painting a bathroom

[Dahitman44]

My wife painted our bathroom a week ago. It looks GREAT but is still tacky and sticky in spots --

What gives?

What can we do?

thanks

Hit

[Neighbor_guy]

Multiple Questions, so bear with me...

What kind of paint was used?

Did you prime?

What kind of airflow do you have in the bathroom?

Do you use the vent fan when showering?

Are you, were you, or were the previos homeowners smokers?

[Mid-Lake Rock]

I painted houses for many years and Neighbor is on the right path. The type of paint may be an issue. There are some oil based products that don't dry well. I've seen one that took over one week to fully dry. That was an enamel that the homeowner insisted on using for some windows. Which product did you use?

In my opinion, the most likely situation is that there is something on the walls preventing the paint from drying. Likely culprits are grease, haircare products, or old glue from wallpaper that re-wets from latex paint. Whenever I painted bathrooms or kitchens, I always used a good oil based primer before applying latex. Try to think back to determine if something was on the walls.

If you purchased the paint from Sherwin Willimas, Hirschfield's, or Iowa Paint you can usually ask a rep to come to the home and take a look. If it were me, I'd increase airflow to dry, then prep it again, apply oil primer and re-roll with another product. Good luck.

[Dahitman44]

I used Valspar paint from Lowe's. Its a water based latex. I did put a primer over the existing paint first. Our house is only about 4 1/2 years old so no smokers in it - just us. We have a central fan system (not the technical term but its a good fan).

When painting I had the windows open and there was a good air flow going through the house. It wasn't a humid day either.

I'm wondering if its because I didn't let the first coat dry thoroughly perhaps. Most of the walls are dry just have some random tacky spots.

Man, I would HATE to have to do it all over again!

Thanks for your thoughts (hitman's wife)

[Mid-Lake Rock]

Did you use latex or oil based primer?

[Surface Tension]

If the paint was mixed toughly I wouldn't worry too much about it. A second coat on before the paint dries could be part of the problem or at least a contributing factor to one of the above suggestions. Was the primer latex too and did you let it dry before the coat of paint.

[Surface Tension]

Did the paint dry? If so did you test one of the areas to see if the paint had bite or is it laying there without adhesion?