# ceiling paint in bathroom



## dougrus

Hi welcome to the forum....

I have a few questions that will help the other members and myself try to find the problem.

1. I assume you have no exhast fan? This is _very important_ in keeping moisture at bay in a bathroom.

2. How long did you wait after you painted the ceiling before you used the shower?

3. What was the surface of the ceiling like before you painted it? Did you prep the ceiling by lightly sanding and cleaning before painting?


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## 747

first you went with the wrong paint. Always go with zineers permawhite mold and mildew resistant for bathrooms. When i did my bathroom i went with zineers (spelling i think) bulls eye 123 primer and the perma white for the paint. I listen to the painters here like slickshift.


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## Paintguy26

1) Come here, _before_ you paint

2) Shop for paint at Sherwin Williams or a Benjamin Moore dealer. 

3) You'll be suprised that you can buy MUCH better paint, for about 5-10 more per gallon, while saving you _this _exact trouble your having.

4) I recommend listening to painting contractors in here. Most of us are reliable and consistant.


Now...your problem. I'll tell you how to fix it, not explain why it failed.
*You need to go with a bathroom/mildew/moisture paint. Perma White(zinsser) or Bath Paint(sherwin) are ideal. You also need a good primer/sealer. (Zinsser) 1.2.3 is the primer I use daily. Sand your ceiling and wipe it. Paint 1 coat with the primer. (Follow dry times) Paint with 1 coat of 'bathroom paint'. It's your choice to put 1 more coat. *Ideally, *(as the paint can probably says) it could take a week or more for the paint to really dry and 'cure', _before _getting moist/being cleaned/etc.

Now, we all know, not everyone has a spare bathroom to shower in, but if you do....use it for at least a few days. If not, try to paint as far ahead of a shower as you can. Tell the members of the household to plan on not showering there for a day or so. :wink: (they/you might go to a friends house, etc)...Using this paint/method should guard you against any further problems. I've done it just like this, it works, but only if done the way I've described.

Good luck


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## dougrus

Do not forget that a very important aspect of this is that you have no exhast fan and the room is very small. Over time the excessive moisture WILL do damage. I think one of your priorities should be to install one. A window is often not enough because the steam rises right to the ceiling. The right paint and techniques as described above will help...But I think it is important to address the excessive moisture.


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## SgtBaldy

Only thing i would add is if there are existing water stains on the ceiling then go with zinnser cover-stain oil primer. Water stains will come through water-based sealer like 1-2-3.


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## gorilla325

dougrus said:


> Hi welcome to the forum....
> 
> I have a few questions that will help the other members and myself try to find the problem.
> 
> 1. I assume you have no exhast fan? This is _very important_ in keeping moisture at bay in a bathroom.
> 
> 2. How long did you wait after you painted the ceiling before you used the shower?
> 
> 3. What was the surface of the ceiling like before you painted it? Did you prep the ceiling by lightly sanding and cleaning before painting?


hi, thanks for all the replies. 

1. no, i do not have an exhaust fan.
2. i waited for 2 days i think. or 1 and half days before we started to use the bathroom. 
3. the condition of the ceiling was fine. i mean there's no flakes, no mildew. i did not sand and clean the ceiling before i prime and paint. well, now come to think of it, i might see some dust. however, i thought i should get flakes, not the "raindrop". 

the paint looks fine for now. the problem is the the moisture formed raindrops on the ceilings. it seemed to me that many of you suggested me to repaint the bathroom with better product. i am really puzzled why i used behr before and was fine, but now i have this "raindrop" problem...  i will need to find some paintshot, i guess. 

can i get a dehumidifier so the paint could dry off more quickly? just wondering...


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## Paintguy26

gorilla325 said:


> hi, thanks for all the replies.
> 
> 1. no, i do not have an exhaust fan.
> 2. i waited for 2 days i think. or 1 and half days before we started to use the bathroom.
> 3. the condition of the ceiling was fine. i mean there's no flakes, no mildew. i did not sand and clean the ceiling before i prime and paint. well, now come to think of it, i might see some dust. however, i thought i should get flakes, not the "raindrop".
> 
> the paint looks fine for now. the problem is the the moisture formed raindrops on the ceilings. it seemed to me that many of you suggested me to repaint the bathroom with better product. i am really puzzled why i used behr before and was fine, but now i have this "raindrop" problem...  i will need to find some paintshot, i guess.
> 
> can i get a dehumidifier so the paint could dry off more quickly? just wondering...


Raindrops are normal...it's just excess moisture that puddles up. It has nothing to do with what product you used. BUT...a better product will help guard against these 'raindrops' from infiltrating underneath. Good luck

ps-just use a fan to dry the paint faster...or turn up the heat for a bit


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## gorilla325

thanks.  

at least i know now i need to find a way to get rid the moisture, not repaint...


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## Paintguy26

gorilla325 said:


> thanks.
> 
> at least i know now i need to find a way to get rid the moisture, not repaint...


Ok, I think you're missing something here. I'll be blunt....

*I would repaint* with a Bathroom paint, following the steps marked out. :yes: 

Then you can have peace of mind....

...and I would either put a fan in the window during showers or look into something to cut down on the moisture buildup...


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## J187

Seriously, Gorilla, what I think you are not realizing that Paintguy is trying to point out is this. 

Lets say your post didn't say anything about raindrops, moisture or anything. IN fact, pretend you posted "hey guys, I just painted my ceiling w/ behr paint". You'd get the same response from us. The point is, these guys are trying to save you the hassle of having paint penetrate the surface of the garbage behr paint you used and begin destroying the walls. It will moisten and soften the compound or plaster. Walls will loosen, paint will flake, it'll become a hell of a lot more work. DO yourself a huge favor. Go to Sherwin, buy bathpaint. Last time I was there, bathpaint was on sale - I bought a quart for $9.59. I don't think you can even buy behr for that. <~~ Look, I have such little respect for behr, I won't even capitalize the b. 

Seriously though, Behr WILL break down and allow moisture into your walls. ESPECIALLY without an exhaust fan. LIsten, your house will LOVE you if you just take a little time effort and money and do this right. Repaint w/ bathpaint. A little trick to use, while you are giving the paint ample time to dry if you only have one bath, avoid using the shower at all for at least one or two days, then, switch to quick baths if you have a tub for the next few days. It won't keep all the moisture out, but it will stop the water from splashing to the ceiling and it will reduce the amount of moisture by alot. Also, its not a very expensive nor a difficult job to add an exhaust fan. It may require a bit of wiring if you wish to put it on a different switch then your other lights, but its worth whatever you have to do, even if that means paying someone. You can install a nice countdown timer on the fan too, that way you can set it for 45 minutes, take a nice 15 min shower and get out knowing the fan will clear moisture a full half hour after you are done. Good luck.


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## gorilla325

thanks, guys. you guys are very serious about this behr paint thing.  

kk, i am going to look for a paint shot around my house. see if i could put my hands on the paint brands, you guys mentioned. 

exhaust fan...it seemed to me that you need to open up the wall and do stuff...that scares to me... i doubt i could do the job.

one more thing, if the ceiling is not very straight,, could this be one of the reason the waterdrops formed? i do not mean a rough surface, however, some parts of my ceilings looked wavy... the surface looked smooth enough though.


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## JMGP

Gorilla...


I agree with what all has said above...

Just want to add another thought as to "why" you see more than usual moisture....

When new paint is applied it goes through a curing process... all of the VOC's start to evaperate... which causes moisture (humidity)... have you ever painted a room and the windows fog up on you? That is from the curing process....

If you used a semi gloss... that would take longer to cure than a flat paint... and if you took a shower a day later... the paint was probably still releasing it's VOC's... It may have been dry to the touch but still curing....

Also... if it is colder outside where you live it is probably colder inside... so when you take a hot shower is causes MORE moisture in the air...

Your issue is nothing to be alarmed about... it is just a couple of combined factors that are creating access moisture... when or if you re-paint it I would put a fan in the room to circulate the air to allow the paint to cure faster...

And like some have said... stay away from the orange store for your paint... use a "paint store" for your painting needs... I recommend Ben Moore...


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## dougrus

Gorilla,

In a situation like this where there are factors working against you, i.e the size of the room, lack of fan, below average paint, you need to use whatever means you can to ensure that damage to paint walls, etc is mimimized as much as possible. You cant enlarge the room, the fan seems to be something you dont feel you can do or dont want to hire out, so, by default, you need to use the best possible paint that you can to seal out the water. 
Example: my sister just spent like 15,000 on a bathroom last year....they didnt have a fan either....About a month ago she called me over to look at her new popcorn ceiling above the shower...spots of black mildew everywhere.
Dont mean to sound dramatic but moisture is insidious...if you give it any way to get into your houses structure it will do damage. 
Point is, if you are seing even a little damage to the paint now, give it a few years of daily showers, etc... As the guys said, save yourself the time and effort now and prime and paint with a product designed specifically for this application.
Just my 2c
:yes:


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## ohman

dougrus said:


> Do not forget that a very important aspect of this is that you have no exhast fan and the room is very small. Over time the excessive moisture WILL do damage. I think one of your priorities should be to install one. A window is often not enough because the steam rises right to the ceiling. The right paint and techniques as described above will help...But I think it is important to address the excessive moisture.


Sorry to "wake" this thread. Here is a photo of our stand-up shower room and the ceiling mildew:

A contractor friend of ours suggest that we use a product called "marlite" for the bathroom ceiling, said that it would prevent any mildew problems like this in the future. Can anyone please comment on this please? Thanks!


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## ric knows paint

ohman said:


> Sorry to "wake" this thread. Here is a photo of our stand-up shower room and the ceiling mildew:
> 
> A contractor friend of ours suggest that we use a product called "marlite" for the bathroom ceiling, said that it would prevent any mildew problems like this in the future. Can anyone please comment on this please? Thanks!


Your contractor friends name doesn't happen to be Joe, does it? ..(JK)...Marlite won't help - it may make the mildew easier to clean off the surface - but chances are you're just gonna drive more mildew beneath the marlite that can't be cleaned as readily.

You need air movement - a fan - a properly vented fan - a fan vented to the outside...and you need a surface that doesn't provide a food source for mildew...and you could probably use better lighting in there. Clean the surface *thoroughly & completely* with a TSP and household bleach solution. Rinse with clean water* thoroughly*. If the mildew appears to be beneath the last coat(s) of paint, you may want to sand through the paint a bit to get the solution beneath the paint film - or remove the paint film. 

Once cleaned and dried (and after the exhaust fan is properly installed) prime and paint the ceiling with an acrylic system, preferably one with a built in anti-microbial (Davis Paints Perfection / Muralo Paints Nano-Kote / California Paints - I don't remember what theirs is called / Devoe Paints Regency /or other companies that offer this type of system with an appropriate primer).

The best solution for preventing mildew is to keep it dry, keep it reasonably well lit, and make sure a food source isn't provided (soap scum, cheap paints, alkyd paints, et al). Oh...and get a fan installed.


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