HELP - Interior Paint Job Going South!!!

[bradesp]

OK all you pro's out there I need your help. I'm doing an interior repaint on my home. The walls are standard sheet rock and have been repainted once before.

Here's my problem. Every spot I have spackled and sanded is "telegraphing" through the top coat of paint and it looks hideous! The color is a medium dark seafoam green.

Here are the steps I've taken.. Please tell where I may have gone wrong.

1. First I sanded, spackled and repaired bad spots on the wall.
2. THen I rolled a sealer / primer over the entire wall.
3. Then I rolled the new wall paint. The first try I used Benjamin Moore Regal Eggshell. I hated the eggshell finish. BTW, the repairs telegraphed badly after this first coat of finish paint.

Then I rerolled the wall with Behr's new Enamel Flat Washable. I LOVE this paint and finish. However even after another full coat of paint the places I sanded and spackled (that are now under primer and two coats of paint) are showing up like a neon sign... What Gives!!!

Please help!

Thanks,

Bradesp

[mark Ransley]

You didnt smooth out, feather, the repairs. Redo them extending the size , use a lamp close to the wall at an angle to see your repairs better, sand till they blend in. It takes a bit of practice

[Art Begun]

Pro painter rough sand the entire wall. Go visit a real paint shop and ask what they use. Basically it is on a broom handle and may be the same as what sheet rock guys use.

repairs

paint

[mark Ransley]

Art no way can you just resand a whole wall , and fix it, when you cut througt the paint on the patches it will rip the latex , and the compound will gouge deeper making a bigger mess. . That new latex is to soft for a year to sand out patches, its like rubber. Just lightly sand bad area for adhesion repatch and sand more carefully . Either way you have to replaster

[Phisherman]

1a. Check the repaired areas using a trouble light against the wall and view the wall at a low angle. If defect is found go back to step one using a wider spackle knife. A clean damp sponge may help smooth the spackle.

[bradesp]

Two more data points.

First, I used Zinsar water based primer... don't know if this helps / hurts.

2nd, I did use a light to insure the repair was smooth.. in fact, with the primer on you don't notice the repair. It's only AFTER the finish coat goes on that the "shiny" patch telegraphs... The repair itself is not what telegraphs through... it's the sheen of the paint over the repair.

Thoughts?

bradesp

[mark Ransley]

Its hard to see it from here, but it sounds like your wall has more roughness than the patch, or you have to much compound on the repair, if the wall if rougher build a couple heavy coats on the smooth patch, till textures equal and repaint. if the patch is higher , redo, live with it or call in a pro. Basicly you didnt plaster and paint right

[mark Ransley]

Let it dry a week could be compound was still moist

[Art Begun]

Ok I wasn't thinking of his specific circumstances having just put down new latex. I agree that he better not try sanding the new paint. I was just thinking about my parents' townhouse that was just professionally re-painted from a 8 year old paint job. First things the guys did was patch all the walls and then sanded them down a bit with what looked like the tools sheetrock guys use.

lightly

Either

[Art Begun]

Probably the patch is too smooth compared to the rest of the wall.

You need to realize that right now you are staring at it and in normal use it may look fine.

[Jim Thompson]

That's why there is orange-peel plaster finishing, kills uniform reflections ;-)

...Jim Thompson

[dadiOH]

It sounds as if the non-patched areas were more absorbent than the patched...the primer you used was less effective there and consequently the top coat has less sheen than in the patched areas. You may have to prime the whole works again. If you do, I think you'll get better results with an oil based primer (even under a latex top coat). You might try it on one of your patched spots and some of the adjacent non-patched area, then top coat there and see if the reflectivity is even.

-- dadiOH _____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.0... ...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that. Get it at

[mark Ransley]

dadioh he has 3 coats on all of it, the first would of sealed it. Problem is we need a picture

[Murray Peterson]

[e-mail] (bradesp) wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Is the surrounding wall texture rough in comparison to the patched areas? I find that I need to give my drywall patches a bit of texture in order to duplicate the slightly bumpy texture of the surrounding wall. I use a damp sponge and some drywall mud to make the two areas look (mostly) alike.

[dadiOH]

I've had the same problem with at least three coats. You're right about the picture...it would help.

-- dadiOH _____________________________

dadiOH's dandies v3.0... ...a help file of info about MP3s, recording from LP/cassette and tips & tricks on this and that. Get it at

[Jim Thompson]

I've done the sponge routine, but, IIRC, Home Depot has (had) a hand pumped sprayer with spray heads for various textures... just load it up with thin mud.

...Jim Thompson

[Mary Shafer]

Where did you spray the texturizer on? I don't see that step anywhere. Or did you use a wadded-up paper towel to impress the spackle with some texture, instead? That works pretty well on small repairs.

Your walls almost certainly have some texturizer already applied. It can be anything from small, sparse bumps to an orange-peel-like effect. This stuff is used to hide imperfections, both present and future.

If you don't put texturizer on the patches you repaired, they'll stand out because they're too smooth. I know, it's annoying to have to cover up your good patching job, but it's necessary to blend the patch into the rest of the wall.

Mary

[mark Ransley]

Mary , texturizer is Not normal and rarely used in any quality house, Period. Ive only used 300000 in paint so i know you dont . op didnt mention texture walls. Op should get away with rerolling patched areas a few times to mimic old paint then repainting

[LugoMan]

I dont know why, but I found using a sanding screen instead of sandpaper does a better job. It doenst leave the patch looking as hard and smooth.

[Bill Seurer]

Just how did you repair them? You usually sand LAST not FIRST. In order to not show they have to be flush with the rest of the wall and of similar texture.

And what kind of primer did you use? When you were done with that could you tell where the patches were?