matching paint comes out gray

mmsuki

I have a painting problem that I cannot solve. I have painted interior drywall; I repaired a crack and a couple of holes by using spackling and primer. When I applied matching paint, the area I painted turned a gray instead of the cream color it was. A second coat still turned gray. It looks horrible.
I applied a little paint to an untouched area of drywall and it, too turned grayish. I then went down to the basement, found an unpainted piece of drywall and applied the cream-colored paint. Perfect! Yet it turns grayish on the installed wallboard.
Some suggestions will get me sane again. Thanks.

poppameth

Try priming a spot with Zinsser BIN, a white pigmented shellac primer. Then apply your topcoat and see if the BIN stops whatever is causing the color change from bleeding through.

NCpaint1

How long ago was the original paint put on?

mmsuki

The walls were painted about 3-4 years ago.

mmsuki

Thank you for the help. I will try that primer. I used KILZ during this fiasco.

poppameth

Kilz original oil is okay. All other Kilz is pure junk.

NCpaint1

Could be why it's not touching up, even when the original paint is being used. Especially if it is a finish with any type of sheen (gloss) Worst case scenario, paint corner to corner and all should be fine.