Why is my Paint Bubbling?

So, you’ve recently painted your home yourself or perhaps you paid to have your home painted and you are starting to see little bubbles creep through the paint. How could this happen? Have you lost your investment? An important factor to consider is who painted your home. Did you choose a reputable company or did you hire the cheapest company who changes their name or disappears every few months? When paying for paint services, it is always important to choose a local company that has been around a while, so that you can be sure of their reputation. If you did not do this, then you are likely experiencing problems that would have come up if you completed the work yourself. If you purchased materials and did all the work on your own, then this is not an uncommon problem and what you may have done to contribute cause this will be mentioned as you read further so that this doesn’t happen to you again.

The Preparation

One of the most common culprits of a bubbly paint job is poor preparation. For example, if you are repainting your kitchen then you need to make sure that all surfaces are clean and free of grease. Otherwise, the paint might have a difficult time sticking to the surface and bubbles will appear over time as the paint separates from the wall. Using quality primers is also important, but even the best primer won’t save you when you are trying to prime over a dirty wall. If you skipped the primer, as a less-than reputable painting company might do, then you must scuff the surface of the old paint as a bare minimum standard to allow some adhesion for the new paint. It is also possible that you cleaned the walls properly and used good quality paint and primer, but didn’t mix the products well or bought expired products at a discount. Unfortunately, this means that the money you have spent on your own materials and tools is lost and you would be best to hire a professional who can provide a lasting paint job this time around.

Moisture Problems

It is also possible that the paint job was done well, but you are experiencing a different kind of house repair issue that is showing its first symptoms in your paint job. If you have a leaky roof or gutters or even a window that isn’t sealing properly anymore, you could have water seeping into your walls from behind the paint, which can cause the paint to bubble as excess moisture tries to escape. If vapor barriers within the walls of humid areas such as kitchens and bathrooms are not properly installed, then moisture can make its way behind your lovely paint job and cause those unsightly bubbles to start. If bubbling is happening on the exterior of your home, it is possible that the siding material was retaining water when you painted, causing the moisture to bubble up the paint when hot sun causes the water to evaporate. It has to escape somehow. This is most common for wood siding, especially if it was left untreated for a long time and moisture was able to creep in after a few months or years.

Breathability Issues

It may seem counterintuitive, but paint needs to be breathable to a certain extent. For example, wood always contains a certain amount of moisture, no matter how long it has been dried and aged. If it is coated in many layers of thick paint, there is a good chance that bubbling will occur since the moisture has no way of getting out. By using the right products for the job and avoiding painting one layer of paint over the next, year after year, you will most likely avoid bubbling paint as a result of trapped moisture. For exterior paint jobs, darker colors in hot climates are the first to bubble because dark colors absorb the most heat which causes more evaporation of moisture vapors. So, if you must overlap a paint job then you should choose the lightest colors possible.

Overall, hiring a professional avoids a lot of hassle and lost money. Having to repeat paint jobs is costly and unnecessary when you consider that there are professionals in your area who can give you a lasting paint job that can be enjoyed hassle-free for years to come. If you find bubbles in your paint job, check your home for other problems before blaming yourself and then hire professionals to solve the particular problem you are having so that you won’t have to go through this frustrating issue ever again.

If you’d like to know more about hiring a professional painting company, feel free to contact us here or call us directly at 407.256.8610.