Handy FBGs -- Drywall/paint question (1 Viewer)

[gianmarco]

First off, how are you?

We have a 2 year old house.  One of the bathrooms has this going on.  That is the top of the shower.  Obviously it's a wet environment but that seems excessive after only 2 years to me.  The exhaust fan is run with every shower to help limit moisture build up.  Is that normal?  If not, what could be going on? 

I can just spackle and repaint if that's all it is but curious if there's more to it and if I need to contact the builder.  Thoughts?

 

[Hawks64]

First off, how are you?

We have a 2 year old house.  One of the bathrooms has this going on.  That is the top of the shower.  Obviously it's a wet environment but that seems excessive after only 2 years to me.  The exhaust fan is run with every shower to help limit moisture build up.  Is that normal?  If not, what could be going on? 

I can just spackle and repaint if that's all it is but curious if there's more to it and if I need to contact the builder.  Thoughts?

Looks like moisture damage, I'd expect some type of mild when you try and fix it.

 

[gianmarco]

Looks like moisture damage, I'd expect some type of mild when you try and fix it.

Definitely looks like it's caused from moisture.  But is that normal after only 2 years?

 

[Hawks64]

Definitely looks like it's caused from moisture.  But is that normal after only 2 years?

I'd say no. Poorly caulked or didn't use green board/cement board.

 

[gianmarco]

I'd say no. Poorly caulked or didn't use green board/cement board.

It was actually recaulked after 1 year. That wasn't like that at that time. 

I'm thinking it was just a poor job of mudding/taping and moisture seeped in. Do I need to pull that out before spackling and painting?

 

[Hawks64]

It was actually recaulked after 1 year. That wasn't like that at that time. 

I'm thinking it was just a poor job of mudding/taping and moisture seeped in. Do I need to pull that out before spackling and painting?

I'll be honest I don't think I have ever painted a tub enclosure, it's always tiled or some type of plastic enclosure. I'd probably go that route.

 

[parasaurolophus]

First off, how are you?

We have a 2 year old house.  One of the bathrooms has this going on.  That is the top of the shower.  Obviously it's a wet environment but that seems excessive after only 2 years to me.  The exhaust fan is run with every shower to help limit moisture build up.  Is that normal?  If not, what could be going on? 

I can just spackle and repaint if that's all it is but curious if there's more to it and if I need to contact the builder.  Thoughts?

Is that an outside wall?

 

[gianmarco]

Is that an outside wall?

No, it's not.

 

[Ignoramus]

Not normal. I would check the fan to make sure it's properly vented to the exterior and is drawing out the moisture. The tape needs to be removed and redone and repainted and caulked. It looks like they just used one coat of cheap paint, too. I would push the builder to address.

 

[Sullie]

I had this going on in my shower, I repaired it and it came back a couple of years later.  Right about that same time I had a hail storm, roof damage and a leak in the kitchen and I had to have my ceiling fixed.  While I had the drywall guys in my house, I had them fix a bunch of cracks in the walls and ceilings in other rooms.  I asked the guy about the bathroom and he said "you can do this yourself, just scrape that off, fix the joints but you need to put a coat of moisture resistant primer over those fixes this time, caulk it and then the other thing is, you need to paint those walls with something like eggshell, semi-gloss or something made for high moisture areas."  I did all that it's been pretty solid since and I think that was a few years ago.

 

[jwb]

Agree with others - definitely not normal. Either a poor/cheap job on the tub side, or something is going on behind there. The former is far more likely, especially if there are no pipes on that side (which, by your pic, it seems there isn't).

 

[El Floppo]

couple thoughts...

could be lack of cementitious or greenboard behind as Hawks mentioned- if it's standard gwb, it could be getting soggy, even with the taping/mudding. 

is that an all-in-one shower enclosure? had a thought that it might not be set securely enough and that active load in there (people using the shower) is causing it move slightly, separating the caulk and pulling the wallboard seam apart. 

or.. is this part of new construction? you had an addition made recently, right? if it's part of that, there's typically some overall settling that occurs in the first couple years.

outside wall question was a good one... but since the answer is no, I'm guess one of those two. 

I'll be honest I don't think I have ever painted a tub enclosure, it's always tiled or some type of plastic enclosure. I'd probably go that route.

yeah- in terms of a fix, how much of a lip is there at the top of the enclosure? I'm with Hawks that you want to cover it up rather than try to paint. if it's not enough for standard tile or other typical hard wall coverings, how about a wall-paper? could make it nice in there.

 

[Sullie]

I was thinking about this, I totally forgot, around that same time the original fan went out in that bathroom and I got a higher end fan that would fit in there, it's more powerful but more quiet, I cannot recall the brand but I did that because the old fan quit working, I don't know if that's another reason this problem has gone away or not.  

 

[UOFI_316]

couple thoughts...

could be lack of cementitious or greenboard behind as Hawks mentioned- if it's standard gwb, it could be getting soggy, even with the taping/mudding. 

is that an all-in-one shower enclosure? had a thought that it might not be set securely enough and that active load in there (people using the shower) is causing it move slightly, separating the caulk and pulling the wallboard seam apart. 

or.. is this part of new construction? you had an addition made recently, right? if it's part of that, there's typically some overall settling that occurs in the first couple years.

outside wall question was a good one... but since the answer is no, I'm guess one of those two. 

yeah- in terms of a fix, how much of a lip is there at the top of the enclosure? I'm with Hawks that you want to cover it up rather than try to paint. if it's not enough for standard tile or other typical hard wall coverings, how about a wall-paper? could make it nice in there.

I would recommend a nice scarf stapled to the wall.

 

[parasaurolophus]

My house was built in 1942. There is no fan in my bathroom downstairs. I have never had any paint peel above the tile. I have had to clean a bit of mildew now and again and had to repaint it once due to discoloration from cleaning the mildew with bleach on accident. (1-3 people have always showered in there daily)

No way it should be like that after two years unless it is the crappiest paint and caulk job ever on crappy drywall installed backward. 

I would be ripping that all out in a heartbeat and seeing what is under there before it got too far gone.

 

[Ignoramus]

My house was built in 1942. There is no fan in my bathroom downstairs. I have never had any paint peel above the tile. I have had to clean a bit of mildew now and again and had to repaint it once due to discoloration from cleaning the mildew with bleach on accident. (1-3 people have always showered in there daily)

No way it should be like that after two years unless it is the crappiest paint and caulk job ever on crappy drywall installed backward. 

I would be ripping that all out in a heartbeat and seeing what is under there before it got too far gone.

Before you start ripping out drywall, make sure it's not just high moisture from steam. New homes are a lot tighter than homes built in 1942 so your house may "breathe" enough for this not to happen. No need to replace drywall if he doesn't have to.

 

[parasaurolophus]

Before you start ripping out drywall, make sure it's not just high moisture from steam. New homes are a lot tighter than homes built in 1942 so your house may "breathe" enough for this not to happen. No need to replace drywall if he doesn't have to.

The window was ripped out and replaced 5 years ago in my bathroom so if it breathed it would have to be through my painted walls.

Any halfway decent paint can handle shower "steam" no problem for two years. Paint is not typically compromised from the outside in. Paint usually peels because moisture gets behind it and then comes back through between paint and substrate.  

But let's say you're right. How should he test that and make sure it isnt just shower steam? How would he identify that?

 

[Aerial Assault]

Not normal and I agree that semi-gloss paint should have been used.  Redo for sure, by which I mean, contact the builder to redo.  

 

[gianmarco]

couple thoughts...

could be lack of cementitious or greenboard behind as Hawks mentioned- if it's standard gwb, it could be getting soggy, even with the taping/mudding. 

is that an all-in-one shower enclosure? had a thought that it might not be set securely enough and that active load in there (people using the shower) is causing it move slightly, separating the caulk and pulling the wallboard seam apart. 

or.. is this part of new construction? you had an addition made recently, right? if it's part of that, there's typically some overall settling that occurs in the first couple years.

outside wall question was a good one... but since the answer is no, I'm guess one of those two. 

yeah- in terms of a fix, how much of a lip is there at the top of the enclosure? I'm with Hawks that you want to cover it up rather than try to paint. if it's not enough for standard tile or other typical hard wall coverings, how about a wall-paper? could make it nice in there.

Thanks guys for all the responses.  It's the new construction, no additions.  It is an all-in-one shower enclosure so that may be a part of it.  Of all the things in our construction, the one area we were never that happy with was the painters and I think this was just a poor job of taping/caulking/painting.  I've reached out to the builder and waiting to hear back.  I just wanted to make sure I wasn't making a big deal out of nothing because it definitely seemed out of the ordinary.  I'll update once I hear back and hopefully get this resolved.

 

[Ignoramus]

The window was ripped out and replaced 5 years ago in my bathroom so if it breathed it would have to be through my painted walls.

Any halfway decent paint can handle shower "steam" no problem for two years. Paint is not typically compromised from the outside in. Paint usually peels because moisture gets behind it and then comes back through between paint and substrate.  

But let's say you're right. How should he test that and make sure it isnt just shower steam? How would he identify that?

Low tech - probe a couple of areas with a Philips screwdriver. If there's water damage it will sink right in.

High tech - use a moisture meter on it after the shower has been unused for a good 12 hours or so.