DIY Home Improvement Forum banner

Best primer for bathroom ceiling

37K views 11 replies 5 participants last post by  sirwired 
#1 ·
Hi

I need to scrape & paint my bathroom ceiling. My house is older & has plaster board walls. I have never painted the bathroom before(walls are completely tile). Signs of mildew & cracking due to moisture. I put in an exhaust fan/lite in shower & it helps cut down on moisture, but since my girlfriend moved in the shower gets used much more. I have thought about a louver type door also since she refuses to leave the bathroom door open when showering.

I have used Sherwin Williams "super paint" latex throughout the rest of house with good results. Is there an advantage to laquer based primer in the bathroom over latex?(I have always used latex kilz or zinister in past)

If I use laquer primer can I use latex paint over it?

Is it better to apply multiple coats of primer?

How long should I wait before using shower after Im done painting?

Is it ok to use Sheetrock joint compound in high moisture areas before I apply primer?

I plan on using a bathroom paint, but wasn't sure about what primer is best.

Thanks for any suggestions.
 
See less See more
#2 ·
Oil based primer is going to bond to the plaster better than latex. Everyone here recommends the Zinsser Cover Stain and I do as well. It bonds well, covers stains and dries quickly. You really only need one good coat of it. Joint compound is fine in high moisture areas. You can paint right over the Cover Stain with latex paint. Being that you have high moisture, get a good bathroom paint over just a plain semi-gloss. It will help with any mold/mildew issues.
 
#3 ·
Water-base primer (Like SW PrepRite ProBlock) should work just fine. It will certainly bond to joint compound just fine. (A primer that didn't bond to J/C would be worthless.) Make sure you have the entire bathroom well-cleaned with strong detergent (and rinsed) before priming and painting.

For paint, use Sherwin Kitchen&Bath paint (if you like Sherwin stuff well enough.) It has additional mildewcides which are a good idea in a bathroom.

SirWired
 
#4 ·
There were just 2 things that made me lean towards Oil Primer. 1) It's old plaster so it may have more Lime in it and 2) he said he had to scrape so there is already and adhesion issue.
 
#12 ·
The SWP bath paint does not come in a dead flat, but it does come in Satin. (The only other available gloss is semi-gloss.) Zinsser Perma-White comes in Eggshell, Satin, and Semi. (However, glosses are not really comparable between companies, so I have no idea how a SWP satin compares with a Zinsser eggshell.

Given that moisture tends to condense on the ceiling, I would think that it would be the most important place to have specialty bath paint. I would imagine that moisture would tend to collect and sit in the pores of a flat paint, which is probably why it does not come in anything but finishes with at least some gloss.

SirWired
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top