Painting is cracking - how do I treat and re-paint?

Question

I recently purchased a home. The entire upstairs was painted with latex paint in a flat finish, which is not usually recommended for bathrooms or other high humidity areas. There are some very small cracks in the paint in the bathroom, especially right next to the shower. The exhaust fan appears to be in good working order.

My question is: how do I treat the cracking paint and re-paint the bathroom? Do I need to sand the whole room and apply a primer? Any advice would be much appreciated!

Answer 1

The paint peeled because of moisture in the underlying surface.

I would sand down completely, apply a primer/sealer, then let that dry for 48 hours.  Then go ahead and repaint the bathroom with a paint for bathrooms or an eggshell paint, which looks as close to flat as you can come in a bathroom.

If the under surface shows signs of mold/mildew, brush or spray the area with a light bleach mixture and allow to thoroughly dry.

Answer 2

sometimes if you use oil base and then latex you could have cracking paint.