<p>Ahhh…another Housing issue. :)</p>
<p>I painted the outside of my house recently. Looked great. A lot of rain the last couple of weeks. Now the paint is starting to bubble.</p>
<p>The first painter used a water based primer.</p>
<p>A painter from the same company said he should have used an oil based primer.</p>
<p>I look thru the internet and I am confused.</p>
<p>What’s the better choice?</p>
<p>It can depend on all sorts of variables. Best bet is to call the mfr of the top coat. Internet info is confusing- all sorts of pro painters swear by their own preferences. You might check if it is only the top coat bubbling or the primer as well. Also, it could be a matter of the actual prep and lag times between sanding and applying. Or a water issue in the wood itself (any water seepage causing the wood itself to become damp.) Good Luck. Hope this is only a few problem spots. We had flaking issues inside and I switched to oil and oil and no issues since- it was a lot of re-prep.</p>
<p>Thanks…at least the problem is only on one side of the house.</p>
<p>Of course…it is the front side. :)</p>
<p>dstark, the painters should have left you some touch up paint and some primer. It would not be hard to determine what kind they used from the samples.</p>
<p>I suspect that you have water seepage problem, as mentioned by lookingforward.</p>
<p>I do have water seepage problems. I know that a water based primer was used.</p>
<p>I don’t think the primer is the issue per se, but what he was painting over. If you had old, oil-based paint on the house, then it would require a primer specially formulated to cover/seal oil-based paint — (or, he shoulda roughed up the surface so the new primer/paint would lay down). Such primers come in both oil-based and latex-based.</p>
<p>btw: Due to environmental air regs, oil-based paint in California is pretty weak – they had to remove all the aromatics that made oil-based paint “good.” As a result, paint doesn’t last as long.</p>
<p>I only need it to last a few years…since I won’t be at the house. :)</p>
<p>So…we are going to have a dry week…on Wed…the painters are going to come back and sand the bubbles to oblivion…probably apply a oil based primer and paint again…</p>
<p>If it stops raining or doesn’t rain much until the fall, is this going to solve the bubble problem…or is the wood too wet?</p>
<p>The old lead-based paints were the ones that lasted so long.<br>
Ideally, you fix or minimize any seepage issues. Maybe you know the cause or source. Window frames can be recaulked around the full perimeter, where they meet the house boards- you may have read that this is a common entry point. Same if you have a shake joint that has shrunk over time (or an obvious problem point between clapboards.) I’m not a pro, just a gal with an old house.
My neighbor had a similar issue where every bubble turned out to be over a spot where the original paint was not sanded down properly.</p>
<p>Get a reputable, experienced contractor to diagnose the problem and fix it properly. With luck, all you have are some localized problem areas due to improper surface prep. Or … it may be a moisture issue. If so, the problem is not necessarily “seepage” (if by that you mean bulk water leaking through a penetration).</p>
<p>New clapboard siding should be properly dried and primed on all 6 sides (front, back, edges). If you only prime the front on a modern house, the other sides can absorb moisture even without a leak of bulk water (such as you get from improper flashing). Then, when the sun shines on the wood, you get “moisture drive” from the interior of the wood to the exterior. This can cause the surface of the paint film to bubble up from the water vapor behind it.</p>
<p>The paint and primer formulation can play a role, too.
With cedar or other tannin-rich woods, you can use a penetrating oil-based primer formulated to resist “tannin bleed”. With other woods, you might actually be better off with a breathable water-based primer. However, in any case, the wood should be thoroughly dry (and clean) before the finish is applied. “Dry” refers not only to surface moisture but also to moisture content from when the tree was alive. The lumber should have been dried to a Moisture Content (MC) level appropriate for typical humidity levels in your region. You can look up that number and check the siding with a moisture meter.</p>
<p>For the top coat, avoid cheap paints. Top brands (such as sherwin williams, benjamin moore, california) are formulated to be flexible and breathable to cope with normal daily/seasonal expansion and contraction of wood siding. Most of the cost of painting a house is in the labor, so don’t economize on the paint. </p>
<p>Some house painters do not understand, or don’t care about, these issues. So again, get a reputable, experienced contractor to diagnose the problem and fix it properly.</p>
<p>dstark… please fix it right even though you will be moving. As someone who bought a house from someone who put a bandaid on an issue in the past, I have a new appreciation for doing it right the first time. Their skimping on something cost me 2k. It wasn’t the people I bought the house from, it was the people before them. The only reason I found out about it was because my neighbors told me. I was not a happy camper.</p>
<p>I have painted the exterior of houses before. If I remember correctly, the type of primer you are supposed to use is dependent on what your house is made of. (cedar, metal, etc?). I think if they use water you are supposed to have two coats of it because it’s not as effective as oil at blocking things… but I could be wrong on that. Also, it depends on what was there before… water based paint can be applied over oil based paint, but oil based paint shouldn’t be applied over water based.</p>
<p>Fendergirl…I was joking.</p>
<p>My house is going to be an incredible house for a family.</p>
<p>The buyers won’t have to do anything when they move in except deal with the pool that needs work sometime soon…( still usable though).</p>
<p>The house is not going to be perfect. It is a fifty year old house. But so much of it has been redone. So much. </p>
<p>I am asking the painting questions because I do want to get the paint job right.</p>
<p>sorry, i thought you might have been but i couldn’t tell for sure… it’s kind of a sore subject in my head. ;)</p>
<p>Hopefully i don’t uncover any other “bandaids!”</p>
<p>I know how you feel though. My house is about 60 or 70 years old and the man I bought it from was a contractor… it has a new roof, new siding, new kitchen, new bathroom, etc. I was so grateful to have a house that was redone already and i’m sure whoever buys your house will be too!</p>
<p>I’ve been avoiding posting in the “painting” threads because they are like work…but now I have to speak up. There has been some misinformation in every painting thread lately. I am going to suggest that anyone with technical paint questions should double-check the suggestions on CC with the Paint Quality Institute. There is a wealth of information at paintquality.com</p>
<p>The Paint Quality Institute promotes the education of professional painters and do-it-yourself painters. Our mission is to have every paint job be a high-quality paint job. We are brand-neutral; you will never see/hear us recommend any particular brand of paint. </p>
<p>(Yes, I am part of the technical staff at the PQI)</p>
<p>“I know how you feel though. My house is about 60 or 70 years old and the man I bought it from was a contractor… it has a new roof, new siding, new kitchen, new bathroom, etc. I was so grateful to have a house that was redone already and i’m sure whoever buys your house will be too!”</p>
<p>That’s pretty nice…</p>
<p>Msref…thanks for the link…</p>
<p>You know…it is not against the law to answer my questions here. :)</p>
<p>I noticed today that the bubbles are getting smaller as the weather heated up.</p>
<p>I have no idea what that means. Are the bubbles going to get larger again when it rains?</p>
<p>The blisters are recovering. If you have a spell of dry weather, they may recover to the extent that you won’t be able to tell that the coating blistered. If you are lucky they will not recur. It won’t hurt to wait to see if the blisters come back; if the weather is such that your current paint job is blistering, then the conditions are not ideal for repainting.</p>
<p>Thanks…</p>
<p>I appreciate it.</p>