Ack! Major screw up!

usf97j4x4

We had our entire bathroom completely remodeled, including new drywall and backerboard throughout. I put 2 coats of Kilz2 primer (I realize this was probably my first mistake) on the walls and let them dry about 3-4 days.

To start painting with our desired colors I decided to do the ceiling first so I taped the walls where they abut the ceiling with the green frog painters tape that's supposed to stop paint runs. I painted the ceiling and it came out fine... 2 days later (today) when I went to remove the tape from the walls it pulled out strips of the primer under the tape! I now have lots of primer missing along the walls where the tape was... it is bare.. right to the new drywall. I can even continue peeling the primer off If I wanted which I assume is because it is latex base? I dont know if the painters tape was too strong of an adhesive or if something else was going on. I just know its going to be hard to get the wall smooth now with primer pulled off.

As it is likely going to be to difficult to remove ALL primer in the bathroom and start over what can I do to ensure a smooth finish? Should I try to sand the areas where the primer meets the areas w/missing primer and then re-prime or should I just put primer in the areas where it has peeled to try to get it to the same thickness as the rest of the wall?

My concern is sanding the primer it may just rub off and never get smooth and just continue to remove more primer

I am clueless.. please help! It is not a big bathroom but we have got to get it finished (its a 1 bathroom house)

Thanks in advance!

sirwired

First, your mistakes (not being mean, just letting you know so you don't repeat them)
1) Yes, Kilz2 was a mistake. It is not worth the can it is packed in for precisely the reason you have discovered. You should have used a quality primer, such as Sherwin's PrepRite 200 Latex or Ben Moore's Fresh Start. Just go to a real paint store (not big box) and ask for a high-quality new-drywall primer.
2) Using tape on a primed-only wall. Any minor bits of paint getting from your ceiling onto the wall would not be a big deal. There is no reason to protect walls you plan to paint while doing the ceiling.
3) Using tape at all for the wall/ceiling joint. Even if you were now painting the walls, and had already done your ceiling, what you should be doing is using a high-quality brush to "cut-in" the joints instead of relying on tape. (A 2 1/2" Angle-Sash from Purdy is a popular, easily-available choice.) The only places I use tape are on knobs, hinges, and wood-stained trim. Another common use is to protect baseboards from spatter. (I'm painting all my trim after doing the walls, so this doesn't apply to me personally.)

I think Frog Tape might be useful for doing things like painting stripes, but you just don't need it for routine ceiling, wall, and trim painting.

Okay, you have several things to do here:
1) Aggressively sand and scrape your walls to remove any failing primer. It will probably hold okay to the drywall compound. You wan't to remove everything that is loose, or it will fail later on.
2) Skim Coat the walls with a huge drywall knife (10" or so) and some slightly thinned pre-mix Joint Compound. This is to cure the inevitable texture defects left behind by the missing primer spots. (You may be able to skip this step if the scraper manages not to damage your wall, and you can feather-out the missing spots with sanding.)
3) Prime.
4) Topcoat with a quality Bathroom paint, such as Zinsser Perma-White, Sherwin's Bathroom paint, or (at SlickShift's suggestion) Ben Moore Aura.

If you can, hold off on any long, hot showers for a week before and after. All that steam can really mess up paint. Also, I would at least triple the drying times on the can.

SirWired

usf97j4x4

Thanks for the response! I definitely realize the mistakes after doing some serious reading (which I should've done beforehand)... the reason I did the taping is that it is an art deco period bathroom which uses some very vivid colors... my thinking was that since the ceiling and wall colors are a very strong contrast (the ceiling is a bright green color, the wall is muted white with a hint of green) that if the ceiling paint got on the walls it would be hard to paint over. BIG MISTAKE! This is really a let down as we were so close to getting it all finished. I won't be using anymore tape - that is for sure. Also, not showering should not be a problem as the shower doors arent in yet! Wonder if a warm bath work instead w/o putting off too much steam. Worst case we shower in the yard





1) Aggressively sand and scrape your walls to remove any failing primer. It will probably hold okay to the drywall compound. You wan't to remove everything that is loose, or it will fail later on.

This was going to be my first step... I am just scared it will peel off the entire wall in some areas but not in others... which could lead to an enormous amount of work.

2) Skim Coat the walls with a huge drywall knife (10" or so) and some slightly thinned pre-mix Joint Compound. This is to cure the inevitable texture defects left behind by the missing primer spots. (You may be able to skip this step if the scraper manages not to damage your wall, and you can feather-out the missing spots with sanding.)

Good idea... I was considering just going over the spots with spackle and a drywall knife but the pre-mix joint compound is probably a better idea. I shouldnt have to do the whole wall, just the area where the primer is missing and maybe 10" below it or so? Then I should be able to sand the interface smooth... right?

Is there a particular scraper you would use or just a putty knife? I am hoping I can just get the loose primer portions off with a scraper and then feather it like you said but I fear the primer may just crumble and continue to sheet off.

3) Prime.

Should I just prime the areas where I put the joint compound or did any sanding or would you prime all the walls completely again and just prime over the old kilz?

sirwired

Yes, it will certainly come off in some spots and not in others... that is what the skim-coating step is meant to correct, if feathering with sandpaper doesn't do it.

Your canister of spackle actually probably has a statement on there that it doesn't work for skim-coating; it's too thick and doesn't spread as smoothly. It's made for holes than surfacing.

A putty knife should be fine... your goal is to make sure that ALL the primer that isn't adhering well comes off. Yes, this means you may end up removing far more primer than has already fallen off.

You should prime the whole wall.

SirWired

GodFather

Also, you should never leave tape on the paint for that long, for the exact reason you describe. I generally pull tape up after letting the paint dry for about two hours.

usf97j4x4

Just an update guys

I went ahead and peeled off what I could and then sanded it smooth. I still felt it wouldnt look smooth when painted so I did the skim coat of joint compound and just finished sanding. Looks ready to go! Will clean the walls off tomorrow and prime!