Hi, I made the sorry mistake of priming the bathroom ceiling with BIN too soon after plaster. The GC told me 2 weeks was plenty of time to wait. 🙁 I read an article in TOH magazine which recommended BIN for bathrooms. In any case, I primed too soon, about 3 weeks after fresh plaster. It has now been an entire YEAR and the primer is still peeling! Every 5 or 6 weeks I vacuum the loose stuff and keep hoping it will stop so I can deal with trying to repair it, but there seems to be no end. I’ve included a few photos, but not sure if you can really see what it looks like. Does anyone know how I can fix this????
Replies
Scrape what you can off and sand it down smooth. I'd use another primer because BIN is supposed to be a spot primer. Maybe some PVA type primer would work better.
Are you sure it won't continue to peel through the new coat of primer? If it's still peeling after a year, does that indicate that the bond between the plaster and the BIN failed?
Never can be sure of anything, but if you can't scrape it off now, it's probably stuck. PVA primer is pretty much like glue and should consolidate everything together.
I took took some sandpaper to it this morning. I got practically all of it off above the shower. The rest of the ceiling is still spotty with same bare spots and some places with primer still on it. Usually, the only primer I use is Ben Moore latex primer. What is PVA primer? Is it oil base? Thanks.
PVA is Poly Vinyl Acetate, like white glue. Sticks to just about everything.
"I cut this piece four times and it's still too short."
PVA is water based Polyvinyl Acetate. The can will say PVA on the front if it is PVA. Supposedly it is not for going over old paint, only bare plaster and drywall, but I haven't had a problem.
Try the BM freshstart 100% latex all purpose primer. None of the BM primers are PVA as far as I know.
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Are you sure you don't mean 100% Acrylic?
That's the real sticky stuff.<!---->
Exactly. Didn't proofread my comment. 100% acrylic.
If possible check the duct connection from bathroom fan, if you have one. Do you have water lines in the ceiling? If you do and you find they do not leak, insulate them. I mention this because you say the ceiling continues to peel. The peeling should have stopped when the plaster dried. I believe the humidity in the room or above the ceiling is the problem.If there is insulation in the ceiling , it will be damp too. Turn the fan on, where the duct exits the house you should be able to feel some air. It won't be a blast of air, the fans don't put out much cfm's.If you do not feel any air at all, the duct is not connected to the fan.
mike
There are no pipes above the ceiling. It's a 2nd floor bathroom with attic above. I think the vent is in the roof. I'm not too keen on going up there, but I could check the attic for a disconnection in the fan vent. Thanks.
Did you prime with BIN or another zinnser product? Bin is made by them but they also make other paint products such as Perma White witch is there bathroom paint . Its a selfpriming product. Bin is a term that gets thrown a round a lot. Real BIN made by Zinnser is white pigmented shellac. Shellac is not very moisture tolerant( which is why they only recommend spot priming ext work) so it makes sense it really peeled over the shower. I would try to sand.scrape off all I could and then patch if needed and prime with a product like others mentioned
Hope this helps
Yes, I used true BIN. Normally I prime with BM water based primer. The only reason I didn't this time is because before the bathroom remodel, I had a 40 year old bathroom. I've been in this house for 17 years and for the first 10 years or so, I battled mold on the ceiling. At that point I cleaned the ceiling thoroughly with a bleach solution and primed the whole thing with Kilz, then 2 coats of BM latex ceiling paint. I never had another spot of mold on the ceiling after that! Just before the bathroom remodel I read a TOH article which recommended BIN for priming bathrooms. Argh! Thanks to all who have posted. I am a terrific painter (provided I know the right product to use) but don't have experience with patching, so I'm considering hiring someone to give the ceiling a light skim coat so it will look smooth. I think if I just scrape, sand, prime and paint, I will never be happy with the way it looks. What is the proper material to use for this purpose? Is there something that can be used that will dry in a day or two?
I would scrape / sand off as much loose material as possible. BIN is an excellent stain killer but not a very good primer for new plaster over a shower. I would apply a coat of Peel Stop over the entire surface in question. I believe Peel Stop is made by Zinzser as well. The Zinzser Perma White is a good choice for a top-coat. It is real thick and can be hard to roll. I sprayed 8 gallons of it this week on a ceiling and it worked great. Very translucent when rolled so it may take 2 coats. Perma White contains mildewcides that will supposedly repel mold and mildew for 5 years. It is very shiny and seems to dry quite hard. I would not put PVA on. PVA is great for bare drywall but will not perform to the levels that the above products will. If you are planning on skimming the ceiling, be sure to lock down the peeling prior to application of mud.
Best of luck.
Too late now but maybe part of the problem was that the shower/bath may have been used during the initial 2 or 3 weeks of cure time for the plaster? This may have generated moisture which was absorbed into the surface of the curing plaster so that when it did get painted it didn't bond too well.... just a thought.
Yes, I believe we did use the shower before it was primed. It's the only shower in the house! If I have the ceiling skim coated, will I have to wait 2-3 weeks before using the shower?
"If I have the ceiling skim coated, will I have to wait 2-3 weeks before using the shower?"
Absolutely not. Skim coating will be done with drywall mud. Once the ceiling is skimmed it can be sanded, primed and painted the following day. I would allow the paint to dry for at least 24hrs and then normal shower use can be resumed.
Your original plaster job needed a month to cure because of the high water content in the plaster that must work it's way out. I would be inclined to skim the ceiling with a quick setting compound (either 20min or 45min) depending on the amount of mud needed. A second coat of mud may be needed and that could be topping compound or regular joint compound. Either one will dry over night.
Thank you!
STOP! Step away from the ceiling.1. Scrape cealing with a putty knife as best you can. You will want to get all the loose material off.2. Prime ceiling with an ALKYD (OIL) PRIMER. Alkyd primers are recommended for plaster and compound because they soak in and bond to anything - including plaster or compound dust.3. Scrape primed ceiling with a 6" putty knife. This will get the burrs created by the primer and dust/ loose material off. 4. Skimcoat ceiling with an all-purpose compound - USG green lid - 2 Coats. You can do this yourself. Use a 6" knife for the first coat. Keep it tight. You will not be applying anything measurable and it will look awful when you are done. When dry, (4 hrs) scrape with a 10" - 12" knife and skim again with the larger knife. You will see a marked difference with this coat vs. the first. Compound applies to compound really well. Scrape and apply a thrid coat, if neccessary (yes). DO NOT SAND between coats. You are putting on material thin, so if you sand you are undoing your work. Dry time should be 4-6 hrs at 68* during the winter. Light sand, by hand, only after final coat,5. Prime ceiling with an Alkyd (oil) primer.6. Paint ceiling with BM Aquapearl or Semi Gloss paint. 2 Coats.7. Step back and admire your fine efforts.Note: If you have a fan in the bathroom, keep it on while showering and for 15 min afterwards while doing the repair - especially when plaster or compound is exposed.Hope this helps,FrankieThere he goes—one of God's own prototypes—a high powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live and too rare to die.—Hunter S. Thompson
from Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas
Well, it sounds excrutiating ... but you sound like you know what you're talking about! Off to Home Depot. Could I possibly use a water based primer instead? I really hate oil based paint/primer because of the cleanup. Yes, there is a fan which is vented through the attic and out the roof. And ... there is lots of plaster exposed now, almost the entire area over the shower, as I've been scraping/sanding the peeling BIN so it must be absorbing some moisture every time one of us takes a shower. And this has been going on for a year.
You MUST use an alkyd (oil) based primer. Oil primers soak INTO the plaster while waterbased primers FLOAT on plaster. It is what it is. I did not make the rules. Clean-up for oil is more involved, but it's the price we pay to get things that last.Good luck.FrankieThere he goes—one of God's own prototypes—a high powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live and too rare to die.—Hunter S. Thompson
from Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas
since Bin is shellac based, use alcohol as a solvent to loosen the remaining primer. I would use Perma White as a bath ceiling paint. No need for a primer, 1 coat primes. 2cnd coat finishes. Why did the gc tell you when to paint, I have painted new plaster after a few days curing. The Bin did too good of a job of sealing the plaster, next time use a primer made for the job at hand. Jim Z
I picked up a gallon of satin permawhite for $2.00 last week at lowes because it was damaged. Looks like another can leaked on it. ??? Good discount!
great price, read the label. it self primes.
I read that, but i'm pretty big on using primer first.