# Drywall primer peeling problem??



## DeanV

Some one from my church has been painting his own basement after it was just finished. The drywall was sanded and sat for 2-3 days prior to him beginning work. This is what he did: first he brushed the dust off the walls with a broom, then wiped the walls with a damp rag to remove dust and let dry. Then he used a tack cloth on the walls, especially on the seams to try to make sure there was no dust. Next day he primed with bullseye 123 latex primer. Now, mainly on the seams the primer is bubbling / peeling off. 

Since the drywall was sanded and then left alone for a few days, I do not think the problem is that the setting type compound was too green to be primed (usually that stuff it ready the next day, especially with the final skim coat). My guess is that the tack cloth left enough oily residue that the latex primer just sat on top of the drywall seams and did not grab as it dryed. Probably his best bet is to scrape as much as he can off, clean that area with a solvent such as xylol to remove any oily residue, skim coat and reprime affected areas. 

Any other thoughts on this one? First time I have heard of drywall primer peeling that was not dust related.


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## slickshift

You can check the back of the peel for dust, but that seems unlikely if all those steps were followed

The tack cloth thing is excessive, and suspect
I use tack cloths all the time, but never on new drywall
The latest batch I bought was pretty greasy too...
...and quite frankly stunk at picking up dust-it left a ton


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## Brushslingers

What do you mean "mainly on the seams", is it bubbling somewhere else too? Is it verified that he used latex 123? Normal solvent isn't Xylol... so no but, sounds interesting that he used a tack cloth AND a wet cloth to remove drywall dust. What did he wet the cloth with?


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## DeanV

*peeling*

I have not looked at the job, just trying to help him over the phone. It sounds like first wiped the walls down with a damp (water) rag, then after that was dry used the tack cloth. Mainly he wiped the seams with the tack cloth (and that is where the majority of the peeling is) but he also lightly tacked the whole wall surface.


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## Brushslingers

Depends on where the majority is really, you need to look at it. If it's seams and nail noles than ya, theres a problem with the mud. If it's seams and in the middle of a wall with no mud then... well, hes got moisture or a some sort of oil on the walls, I can't see tack cloths leaving enough on a wall to promote bubbling drywall seams. Can he see the edges of the tape in the bubbling?


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## KellyPainting

anything pealing is 99.9% moisture. 
something's trapped and trying (sucessfully) to get out.


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## Tom R

Maybe the finisher didn't allow enough drying time between coats??


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## Flawless Finish

KellyPainting said:


> anything pealing is 99.9% moisture.
> something's trapped and trying (sucessfully) to get out.


That's exactly right.

2-3 days seems kind of strange. On something like that I would know if it was 2 days or 3 days. How damp is the basement? If he finished the seems at the end of say Friday and then started painting Sunday morning, things could definitely still be wet, It just sounds like he started the painting before it should have been.


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## DeanV

*peeling*

This house is a good 1.5 hours away from where I live (they moved recently) so I will not be able to see it firsthand. I have a hard time believing the mud was still wet because the final sand was done by the drywaller and before prepping the homeowner also did a little sanding and wet mud does not sand well, even the setting type. I believe that setting type mud was used, which tends to set fast but also seems to dry faster than the regular mud. If it is sanding well though, it really cannot be wet in my opinion.


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## Brushslingers

True but, if he used any type of oil product on the bare sheetrock mud, then went over it with latex primer, could cause peeling and bubbling. Or Xylene, or spirts... etc.


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## gtcway

IMO if oil was the problem, it would have shown up while painting. There would have been fisheyes all over the place. You said he wiped the joints with a damp cloth. How damp was the cloth and how long did he wait to paint? If he used a really wet cloth, water could have been absorbed by the joint compound, appeared dry on the surface, but actually still had moisture trapped below the surface.


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## painterofeveryt

call or email usg a copy of the problem ,see what they have to say.........


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## sean_m

*same problem*

I have a similar problem and I've concluded that it's the joint compound. I was using 4 yr old setting compound. It sticks, hardens, and sands well but the primer won't stick to it very good.


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## Danahy

I don't use 123 on new drywall. It's better as a block filler with it's bridging capabilities. I find it's good for keeping moisture out, or in.... Seems to me the wet wipe had something to do with it. imo....


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## axnjoe

I know you said it was not dust related but could the person that wiped the wall did so with only one tack cloth for the whole wall? If so they could have exceeded the tack cloths ability to pick up dust and ended up just pushing dust around to be left in little spots of dust build up. Even using only one wet wipe could do the same. It may sound very elementary but since the diy'er did it then it leaves the door wide open. That would explain why fish eyes didnt appear and still had bubbles/spots were peeling. And I can see someone spraying the primer on then when applying the paint by roller and introducing moisture to the surface, they would pull the new paint surface away from the substrate. Just like trying to paint a popcorn ceiling. Or when you paint a new wall where some one else did not dust the walls before spray bombing the place. or any walls with water damage that has crystalized beneath the surface of paint.
Just a thought.


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## DeanV

*problem*

In this case (the original post) the person finally determined that the setting type drywall mud just did not dry all the way. It dryed enough on the surface to appear dry, but did not dry all the way through in the basement. Then the moisture caused it to peel from the seams.

It is probably the simplest explaination, but I have not yet mistaken wet, cured drywall compound for completely dry compound as it always seems to dry from the edges in and once it has achieved that solid white color with no grey, it is dry. Again, throw in the DIY aspect, and it can be hard to figure out exactly what happened.


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## Joewho

It sounds like the tapers had to put on thick layers of mud and being a basement, there is probably moisture behind the drywall that isn't drying very fast.

Tack cloth wouldn't cause this, although too much primer on the first pass will also contribute.


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## Rich Turley

What is the drywall attatched to. You mentioned basement & I've seen drywall just glued to the foundation walls before. Could that be a source of moisture?

Rich


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## player2watch

if mositure is not a the problem it could very well just be the paint not being mixed right or old.


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## Jason Whipple

A true tack cloth is a cheese cloth with a wax coating. If this is what the H/O used, I would suspect it's the wax coating he just spread all over his walls!


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