Crazy Crazing Paint -- Help!

tiredofpainting

Hi everyone,

I'm repainting my living room and dining room and I've run into a problem. The paint that was on the walls when I started were two very dark colors, so I primed it (two coats, 24 hours apart) with the Glidden Gripper primer.

Then (on the advice of the HD people) I started my color coats (Glidden Duo.) I applied one coat yesterday and one today. While applying the coat today I noticed some cracking in the areas where I'd cut in with a brush. I was surprised but figured I'd see what happened after applying another coat.

And after applying the coat today I have crazing all over the wall. It's not flaking away (yet), but the fine lines have appeared everywhere. They showed up about half an hour after painting it.

Any suggestions on why or how this happened, and how I should fix it? I'm not an expert painter but this isn't my first wall! I have another four walls primed but I'm not going to put paint on them if the problem is with the primer.

Other things that might be relevant:temperature has been pretty constant -- around 65 degrees. I'm in Utah, so low humidity; old paint was definitely latex; two days between primer and first coat of paint.

Any thoughts?

chrisn

Was there wall paper on the wall that you removed?
Pic would help.

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tiredofpainting

The picture isn't great, but it shows the problem -- this was taken about three hours after applying the second coat.

There wasn't any wallpaper on this wall, and as far as I know it hasn't had any in the past.

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hyunelan2

This probably isn't going to help you much, but I had horrible problems when using Glidden Gripper primer (and I like Glidden Paint).

Jay 78

I'm not a pro, and by no means have I 'seen it all', but I have seen this exact effect before - from my own work. In my case, it was from applying primer way too thick. Having just primed a wall and being unsatisfied with my rolling, I immediately rolled back over the wet primer with another, heavier coat. Bad idea. IIRC there may have been some sag, and the next day my wall looked just like your photo. I know a light sanding eliminated most of the problem, but I don't specifically recall whether I needed to re-prime or not.

Again, I'm not a pro, so I can't say whether or not there are other factors that can cause cracking like that. I have never personally seen a finish coat crack like that, but as I said, I haven't seen it all.

Can you confirm or deny whether any of the walls you have only primed (with no top coat applied) are showing any signs of this?

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tiredofpainting

The primer (on the walls that hasn't been top coated) isn't cracking/crazing. It looks just like normal primer. I waited a day between primer coats, and a day between top coats on the crazed part.

I'm completely at a loss. I'm thinking of seeing if it happens on the other walls that I haven't painted yet, with different paint. That would tell me at least whether it's the primer.

Are there such things as bad cans of paint?

sdsester

If theY find me in time, site moderators of this site will no like what I am telling you.

Glidden is box store crap paint with a parent company in Holland or something.

Buy paintr from a paint store.

Jay 78

Off-the-shelf Valspar primer from Lowes works great for me.

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tiredofpainting

With respect, I'd prefer that this doesn't get sidetracked into a discussion of top of the line vs. midgrade paint. If I were a professional painter, or if this were an outdoor project where durability was a primary concern, I'd get the better paint. But I'm not skilled enough to notice a difference in application, and I probably will repaint again in a few years.

More to the point, I've used midgrade paints before and never had anything like this happen. And it doesn't seem to be a common problem.

Can I fix it by lightly sanding it and recoating it, do youthink?

ltd

sorry i cant help , looks like some kind of containment got on your wall.ill be anxious to here the replies.

chrisn

I have been doing this for a long time and never seen anuthing like that. Hopefully somebody will come aling with an idea.

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tiredofpainting

I called the Glidden representative and they think that the most likely explanation is that the primer didn't dry completely. I think this is unlikely as there were two days between applying the primer and the first coat of paint, but it has been cool here.

oldpaintdoc

I think your Glidden rep is wrong.

Try some of the same paint on an old piece of drywall or poster board with no primer and see what happens.

I am thinking bad paint batch.

DrHicks

That's what I'm thinking.

I don't think Glidden Gripper is the proper primer for this job.

ric knows paint

Well...I'm gonna take a stab here, but I'm not sure it's gonna clear anything up. The condition you've described, and is evident in the pic, is an actual paint problem called (believe it or not) crazing. Telltale evidence of crazing is a paint film that has the appearance of a dry lake bed...The condition occurs at the point of adhesion between 2 coats of paint (or primer) and is almost always caused by a thermal reaction between a warm wall and cool paint....or cold wall and warm paint...or warm wall and warm paint but cool air...warm temps at the time of application versus cooler temps as the coating dries...or pretty much any combination of warm and cool temps between a freshly applied coating and a partially cured coating. What ultimately happens is your partially cured paint on the substrate will expand (and contract) at a different rate than the newly applied coating creating these numerous, random cracks in the fresh film. This condition is compounded if either coating has been applied too heavy, or subsequent coats applied before the first has dried thoroughly.

It is not the result of a "bad batch" of paint - and Gripper is a pretty innocuous primer, compatible with just about any type of architectural topcoat...so probably, actually this was the result of the primer not being completely dry (and by dry, I mean an acceptable level of being cured) and a temperature swing somewhere in the mix...In other words, it's not caused by this particular brand of paint or primer.

The good news is this...This probably won't have any bearing on the coatings ability to cure completely as it's supposed to. Depending on the size and depth of the cracks, it may be possible to lightly sand your way to a smooth enough surface so a new app of finish will bury any textural differences - if the cracking is too deep to correct in this manner (which means the coating was probably applied too thick anyway), skim coating may be necessary to smooth.

I wish there were a better answer to this problem, but there's really not. It's not hopeless though...Good luck.