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Interior paint problem

RonRappel | Posted in Construction Techniques on May 19, 2004 05:07am

I’m in the process of restoring a 1910 Colonial with plaster walls. The walls have been skim coated, and any remaining imperfections filled with drywall compound. In order to assist the homeowner in choosing a final color in a hallway, I painted a number of 18″ x 18″ squares at approximately eye level along the hallway. Each square consists of two coats of latex paint.

Now that a color has been chosen, I had the interior primer tinted to this color. Before applying the primer, I went over each paint square with 120 grit paper using a palm sander, to make sure the squares would not be visible after the priming and final painting. Now that the primer is on, you can clearly see where each of the paint squares were. The primer pretty much covered the color of each of the squares (the squares and the primer are all an off-yellow), but it seems the two coats on each of the squares are thick enough to be noticeable through the primer.

So the question; how do I fix this? My thought is to use joint compound on the edge of each square to feather it in, sand it, and then reprime those areas. Anybody else have any ideas.

Thanks in advance,
Ron

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Replies

  1. davidmeiland | May 19, 2004 05:12pm | #1

    I think you should skim the entire area. It's not just the edges you're seeing, it's the difference in absorbency between the painted and unpainted areas.

  2. Frankie | May 19, 2004 05:23pm | #2

    I use this same sample/ swatch technique and have had the same result. Therefore, I currently have the Client go through the color selection process after I do the first prime but before I skim the walls. After the color is selected I then prime the sample/ swatch areas and proceed to skimcoat.

    Your only option is to skim the whole wall lightly with specail attention to the edges of each square. Lightly sand and reprime. Then paint.

    BTW, be sure to use an alkyd primer whenever skimming. This is used BEFORE skimming (to provide a proper bonding surface) and AFTER skimming (latex primers don't bond as well with a skimmed wall - they tend to "float" on the surface).

    F.

  3. User avater
    hammer1 | May 19, 2004 06:46pm | #3

    You need to seal such areas with white pigmented shellac. This will cover the color, prime then paint.

    1. RonRappel | May 20, 2004 09:23pm | #4

      Thanks for the suggestions guys; the information is much appreciated.

      Hammer: I think the reason I am seeing the latex paint squares is not due to a difference in the way the primer soaks in to the squares versus the rest of the wall nor the color, but rather the thickness of the squares over the rest of wall. Although I'm guessing the shellac may provide a better primer than what I have now, I don't think it would make the squares any less visible. Do you agree?

      Thanks,

      Ron

      1. User avater
        hammer1 | May 21, 2004 01:35am | #5

        When faced with water or fire stains, crayons and other such marks, painters use a sealer to cover and prevent such stains from bleeding through. White pigmented shellac and a product called KILZ are commonly used. There is no way for me to know what your squares are like. If you just slapped some paint on the wall chances are that the edges are somewhat feathered. If you masked them off then chances are there is a sharp edge. After using a sealer the entire wall is then primed before applying top coats. The choice of top coat has a big influence on what shows. Flat latex is very forgiving, gloss is not. If you feel that there are sharp edges that will show, I would skimcoat with joint compound, sand very well and then use the shellac, primer, top coat. Trying to sand off the paint squares should be rather interesting. You will most likely ruin the wall. People see paint slapped on the wall on some of the new TV shows. Pros know better than to take that aproach. Better to have a few scrap pieces of sheetrock to sample on. Covering such sampling can be a chore and require extra top coats to even things out. I think you've figured that part out. Shellac or KILZ are blockers, primer is not. I'm confident this method will work, I've used it for 35 yrs.

        1. RonRappel | May 21, 2004 04:11pm | #6

          Thanks for all the great info Hammer.  Regarding the squares, I very carefully painted nice sharp edges on all of them; given the two coats, you could feel where the squares were.   In hindsight, I would have been much better off slapping the paint on, maybe not having the second coat covering the first coat exactly.  Oh well, it's a learning experience.

          Regarding what to do in the future, I had the same thought of using scraps of drywall.  Thanks again for your help.

          Ron

          1. User avater
            james | May 21, 2004 07:33pm | #7

            the drywall scrap idea works for us we just stand up a 4x8 and put all of the colors on it, i have had the problem you describe when a client starts to put paint  on the walls before i can stop them, what we did is put a drywall skim over the area ( going abouut 6 - 12 " past ) then sand the entire wall ( we sand after each coat except the final with the porter cable drywall sander ) fallowed by another prime coat with tuff hide ( it is a primer surfacer ) then sand again then top coat.

            regards james

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