Hi everyone, I have a question. I bought a house and moved into it one year ago. The walls in every room had been freshly painted with a flat paint, including the bathroom and area over the bathtub. I've recently noticed a one inch long crack in the paint on the ceiling directly over the tub. I think the moisture in the bathroom is cracking the paint. In my old house my hubby had used a special paint that was made to resist moisture and it lasted years. I was wondering, if I should paint over the crack and the whole area over the tub asap, or is it already a lost cause and I have to scrape off all the paint... I'm a busy mom of a toddler who works fulltime and don't have time for home-improvement projects. When I bought this house right after the previous owners "flipped" it I thought I wouldn't have any maintenance troubles for a while, but I suspect if I leave the crack alone it'll become bigger every time we use the tub or shower then we'll have a big project on our hands. Does anyone out there have any good advice for me on this? Many thanks!
p.s. edit for Page, the crack is one inch *long* if it were one inch wide it wouldn't be a crack it wold be a hole, LOL! Thanks all for your replies! *Peace*! XD
We had a strange crack like that in our dining room. We painted over at first and looked good, but about three months later it started to bubble and detatched a very large portion of the texture/paint on the ceiling. Ended up having to scrape and retexture the entire ceiling - ARGH.
So - my suggestion to you is find a fun, drop-in play place on a Saturday morning for your toddler and do a little scrape and touch up;)
Good luck!
I am a real estate investor, and if I were you, first of all you don't need to scrape any paint, but just to play it safe, I would buy a primer that is a good brand and mildew resistant. Then, over that I would paint with the paint you mentioned. The primer will seal it for you and eliminate any problems with the existing paint
I hate to say it but it is well worth the extra time to remove the old paint first especially over the tub with moisture etc. You do not want mold because that is an even more expensive and time consuming mess. If there is a crack in the old paint that is more than likely a sign that there is an underlying problem with moisture or something else that you should really investigate further before painting;) Lots of luck!!!
The crack is one inch WIDE? Or long? One inch is pretty wide for a crack. That would make me worry.
If there's nothing structurally wrong, just putty it and paint over it, and there's no reason it should keep cracking. You will need to repaint the whole bathroom, because you need to use SEMI-GLOSS paint for a bathroom. Flat paint should never be used in a bathroom. (Also, a little gloss, like eggshell or satin, is more attractive in any paint job and easily cleanable. You can't clean flat paint.)
If it keeps cracking and getting wider than one inch, you have structural problems and will have to get them attended to. Most of those "flippers" just make surface cosmetic repairs.
You could try using putty and paint first, and then see what happens.
