I started painting my downstairs bath about six weeks ago. Small room, should have been done long ago. For the first twenty-five years in the house the room was papered. So I strip the paper, wash the wall "reel" good to get the paste off. Sand wall down, fill in all the little cracks and crevices with mud, so when the paint goes on its as smooth as a baby arse. Work diligently on this room for a couple of weeks after work. Paint room with an interior Pittsburgh latex paint primer. All is well. Fill in a few spots with mud I missed. Touch up those spots with primer. Put on first coat of Benjamin Moore latex turtle egg color the wife liked and within minutes the wall had blistered so bad it look like the worse case of chicken pox you ever saw. Spents the next week sanding and mudding. Yesterday hit the wall with Benjamin Moore primer, so it matched the paint I was putting on after the primer and it still blistered. As a matter of fact the mud I used to fill in the cracks blistered also. So I picked up and 1 1/2 inch chisle and started scraping it all off.

Anybody have any ideas whats wrong? :huh:

Once the paper came off and the glue was removed alot of times you still have to "neutralize" the walls.1:3 vinegar/water.Then really let it dry I mean for a couple of days.

Before you do anything else prime it with an oil base primer like Kilz or CoverStain.Then do your mudding and sanding then give it a full prime again.Then hit it with your finish.

Older plaster like horsehair and calcimine can cause blistering too if the surface isn't prepared properly.

Unfortunately you're now in a position where you've done a lot of work to it that its now going to be that much harder to fix it.Using the vinegar/water mix may not work to well now.You may have to look into specialized primers that are alkali resistant.BennyMoore makes one as does Pittsburg.

If you get the walls back to the point more or less to right after you stripped the paper and glue I would try the dousch mixture first and procede as I first outlined.

Swimmer,

I sell Ben Moore, if you want, PM me your phone # and we'll discuss the possible problems and remedies. Basswipe is partly right, but STAY AWAY FROM KILZ at all costs, and the Cover Stain probably wouldn't be the correct product either. I would be more inclined to recommend Ben Moore's 02400. But we need to figure out what's rejecting your paint before we go any further.

-Dave

Thanks Basswipe. The wall will be in its original state in a few days.

Swimmer
I agree with basswipe...its the old paste rejecting the water based mud, primer and paint
Sounds like Dave can recommend the right primer....I use Cover Stain alot for that situation...alot of the time you might think you get all the paste off but you don't..
good luck....

Thanks for help guys......:bounce: