Child Item

How to paint bathroom ceiling?

Basic stuff but I'm an ignoramus in this department.

Bathroom ceiling paint is bubbling and cracking. I don't necessarily need a professional, ready for sale result, more a maintenance job.

How should I prepare?? Sand this back? Undercoat? How do I match the colour?

I dont know whether this is happening because the previous owners didn't use a bathroom appropriate moisture resistant paint. They did do a cheap cosmetic reno in general, so maybe.

Find more posts tagged with

Tools and Materials

Renovation

Painting

Accepted answers

All comments

MitchellMc

Hi @daven25,

It looks like your bathroom ceiling has clear signs of moisture damage, which could be the result of years of using the bathroom without proper ventilation. The cracking and bubbling you’re seeing, especially the small area in the middle where the plasterboard is visibly affected, suggests it’s more than just a typical damp bathroom situation. This kind of damage can indicate there might be a past or even an ongoing leak in the roof above. If the damage has appeared while you’ve been living there, it’s worth taking a look in the roof cavity to see if anything suspicious is happening before you start fixing the ceiling. If you are not confident, then I recommend enlisting the services of a professional to do so for you.

Once you’re sure there’s no active leak, the repair process is fairly straightforward. You’ll want to get a bladed scraper and remove all the lifting paint, paying special attention to the cracked and bulging areas, where the plasterboard may have expanded due to water. Any compromised material should be dug out until you reach solid plasterboard and paint. After that, fill the holes and damaged areas with plaster filler, and skim coat as needed to get a smooth surface. Sand it back flush with the rest of the ceiling, apply an undercoat, and then finish with a bathroom-appropriate paint. Here's a helpful guide: How to repair a water-damaged ceiling.

Matching the existing colour exactly can be tricky, so for a maintenance job like this, it’s usually easiest to repaint the entire ceiling with a white bathroom paint. This will give a fresh, even finish and help prevent future moisture issues. The key takeaway is to ensure any underlying moisture problem is addressed first, then focus on scraping, filling, sanding, undercoating, and repainting with the right paint for a bathroom environment.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Mitchell

daven25

Thanks Mitchell

"the small area in the middle where the plasterboard is visibly affected"

Not sure which area you mean? I can discern two kinds of activity. There's the long crack at the top of the picture. Then all the rest looks the same to me, ie lifting paint in random patterns. They may reflect something about the nature of the surface under the paint but cant see. I suppose more may be revealled if i scrape the loose paint away.

Ventilation: FYI the bathroom has a weak fan, and it's small so steams up quickly and the ceiling is usually damp immediately after a shower, but a window is almost always open, day and night.

I'll check the roof cavity if I can but given bathrooms get wet on their own it would be a coincidence if a roof leak is the cause when its not happening elsewhere in the house. Welcome advice though.

I suppose I should grab some paint swatches to match the colour as close as can be hoped for.

MitchellMc

I've circled it in blue below @daven25. It's an indication that the plasterboard itself is breaking down.

The only reason I would suggest checking before repairing is that this is fairly extensive damage, even for an unventilated bathroom. It's one thing for paint to start peeling, that's quite normal, but the plasterboard is breaking down. When you start chipping away at the blue circled area, you'll discover if it's soft in that area.

Mitchell

daven25

Ok thanks. I think that was a bubble a few months ago and now its cracked open so I read it as lifting paint, but I could be wrong of course. Thanks for taking the time to mark up my photo!

Child Item