What is the best way to paint a bathroom ceiling?

Question

Hi all
A few months ago I had been redecorating my bathroom, which included repainting the ceiling. I had used Dulux’ bathroom specific paint – for better mould and moisture resistance. 
Since then, the paint has become flaky as small cracks are appearing – surely this is too soon for any noticeable wear? 
Is there any better suited paints for bathrooms ceilings? Or is there some way that the paint should be applied to be most effective?

Philip · Accepted Answer

There maybe a couple of reasons for your predicament.
Firstly when you applied the dulux specific paint the surface may have been dusty (this stops the paint adhering). Other possible reasons for bad adhesion are wax furniture polish (by accident) concentrated PVA glue(can be used for sealing surfaces), and/or the paint may have needed stirring and/or was dry when applying.
But the most likely reason for the cracking/flaking of the paint might be that in the past an oil based (satin or gloss finish) paint has been applied to the surface and then you have put a water/vinyl based paint on top. This has the effect that up-cycling people are after when trying to give furniture an ”antiquey” look.
As long as you have ruled out past water damage and/or condensation problems (bad ventilation) the solution is to firstly apply a primer/sealer (matt finish) , over which you can apply almost any paint.
As you can see there are many possible reasons for the condition of your bathroom ceiling. I hope that this answer is not too long winded. Trying to cover all bases. :-):-)

Zev · Answer

There’s many reasons why this could have happened.
1. What was the ceiling surface like before you painted it, was it flakey?
2. Was the paint stirred?
3. Is there sufficient ventilation in the bathroom?
4. You might have needed to rub/sand the ceiling down to make it adherent.

Luke · Answer

I would pva the ceiling first then try the bathroom paint.

Bogdan · Answer

You can use red zinsser like a primer,first coat and after you can apply two coats of diamond matt or eggshell

Max · Answer

Sounds like a reaction between new paint and old. Remove as much of the new paint as you can and sugar soap the ceiling, then wash it off and let it dry. Re-paint and it should be ok.

Jack · Answer

Hi,
First of all dulux isnt as good as it makes out, secondly how was the surface before you started to paint? Clean, and dust free? I would recommend removing what you can of the flaking paint and using a pva bond to seal the ceiling let dry and re paint over

Robert · Answer

Damp seal all the ceiling then repaint with soft sheet emulsion

Terry · Answer

There may well have been or still be moisture in the ceiling which hasn’t dried out yet.

Lewis · Answer

This sounds like the ceiling has never had a mist coat from when it was freshly plastered this would be a reason or you haven’t got the correct ventilation as the steam will cause this but the paint you are using us the correct paint

Brian · Answer

You have used the right paint but not prepared the surface properly, sand down old paint and give it two coats of kitchen and bathroom paint and it should be fine
Regards
Brian from sortit4u

What is the best way to paint a bathroom ceiling?

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