Hi all,

I am spackling/painting my kid's room. I noticed there is what appears to be a growth flashing through the paint on the door/window trim in a couple of places. I also noticed the caulk looks a little red/pink near the stains in the wood trim for the window. I don't see any evidence of water intrusion into the house and the stains are happening on two different sides of the room (exterior wall for window and interior wall for door).



Interior wall door trim

Exterior wall window trim (the wall was not wet, that stain on the wall is from me using a damp sponge to clean spackle dust)
I originally installed this pre-primed trim 7 years ago on humid days in Summer and painted with 2 coats of Sherwin Williams ProClassic Acrylic semigloss paint. Any ideas on what it could be? Should I rip the trim out and replace or can I use a sealing primer like Zinnser shellac primer and paint?

 

On the paint that is "bleed through". It is common with water based paints. To prevent it you should prime the wood with an oil based stain blocking primer. Then top coat with the latex of your choice. The caulk is just yellowing with age. With a quality paint job the caulk is painted over but with a lower quality job they paint the wall and trim then caulk last to fill the gap and cover the transition.

 

Not that it's impossible but mold/growth grows on surfaces, it needs oxygen. As mentioned it looks like something just bleeding through, maybe a dampness/condensation stain, old age. Nothing I would be worried about, have you tried cleaning the stain?

 

I tried cleaning the stains with a solution of 16 ounces of water and 1 ounce of orange cleaner concentrate. This did not clean the stains. Should I try using bleach? It looks more like bleed through to me than something on the surface.

Would it be ok for me to use Zinsser Shellac Primer?

Thanks.

 

Either BIN or an oil base primer will work.

 

Personally I hate, hate, oil based paints and primers, gave them up decades ago. There are some excellent latex primers out there, I use this.

Nice thing, I have not lost a brush because of oil for 15 years!

https://www.prattandlambert.com/prod...primer-sealer/