Cracked Paint and mold in Bathroom

Hi,
The paint in my bathroom is cracked and has mold on it, I am looking at replacing one of my downlighters with one that has a fan on it, when I do this, obviously I will re-paint the ceiling,question is what preperation do I need to do?
Do I just run down the cracked paint so that it is smooth and then paint? Or do I need to rub down to bare plaster? If I rub down to bare plaster do I need sealant (PVA?).

Do I need to do anything about the mold? is does that depend on if it has penertrated the Plaster , not sure if mold can penetrate plaster, or if it has, but thought best to ask.

Prevoiusly I used a Kitchen and bathroom emmolsion, do I use same again, or something different?

Thanks

Steve

Is the cracking like a crazed effect?..if so its probably down to heat from your old light cracking the paint...kitchen and bathroom paint is very brittle and hard...so this could be the case.

If it snt to bad then sand it down a little and re coat it using the same stuff...kitchen and bathroom paint is tempremental stuff...most painters hate it...i do anyway....but you may be better of sticking to something thats compatable.

You wont need a sealant...if you do have to rub it down to the bear plaster then just give it a coat of thinned emulsion first.

As for the mould...do a mix of 4:1 water bleach sponge it on...leave it for a couple of hours then wash it off with clean water...making sure you completly get rid of any residue.

Dont bother with anto mould/fungus washes...they are a gimmick.

Steve:

Paints seem to present the most problems in bathrooms for two reasons; one is that the high humidity in bathrooms cause inexpensive paints that use a PVA binder to soften and lose their adhesion, resulting in the paint cracking and peeling. The other is that it's common for people to presume that an oil based paint is preferable to use in a bathroom because it's more impermeable. In fact, the opposite is true. The oil or oil fragments in oil based paints are a food source for mold and fungii, and so all things being equal, you'll have a worse problem with mildew on an oil based paint than you will on an emulsion paint.

If the paint is adhering well, then it's not really necessary to remove it, but you do want to ensure you're repainting onto a smooth, clean well adhering surface. If the walls are real plaster, then the mildew will not grow into it because of it's high alkalinity due to the lime in it.

What you really want to do is use a paint specifically made for bathrooms like Zinsser's PermaWhite Bathroom paint. Such paints will be made from a Perspex resin that won't lose it's film strength or adhesion due to the humidity in the bathroom and will also have a mildewcide in it that kills airborne mildew spores that land on the paint before they have a chance to grow, thereby keeping the paint free of mildew. I have 21 bathrooms and each bathroom is under the care and control of a tenant who won't be as careful with my property as you would your own, and none of those bathrooms have any mildew in them, or any other paint problems for that matter. And, I attribute that to my using a bathroom paint in all 21 of them.

Hi,
Do you know if 'Zinsser's PermaWhite Bathroom paint' is sold in the UK, or something simular, as that is where I live?

No, I don't, but Zinsser's doesn't make their own resins or mildewcides; they buy them from the chemical companies just like every paint company does. So, any paint company wanting to make a paint suitable for bathrooms would be able to buy the same resins and mildewcides that Zinsser's does from the same sources as Zinsser's does, so you should be able to find an equivalent product in the UK if you shop around.

Just make sure the paint is INTENDED for use in bathrooms. Anyone making such a paint will have been sure to use the most water resistant acrylic resins and will have done the tweaking with the gloss and type of mildewcide to ensure that the mildewcide leaches out of that acrylic film at the slowest rate at which it's still effective in killing every mildew spore that lands on it.

You can indeed get it over here...doubtful in the B & Q type stores though...try dulux or crown trade centres or Johnstones.

Thanks all
I use Crown bathroom last time, so will probably go for that, I am certain that the reason that it cracked is due to poor ventilation as the majority of the cracking is above the shower head, so I will use bleach to get rid of mold ( that's for that-great idea!), paint the ceiling and install my down lighter with the extractor fan.

Thanks again

Steve

I think they have probably done it by now mate...

Too right Zampa, that topic is from 6 years ago I think J and S was more interested in plugging their website for a free advert. The Mod's will soon delete that though.

yeah! Thats right! Blummin spam!
Just chuck your website on your signature like I do.

or at least I did until it was removed

why did no one disagree with Nestor about oilbased paints being more prone to bacterial growth? The solvents are a far less friendly environment than than water?