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Painting the
Bathroom
Painting a bathroom brings with it special considerations. No
other room in the house produces hot moist air in a small,
enclosed space.
First and foremost, that affects the selection of paint.
Water-resistant, temperature-durable high gloss is usually
selected for a reason. It provides good coverage to ensure that
the moisture stays on the bathroom interior side of the wall.
Moisture that seeps through cracks or, worse, goes right
through the wall will inevitably lead to mildew build up.
That leads to an important task that has to be carried out
before any painting is done. Any cracks, gaps or other openings
have to be sealed properly before laying down the first coat.
In some cases that will mean a silicon caulk around the vanity
where the wall meets any molding. In others it's just a matter
of repairing any drywall splits or other damage.
Preparation is key to a good paint job. Apart from sealing
cracks, sand any previous paint well. Slick, high-gloss paint
is designed to shed anything that hits the surface. To get the
best result, that surface needs to be roughened to remove the
topmost layer, then smoothed to provide a good surface for
re-painting.
Even prior to sanding, though, a good cleaning may be
necessary. Greasy handprints from the kids, dirt swipes from a
dog's swishing tail and a host of other things can appear on a
wall very quickly. Make sure they're all gone before you get
out the sandpaper.
Once you've done the initial preparation of the surface, in
terms of both cleaning and sanding, make sure it's ready to
receive paint in one more way. Any surface blemishes may appear
trivial in this raw state. But once they receive high-gloss
paint they'll be magnified many times. It takes more time to
get things in shape before getting out the roller. But the
final results will be well worth the effort.
There's one more item to consider before beginning, and it
involves going back to paint selection issues one more time.
Color. This isn't as easy a choice as it might appear.
The basic color scheme of the bathroom provides the background
for all other decorating decisions. A cheery yellow will simply
never go with Victorian bronze fixtures. A subtle beige is too
subdued to integrate well with bright brass faucets.
Beyond the background color, there's the issue of selecting any
contrasting or highlighting paint. Stained moulding and
fixtures represent one way to offset colors. But bathrooms
today are rarely one continuous color of paint. Vertical
stripes on one wall, horizontal trim at the top of a wall and
many other more complex designs turn a bathroom paint job into
an art project.
Give careful thought to the overall final look desired and you
can't go wrong. Prepare well and execution will be easy. Now,
paint!
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