When doing house painting in San Ramon, working on the bathroom may need a different approach because it is unlike any other rooms in the house. Bathrooms can be especially challenging to paint because of the presence of moisture. Moisture, as you know, can play havoc on the ceilings and walls. Mold and mildew can thrive on the surfaces in the bathroom. Not only are they dangerous to your health, but they can also affect the integrity of the structure.

Since it can cause problems, it is recommended that the paint you apply to the bathroom walls contain additives which make it resistant to moisture. But before applying a fresh coat of paint, you will need to follow these steps and properly prep on the walls and ceilings.

Before you begin, however, it is important to determine when your home was built. Why is this important? If your home was built before 1978, your home may have been painted with lead-based paint. It is important that you don’t scrape or try to remove any of the paint on your own. Call a professional instead to do the work because they are trained to handle the job safely.

1. For peeling or flaking old paint, you will need to remove them. Using a putty knife, scrape and remove the peeling paint. Then, if you accidentally caused a divot during scraping, smooth out the area with spackling compound. Allow the spackle to dry completely and then sand it to even it out and make it smooth.
2. Wash off the walls to remove any dirt or stains that have accumulated on the walls. This will also remove the gloss of the old finish. Use tri-sodium phosphate or its substitute for cleaning. If you find any mold or mildew, make a disinfecting solution using 1 part bleach and 4 parts water. Using a sponge, remove the mold and the mildew from the walls.
3. Walls that have been painted before do not need a primer. However, high-traffic areas such as the bathroom and kitchen are exposed to high humidity which may cause uneven coverage of the new paint. For this, you will need to prime your bathroom walls. Consider using a primer that is specially formulated to resist mold and mildew, as well as help eliminate odors.

When doing the painting itself, the color of the paint and the type of paint finish depend on the size of the bathroom. It’s a common sense that if your bathroom is small and cramped, a light-colored paint will make the bathroom seem bigger. Conversely, darker colors will make a sprawling bathroom appear snug and cozy.

The most recommended paint finish for any bathroom is eggshell or satin. For larger bathrooms, paint with flat or matte finish can be used, provided that it has ample ventilation. If you have a big bathroom with a large ceiling fan and a reasonably-sized window with screens or shutters, you can apply flat paints on the walls. But for smaller bathrooms that lack ventilation, high-gloss paint should be used.

Painting a bathroom, as well as preparing its surface, might be the perfect DIY project since the bathroom is small and will take only hours to accomplish. However, like the painting other rooms when house painting in San Ramon, re-painting the bathroom also takes proper procedures and the DIY painter should understand that in order to achieve a successful result.