Mistakes To Avoid When Painting Your Bathroom

The bathroom can be a nightmare for home renovators. Between the tiles and plumbing, there are plenty of things that can go wrong when redecorating it. With all these challenges, it’s easy to think that a task as simple as painting the walls would be the least of your issues. But there are plenty of mistakes to avoid when painting your bathroom if you want a paint job that will last. Here are a few of them.

Not Preparing the Walls

One of the biggest enemies to a smooth, durable paint job is a dirty wall. Grime, dust, and other surface contaminants can cause paint to bubble and buckle, giving you a headache later. And of all the areas in the house, there are few spaces with walls quite so quick to accumulate muck as bathrooms. Make sure you scrub down the walls thoroughly before you pick up a brush.

Protip: Dry Time

Paint tends to dry more quickly and evenly and is less prone to bubble when the walls are dry. On the day you paint a bathroom, have the family avoid showering there to make sure the walls don’t retain moisture.

Painting Over Mildew

Of all the surface contaminants you might find in your bathroom, few are as common as mildew. Mildew is attracted to warmth and moisture, which are exactly what your nightly showers supply. In small amounts, mildew is generally not very harmful. However, resist the urge to paint over mildew. Paint doesn’t kill it, and it’ll continue growing unseen under the surface.

Using the Wrong Type of Paint

When choosing paint colors, many renovators make the mistake of focusing their discussion only on what hue they’re using. But there’s more to paint than this. Take gloss, for instance. The higher the gloss is in a paint, the more durable it’ll be overall. And when your bathroom walls are constantly contending with moisture, fluctuating temperatures, and grime, durability is essential. Satin is often ideal for bathrooms.

Not Allowing Walls To Dry

This isn’t only a common mistake to avoid when painting your bathroom, but an error in any room in the house. Most people know to add two coats of paint, but not everyone remembers to give paint enough time to dry completely between coats. Adding a second coat to paint that hasn’t solidified yet will lead to peeling and cracking.

Similarly, in our eagerness to return things to normal after renovations disrupt our lives, we can often rush back into using a bathroom before the final coat has time to dry completely. Even if you don’t physically touch the walls, the steam and moisture from a hot bath can cause paint to bubble if it hasn’t dried all the way.