So the bathroom project went from a learning experience to pretty much being a disaster tonight. Here is the entire story.........The house was built in the 60's and we are unsure of what the walls are made out of or what was on the walls before. So, we took a painting class over at Lowe's and the guy told us to use Kilz primer which would work for any kind of walls or paint. He also told us to use "Floetrol" for the bathroom which we are thinking was a bad idea now. We have painted two coats of paint over the Kilz primer and the paint peels or gets water spotting everytime that we get any amount of water on the paint. We attempted to put a wallpaper border up on the walls tonight and it made that area wet and the area that got wet made all of the paint come off of the wall. So, we are now wondering what we should do from here? We have been told that we need to clean the walls and sand any of the peeled areas and then put an interior latex primer over the walls and let that dry and then paint over that and then put fans in there to let it dry out. Is this right or should we do something else? Any help here is greatly appreciated!!!

 

To me it sounds like the paint has not dried completely. Perhaps moisture or ? is coming through the paint film still. Put the fans in there for a couple of days and see if it gets hard and stops peeling/blistering. Then fix the peel spots. Stripping the paint is a big job and trying to "glue" it down with more primer if its not dry won't help. I wouldn't use the floetrol. And I like 123 (primer) better than Kilz.

 

Was the kilz primer actually KILZ2, water-based?

And why did he suggest floetrol for the paint?

And how much floetrol was added?

 

The primer was actually Kilz oil based primer, nasty stuff that made us really sick for a couple of days. It is completely stuck on the wall, not going anywhere.

I am not sure why he suggested the Floetrol other than the fact that he said he was a painter for a long time and they used it for all of the projects they did and it would help to keep the paint wet for longer to keep from making mistakes or having it uneven. I think that it has kept moisture in the paint and made it too soft for a bathroom.

I added a half of a small container of Floetrol to the one gallon of paint like the directions of the Floetrol said to use.

 

I've been painting for years, & I have used floetrol only a handful of times, and those were for spraying. IMO you used too much floetrol. I really cant explain why the paint is peeling off, if its not the floetrol causing it, then I just don't know. Seeing the expert at HD told you to do this, try to go back to them and demand that they give you an explanation, or have them pay to have someone fix it. Good luck.

 

Give it some time to dry and cure, at least a week, perhaps longer if the humidity is high.

Have Lowes send a manufacturer's rep out to look at it. It could be too much floetrol or bad paint or so much humidity in the bathroom that its taking a long time to dry and cure.

What paint was it - your description makes it sound like a glaze.