How To Paint Over Water Stains On Drywall

Matt is a professional painter who owns and operates his own painting business, specializing in interior and outside business firm painting.

Don't paint over your moldy, mildewed walls without reading my pro tips. — Don't pigment over your moldy, mildewed walls without reading my pro tips.

Can You Paint Over Mold In a Bathroom?

Mold thrives on damp surfaces in poorly ventilated bathrooms that are nighttime and boiling. The hideous fungus becomes a real problem when it's ignored and allowed to spread everywhere, ruining tile grout and drywall. This presents a messy challenge when it comes fourth dimension for painting.

I painted a moldy bathroom once for a customer who would take abnormally long showers without a proper exhaust fan. The bath was constantly humid and poorly ventilated, a perfect breeding ground for mold and mildew.

The bathroom walls, ceiling, and even the air ducts were covered in mold. Needless to say, the drywall underwent a deep cleaning before painting. The client installed an boosted exhaust fan to help remove the excessive moisture.

Painting Over Mold

You can paint over mold in a bathroom, but the problem will return without killing the roots of the fungus first, using the right cleaner. Regular interior paint won't impale mold, and in some cases, h2o-based paint can actually become a nutrient source for the mucus.

Don't rely solely on mold-killing primer, or paint, without start using a good cleaner to neutralize the surface. Yes, those products tin can actually kill mold, but only on smooth, sleeky drywall, not chalky, porous drywall where the paint's too thick to achieve deep below the surface. Why go through the problem of painting your moldy bath without cleaning the surface first?

For repeated mold growth on your bathroom walls and ceiling, pinpointing the cause of the problem is key, whether it's from a weak exhaust fan, or from damp and muddy towels left in there for too long. Frequent cleaning is also i of the best preventative measures y'all can take to preclude mold growth.

tips-for-painting-moldy-bathroom-walls-and-ceilings

Step 1: Scrub Away Mold

The first household cleaner virtually people accomplish for is Clorox bleach, but on porous drywall, the chlorine in bleach doesn't e'er penetrate deep into drywall to kill the roots of the fungus to permanently end the growth.

The water in diluted bleach can also end upward feeding the mold instead of stopping it for skillful. Scrubbing walls and ceilings with bleach creates a toxic state of affairs too, without adept ventilation and a respirator.

Best Cleaners for Bathroom Mold

Vinegar
Blistering soda
Borax
Hydrogen peroxide

The best natural cleaner I've used to impale bath mold for painting purposes is straight vinegar, no h2o added. Aye, vinegar stinks really bad, but it'due south non-toxic, and the acidity of vinegar is effective for killing mold on porous drywall. Never mix vinegar with bleach. Doing so produces poisonous gas.

Cover your vanity and bath floor with plastic and drop cloths. Pour white distilled vinegar into a spray bottle, or a pump sprayer. Spray undiluted vinegar onto the mold and let information technology penetrate the surface for a couple hours.

After allowing the vinegar to burn into the mold, scrub the drywall with a strong bristle brush until all of the mold, or mildew, has washed off. Be sure to article of clothing a respirator, or at the very to the lowest degree, a dust mask, to prevent inhalation of mold spores during cleaning. Allow the bathroom to totally dry out out with the windows open before priming and painting.

Footstep 2: Apply Primer

Afterward you lot've killed the mold in your bathroom, information technology's time to prime number and seal over the leftover stains before painting. Don't paint right over them.

Painting over mold stains on drywall, without priming them first, is more than likely to allow the ugly dark spots to prove through your paint. Without a good primer/sealer, multiple coats of pigment would exist needed to fully cover the hideous stains.

Your selection of primer here is important considering certain products tin can really promote hereafter mold growth or cause failure of the paint end. For case, Cover Stain primer, an oil-based product, is an crawly primer/sealer for tough stains, but oil-based coatings can really feed problematic bathroom mold and mildew.

Some other case is BIN shellac primer. BIN is a great primer sealer, only it will crevice and pare in a bathroom with loftier humidity. A mold-resistant, water-based primer is the all-time option for priming over bathroom mold and mildew.

The only time I would recommend using oil-based primer, like Zinsser Cover Stain, is for simply spot priming water and hairspray stains on drywall, but don't use oil primer across your moldy walls.

Best Primers to Seal Mold

Zinsser Mold Killing Primer
Zinsser Bulls Eye 123 (Mold and Mildew Resistant)

The Zinsser/Rustoleum make has e'er been my go-to when it comes to specialized interior and outside primer. Their products have been around forever and work great.

The Zinsser Mold Killing primer is a protective coating that works well for preventing bathroom mold in the hereafter, but equally I explained earlier in this commodity, I would exist hesitant to use this product alone to kill the mold.

The product itself even states that it'southward best used on non-porous surfaces. Unless your bath drywall is currently coated with a smooth semi-gloss paint, it's probably more porous. Your best insurance policy to prevent a reoccurring problem is to use a cleaner first, only either of the two recommended products is skillful for sealing over the stains and preventing future growth.

Step 3: Employ Pigment

At present that yous've applied the pimer to seal any leftover stains, it'south finally time to pigment.

Best Paint for Bath Mold and Mildew

Benjamin Moore Aureola Bath and Spa Pigment
Benjamin Moore Regular Aureola Interior Semi-gloss
Sherwin Williams Duration Home Interior Satin, or Semi-gloss
Zinsser Perma-White Paint

All of the recommended products above are effective at preventing mold and mildew growth. These paints are formulated for that specific purpose. Yous can certainly buy an anti-fungicidal condiment and mix information technology with pigment you already have, but improper mixing tin can crusade problems with the paint.

I would definitely choose a semi-gloss paint, or at to the lowest degree satin, when painting your bathroom walls, especially the walls surrounding the shower. The shinier the paint, the more it's going to resist h2o instead of absorbing it. Use i coat of primer and 2 coats of paint.

This content is authentic and true to the best of the writer's knowledge and is non meant to substitute for formal and individualized communication from a qualified professional person.