Got something weird happening with the paint in the en-suite.

We moved in to our house about 7 years ago and as part of redecorating I painted all the woodwork – skirting boards, banisters, doors, frames, the lot. Some of it was new and some was existing woodwork. I used Dulux Eggshell from my Local Paint Shop – it’s an oil-based paint and we used the “light base” option but without mixing in any additives to get the ivory /creamy colour Mrs NBT wanted.

The paint in the en-suite seems to be wearing away. It’s also happening to a lesser extent in the main bathroom which we don’t use as frequently, and it doesn’t appear to be happening anywhere else.

Here’s some pics to show what I mean

The bedroom door and frame:

a poor picture of the external side of the en-suite

Some pics of the internal side of the en-suite

The issue isn’t confined to the top, it’s visible over the whole door, I just took pics of the same area for contrast.

Given that it’s happening in the en-suite and to a lesser extent in the bathroom, it occurs to me that it’s related to moisture. The extractor fan arrangement in the en-suite was horrendous and we’ve recently had it changed to be more efficient – as a result of this work I’ve repainted the walls which led me to realised just how bad the woodwork paint had become. However as the original eggshell paint was oil based, I’m not sure that should have been affected by moisture?

In the en-suite and in the bathroom, I used pre-primered panel doors from B&Q, and brand new wood on the framing. I primered it ALL again (even the pre-primered doors) before applying two coats of eggshell.

My Local Paint Shop guy has advised I rub down the woodwork with sugarsoap and repaint using a newly mixed oil-hased paint (the paint we used originally is no longer available 🙁 ). He’s not seen these pics and seemed flummoxed when I described (badly) what had happened

Any idea what might have caused the above? Anything I need to do other than what he’s suggested?

no-one? STW, I am disappoint 🙁

Probably Cat Aids.

I blame Thatcher.

Yeah your problem is almost certainly moisture. When you primed over the pre-primed doors did you give them a light sand first?
I’d say you need to rub down the affected area, then if you’ve sanded it back to the bare wood give it a coat of primer, miss the primer out if you found a decent surface before the bare wood. Then paint it with whatever paint you’re using, probably two coats. Remember to lightly sand between coats and follow the instructions regarding drying times. I’d use water based primer/paints rather than oil based, water based paint is very good these days.

I’m a joiner not a painter BTW.

Is the paint coming off or is it staining? Looks like the latter from pics. Probably a fault with the paint, did you stir it?
Get down your closest Dec merchants not your local hardwear shop and repaint.

https://www.dulux.co.uk/advice/questions/faq/faq_035.jsp

Was it primed, sanded an amount to key in?

How many coats of eggshell? Was the paint bubbly/was it mixed?

Although it might seem a PITA, that doesn’t look like it’ll take a huge amount of effort to fix

If you get oil based paint on your skin, it doesn’t wash off particularly well with just water (and you normally clean the brushes with white spirit after oil based paint)… given that I would of thought it might take quite a lot of moisture to affect it..

is the temperature fluctuating much?

@woodchip64 – cheers, will try that. Most of the door, frame and skirting is fine so I’m hoping I don’t have to take it back to bare wood. The door is a panel door so probalby not real wood anyway!

@twang – I’m not sure. My initial thought was the paint was coming off. Not sure how to tell though, it’s not obvious even from looking closely. Paint purchased from local paint specialist (Alan The Paint in Marple)

@pjm64, might be that exceopt I’m pretty sure we didn;t use that ensuite till everything was well dry – and it’s been 7 years

@conqueror, Primed yes – sanded, possibly, maybe not – it was 7 years ago though so I’m not entirely sure. Paint was fine (not bubbly or lumpy) as far as I remember and the finish is fine on all the other doors. I think that the en-suite was the last door I did – I did them all the same way by painting them lying flat on trestles, letting it dry overnight before giving it a second coat, then repeating for the other side before hanging them. The bathroom door which is the other one suffering slightly from the same issue was one of the first doors to be painted and hung, which suggests to me it’s environmental rather than the paint or the process?

Check at your local Dulux Decorator Centre; there have been some problems with Dulux oil paints discolouring since they replaced the solvent in order to comply with new COSHH regulations. I believe they have solved it now but it has done Dulux a lot of damage.

Staff at Dulux Decorator Centres are generally excellent; friendly helpful and experienced.