paint bubbles on door jambs - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

moe2424 · 10-09-2008, 10:27 PM

I got called about a paint problem in a new home. All of the interior door jambs had spots where the paint had bubbled up and started to crack. Some bubbles are small but some where 1-2'' wide and a foot long. I went there today and found that in 90 % of the bubbled areas there were knots underneath. So I scraped out the loose paint and feathered out the area with an orbital sander. I went over all of the jamb with sander to see if that exposed any other loose paint coatings. I spot primed all of the exposed wood with Zinsser's BIN Primer. I thought that I may have to use a bondo type wood filler but the sander really leveled the surface out. I was going to skim coat the areas with Ready Patch, prime with Zinsser's 123, and top-coat with BM Satin Impervo. Any suggestions on any different products to use especially the fillers and do you think it's a good idea to use peel stop. Thanks in advance

Snow Man · 10-09-2008, 11:04 PM

It can very well be that the installers hands had an oily residue on them , therefore , da bubbles ...no adhesion .

NAV · 10-10-2008, 06:26 AM

did the wood dry out enough? was it still green? it sounds like a moisture problem.

if you have sap or water from the wood being left outside you can put it on the builder (possibly).

did you prime or just go with 2 coats of finish? what was the conditions inside the house....does it get cold at night and have moisture buildup (condensation) on walls? you should probably find out what the problem was before you try to figure out how to fix it, otherwise you will be back there doing it all over again. You didn't go around and caulk with silicone did you?

i am not a fan of the Zinzer 123. i would use the Zinzer cover stain to spot prime. If you really want to use a latex primer SW has that Bonding Primer....Great stuff, will stick to anything but doesn't do much to block stains.

moe2424 · 10-10-2008, 06:59 AM

I didn't do this job from the start. I was called in by the door company. So I don't know the conditions of the house when it was being built.

bobbyjo · 10-10-2008, 07:09 AM

Tree sap! you should use a knotting agent on the knots before priming.
Tree sap bleeds through all water base paints.
I would then use oil base primer, before the top coat.

WisePainter · 10-10-2008, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moe2424

I got called about a paint problem in a new home. All of the interior door jambs had spots where the paint had bubbled up and started to crack. Some bubbles are small but some where 1-2'' wide and a foot long. I went there today and found that in 90 % of the bubbled areas there were knots underneath. So I scraped out the loose paint and feathered out the area with an orbital sander. I went over all of the jamb with sander to see if that exposed any other loose paint coatings. I spot primed all of the exposed wood with Zinsser's BIN Primer. I thought that I may have to use a bondo type wood filler but the sander really leveled the surface out. I was going to skim coat the areas with Ready Patch, prime with Zinsser's 123, and top-coat with BM Satin Impervo. Any suggestions on any different products to use especially the fillers and do you think it's a good idea to use peel stop. Thanks in advance

Sounds like you have the right plan in mind to solve the problem.
Peel stop should only be used after scraping exteriors with thick paint where the homeowner has not opted to remove 100% of the existing coatings.

boman47k · 10-13-2008, 06:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NAV

did the wood dry out enough? was it still green? it sounds like a moisture problem.

if you have sap or water from the wood being left outside you can put it on the builder (possibly).

did you prime or just go with 2 coats of finish? what was the conditions inside the house....does it get cold at night and have moisture buildup (condensation) on walls? you should probably find out what the problem was before you try to figure out how to fix it, otherwise you will be back there doing it all over again. You didn't go around and caulk with silicone did you?

i am not a fan of the Zinzer 123. i would use the Zinzer cover stain to spot prime. If you really want to use a latex primer SW has that Bonding Primer....Great stuff, will stick to anything but doesn't do much to block stains.

??? Why not use caulk? Are you saying the caulk will not allow the trim to breath? I use caulk on trim and have no problem that I am aware of.

WisePainter · 10-13-2008, 11:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NAV

. You didn't go around and caulk with silicone did you?

Quote:

Originally Posted by boman47k

??? Why not use caulk? Are you saying the caulk will not allow the trim to breath? I use caulk on trim and have no problem that I am aware of.

Do not use SILICONE caulk because it cannot be painted over.

davitk · 10-13-2008, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moe2424

I got called about a paint problem in a new home. All of the interior door jambs had spots where the paint had bubbled up and started to crack. Some bubbles are small but some where 1-2'' wide and a foot long. I went there today and found that in 90 % of the bubbled areas there were knots underneath. So I scraped out the loose paint and feathered out the area with an orbital sander. I went over all of the jamb with sander to see if that exposed any other loose paint coatings. I spot primed all of the exposed wood with Zinsser's BIN Primer. I thought that I may have to use a bondo type wood filler but the sander really leveled the surface out. I was going to skim coat the areas with Ready Patch, prime with Zinsser's 123, and top-coat with BM Satin Impervo. Any suggestions on any different products to use especially the fillers and do you think it's a good idea to use peel stop. Thanks in advance

he he, small world. I'm doing clean up today, found an old leaky can of BIN. Anybody for fondue?

boman47k · 10-13-2008, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WisePainter

Do not use SILICONE caulk because it cannot be painted over.

Yep, I can agree with that.

WisePainter · 10-13-2008, 09:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by boman47k

Yep, I can agree with that.

Thank goodness for clear latex caulk eh?