Hi -

I finished painting a bathroom with a good-quality semi-gloss paint, let it dry for 3 days, and reinstalled my spring-loaded shower curtain rod. I noticed the following day that the rod should be slightly higher, and when trying to move it, Irealized that it was stuck to the new paint. Being the perfectionist that I am, I forced the curtain rod and was left with two spots where the paint and top papery layer of wall board were torn away (because the paint stuck to the ends of my spring-loaded curtain rod). So now I was left with two unpainted circles on my newly-painted wall where the paint and top layer of board had stuck to the ends of the rod.

OK, so I use spackle to touch-up the spots, sand down and repaint. I wait a week this time before putting the curtain rod back up (and also checked my home humidity level to ensure it wasn't too high - 30% seemed fine to me). For giggles, last week I wanted to see if I would be able to move the curtain rod without having the same problem, and lo and behold, it's stuck to the paint again. Any advice on what's going on here? I would have thought that after a full week of drying time that the paint would have been totally tackless. Thoughts? I'm really stumped!

Nibs

 

A week of curing should have done it
I suppose it's in a high humidity area of the house
If the room has been cold, that would affect curing
And it's possible the rod tension and shape is just too much for even the cured paint
What type/brand paint? Is there a fan in the bathroom?

 

My wife and I don't have any kids and this is not a room where we regularly shower (it's literally a guest bath. It's in a central location of the house and gets virtually no use (although it's door is always open and has it's own heat register circulating air. I really don't think it's a humidity issue.

The paint I used was a signature series paint from a big box store that's meant for high-humidity use. It's branded as mold/mildew resistant and is slated as being specifically made for bathrooms. I'll tell you I'm truly stumped. I've never heard of this before and I've painted room after room for the past 12 months without any similar problems...

Nibs

 

I've had trouble with big box brand paint curing
We have instances, on these boards, of it taking three weeks
I agree, a week is a long time to cure
But it would not be unheard of

I was also going to say the ends of the rod could've cut into the paint, but I re-read and see you were using a spring loaded rod, I'm assuming with flat ends, so I guess that's out

I suspect the paint was simply not cured

I just did a bath with Zinsser's Perma-White (avail at some big boxes) and had no problems with a spring loaded rod after two days, that was long for me (they were not in a rush)
I usually only wait 24 hours

Improper prep of the surface could lead to paint failure, but that would show up in other areas too

I can't see how it's anything other than the product's fault
You've done everything right as far as I can tell
A week was above and beyond

 

I agree. Often the lower quality latex enamels won't dry as hard as the better enamels will. This used to be a problem with all latex enamels when they first came out but I haven't had any problems like that in many years using good quality paint.