Hi all,
I am having a rather irritating problem with paint blistering/bubbling over skim coat. Here's the situation:
I recently moved in to a fairly old condo that has a mixture of drywall and concrete walls. All have been painted with several layers of what looks to be semi-gloss oil-based paint (given the age of the building, probably containing lead). There is a subtle texture to it, a little like the skin of a citrus fruit, which I assume has come from the painters not skim-coating the drywall prior to painting and/or from using a rough roller. I do not like this texture, but do not want to remove the paint (lead!) or drywall (it's in good condition).
To get rid of this texture, I cleaned a wall, gave it a very thin layer of skim coat (ready-mixed finish compound, just enough to fill in the depressions), allowed a couple of days to dry (no excessive temperature or humidity) sanded it, vacuumed and wiped thoroughly with microfibre cloths to completely remove all dust. I then primed with Benjamin Moore Natura acrylic latex primer and let it dry for a day. No imperfections. I then put on a topcoat of Benjamin Moore Natura eggshell and let it dry for a day. No imperfections. Lastly, I put on a final coat of Benjamin Moore Natura eggshell and within minutes of finishing lots of small bubbles/blisters appeared. They aren't huge (2-5 mm across), but they are noticeable if there is even a small amount of sidelight. They have shrunk a little as the paint has cured, but they are still there and appear to have lifted all the paint off from the skim coat (if I paint a wall in the same way without the skim coat, there are no bubbles at all). So:
I am having a rather irritating problem with paint blistering/bubbling over skim coat. Here's the situation:
I recently moved in to a fairly old condo that has a mixture of drywall and concrete walls. All have been painted with several layers of what looks to be semi-gloss oil-based paint (given the age of the building, probably containing lead). There is a subtle texture to it, a little like the skin of a citrus fruit, which I assume has come from the painters not skim-coating the drywall prior to painting and/or from using a rough roller. I do not like this texture, but do not want to remove the paint (lead!) or drywall (it's in good condition).
To get rid of this texture, I cleaned a wall, gave it a very thin layer of skim coat (ready-mixed finish compound, just enough to fill in the depressions), allowed a couple of days to dry (no excessive temperature or humidity) sanded it, vacuumed and wiped thoroughly with microfibre cloths to completely remove all dust. I then primed with Benjamin Moore Natura acrylic latex primer and let it dry for a day. No imperfections. I then put on a topcoat of Benjamin Moore Natura eggshell and let it dry for a day. No imperfections. Lastly, I put on a final coat of Benjamin Moore Natura eggshell and within minutes of finishing lots of small bubbles/blisters appeared. They aren't huge (2-5 mm across), but they are noticeable if there is even a small amount of sidelight. They have shrunk a little as the paint has cured, but they are still there and appear to have lifted all the paint off from the skim coat (if I paint a wall in the same way without the skim coat, there are no bubbles at all). So:
- Why is this happening, and if it is a skim coat adhesion issue then why does it only happen on the second topcoat?
- What can I do to prevent it happening again? I am fairly certain that there is no more skim coast dust to wipe off.
- If this is going to happen regularly, is there a way to smooth out painted walls without using skim coat?