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Ceiling paint bubbling: what am I doing wrong?

16717 Views 53 Replies 10 Participants Last post by  chrisn
I gave my kitchen ceiling a skimming of joint compound over the rough patches of plaster.

I then sanded the joint compound a day later.

Then I gave the ceiling a coat of Glidden Gripper White Primer & Sealer a day later.

A few days later I gave it a first coat of Behr Flat Ceiling Interior Paint. I got some bubbles.

More than a month later (today) I sanded the bubbles then gave it another coat of finish. But I got even more bubbles this time (see photo below). What am I doing wrong? Since some of these bubbles are a little larger, how should I remove them? Sand then patch with joint compound again. Am I not simply going to get more bubbles?

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did you wipe the dust off after you sanded?
I had the same thing happen to me on a customers house I was painting, except the walls were years old, he's correct I bet if you pop a bubble it will be full of dust, the only way I found to eliminate the problem is to either use nothing but oil based products on the surface which I wouldn't recomend or use fans to dry the paint as fast as you can giving the paint no time to penetrate the previous coat.
What I did was scraped off the bubbles with a mud knife and lightly sanded with a sanding pole, then prime with an oil based Kilz, you may still see a few bubbles but not many, this will prevent your top coat from being able to penetrate the surface as fast, then proceed in painting and as soon as your finished use a couple round metal fans on full.
Behr paint is noted for being lumpy (gritty) but that almost looks like something in the paint. Did it bubble with the primer also or just the paint? Did it bubble in the same place on the second coat as it did on the first? And as the others suggested it could be drywall dust. After sanding the area it needs a good cleaning and wipe down with a damp rag, the entire ceiling not just where you patched.
Two words-Glidden and Behr. Mediocre at best. Any issues with dust or dirt and poof!
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Yes, I wiped off the dust from the whole ceiling with a wet rag which I kept cleaning to make sure it remained cleaned as I wiped.

did you wipe the dust off after you sanded?
When I pop the bubbles there's no dust, just air (I guess).

I had the same thing happen to me on a customers house I was painting, except the walls were years old, he's correct I bet if you pop a bubble it will be full of dust, the only way I found to eliminate the problem is to either use nothing but oil based products on the surface which I wouldn't recomend or use fans to dry the paint as fast as you can giving the paint no time to penetrate the previous coat.
I've sanded out the bubbles. With the larger ones I had to patch them with joint compound because there was a shallow hole created from the paint peeling off.

It's what I'm going to put on after I sand the joint compound patches that I'm still thinking about.

The problem could be with the primer or the finish. I just don't know.

The funny thing is that when I wipe the sanded areas with a damp cloth some of the bubbles try to come back, at least partially.

What I did was scraped off the bubbles with a mud knife and lightly sanded with a sanding pole, then prime with an oil based Kilz, you may still see a few bubbles but not many, this will prevent your top coat from being able to penetrate the surface as fast, then proceed in painting and as soon as your finished use a couple round metal fans on full.
It bubbled only with the paint.

I cannot recall whether it bubbled in the same area with the first and second coats. I think it was roughly in the same area.

However, now that you ask, I've just remembered something else. I first used Zinsser as a primer (on the trouble spots) then later used Glidden Gripper as an alternative primer after I sanded a second time. Maybe the bubbles are coming from the areas where there maybe Zinsser, then a first coat of Behr, then then Glidden Gripper (after I caught an imperfection), then a coat of finish.

In all honesty, this ceiling has been through quite a bit with my experimenting around, trying to get the "perfect look." :smile:

Behr paint is noted for being lumpy (gritty) but that almost looks like something in the paint. Did it bubble with the primer also or just the paint? Did it bubble in the same place on the second coat as it did on the first? And as the others suggested it could be drywall dust. After sanding the area it needs a good cleaning and wipe down with a damp rag, the entire ceiling not just where you patched.
I've had similar problems with joint compound when I thinned it too much with water. I use Synko ProSet 90 Lite Sand which doesn't have much glue in it. To get a smoother coat, I would use a spray bottle to mist the joint compound with water and trowel it when it was wet. I found that doing that would give me bubbles, and I attribute that to the moisture absorbed into the joint compound wanting to evaporate. I'm thinking that because I troweled the joint compound wet, I diluted what little glue was in the joint compound, and the powder at the surface didn't have enough glue in it to hold it together. So, when the water in the primer wanted to evaporate from the joint compound, it pushed the primer off the powder to form a bubble because there wasn't enough glue in the powder to hold it together to prevent that from happening.

I'd say your best bet would be to use your joint compound to fix those bubbled areas, but don't thin your joint compound with too much water. I attribute that excessive thinning with water to be the reason I got bubbles in my latex primer.
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Nestor_Kelebay,

Thanks for your interesting feedback.

The only thing is that I did not thin my joint compound with water. I just applied as it came in the container from Home Depot.

I've had similar problems with joint compound when I thinned it too much with water. I use Synko ProSet 90 Lite Sand which doesn't have much glue in it. To get a smoother coat, I would use a spray bottle to mist the joint compound with water and trowel it when it was wet. I found that doing that would give me bubbles, and I attribute that to the moisture absorbed into the joint compound wanting to evaporate. I'm thinking that because I troweled the joint compound wet, I diluted what little glue was in the joint compound, and the powder at the surface didn't have enough glue in it to hold it together. So, when the water in the primer wanted to evaporate from the joint compound, it pushed the primer off the powder to form a bubble because there wasn't enough glue in the powder to hold it together to prevent that from happening.

I'd say your best bet would be to use your joint compound to fix those bubbled areas, but don't thin your joint compound with too much water. I attribute that excessive thinning with water to be the reason I got bubbles in my latex primer.
A stupid question.

When using a roller on a ceiling, do you dip the roller into the bucket of paint?

Or do you first pour the paint onto a paint tray liner then dip the roller into the tray?

Just curious.
You pour the paint into the paint tray liner and then "roll" the paint up the ramp of the paint tray liner with the roller until the entire outside of the roller sleeve has paint on it.
I ask because I've seen a number of YouTube videos where the roller is dipped into the bucket like the one below:



Also, if I can touch the ceiling with my finger tips, while standing up, should I still have an extension on my 9-inch roller handle?

Just curious.

I have not been using an extension.

You pour the paint into the paint tray liner and then "roll" the paint up the ramp of the paint tray liner with the roller until the entire outside of the roller sleeve has paint on it.
You can paint out of a bucket. You need a second bucket about half full and a metal grid to roll your roller on to remove excess. And you only dip the roller enough to put paint on it you can't dunk it. A pan and liner is easier.
Yes, an extension handle almost always makes rolling easier as well as allowing you to roll out longer strokes.


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The pan vs bucket debate is an old one. My father who trained me didn't like pans, partially because of the reason stated in the video that it's easy to step in a pan if your not paying close attention.

I've switched mostly to pans lately. They seem to load the roller a little better but either way can work fine.


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The pan vs bucket debate is an old one. My father who trained me didn't like pans, partially because of the reason stated in the video that it's easy to step in a pan if your not paying close attention.

I've switched mostly to pans lately. They seem to load the roller a little better but either way can work fine.


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You and I must be the only ones left.:)
I have pretty much switched back to pans. Unless it's a really large ceiling.
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