavy rain, can disturb the curing of the paint applied to this siding (especially if it is tinted to a medium or deep color). This is not unusual for this time of year. In most cases, the blisters recede, but sometimes they don't. The best method to remedy this is to sand the blistered areas smooth (which do not recede) after the coating has dried thoroughly. Clean off any dust, and recoat. In most areas, I assume that the paint is performing in a satisfactory manner (good adhesion and appearance).


----------

