Strange yellow drips on painted walls.?

Question

Over the past few years, I have found a number of oily, yellowish drips in all areas of our home. The drips are always on paint. They appear on external and internal walls. The drip can start from behind items or anywhere on the wall. They are high, low and anywhere in between. They range from 6" to 12". They never appear in the same area twice and clean up easily. Any ideas?

Answer 1

The person who has painted used an oil base paint, Your in winter time, house is warm , so it's sweating.  Old house?

Answer 2

my guess would be something in the paint that was used, perhaps in combination with condensation.

Without being there its hard to tell. Could condensation from pipes be dripping down on the paint?

Answer 3

It doesn't sound to be anything paranormal. Sounds like it could be some kind of condensation. Good luck though! And at least they are easy to clean up and they aren't BLOOD!! Yikes!!

Answer 4

It sounds like condensation.

Answer 5

I've seen something similar in my brother's house.

So here's what we found there...

My brother smokes in his home and the nicotine and tar from the cigarette smoke along with the humidity in the home creates a yellowish oily substance on painted walls that resembles drips.

Answer 6

we get the same problem on our celling when a lot of moister from rain or steam from the shower. is it coming from like no where or does it come from cracks?

Answer 7

The answer is,mildew or mold.Clean walls with bleach.Get as much fresh air circulation and sunlight as possible.You may need to consult an expert.Check out mold removal

Answer 8

I'm not a chemist and probably know less than you do about these things..but I  noticed one thing you said...that it's always on the painted part and is oily. Is it an oil based paint? Or, maybe someone cleaned the walls with something that is oil based. Then, maybe the moisture came and was "repelled" by the oil. This probably goes against scientific things..just a guess. I'm thinking of those statues that seem to cry etc...and wondering if the same thing might be happening with them..or some of them. Of course..with the statues...even if there's a scientific reason for them "crying"etc..God  could use that for His own purposes. As it's said.."God works in mysterious ways." But, I don't think what's happening in your house is a sign of anything more than moisture  against oil based paint.

Answer 9

mold... lol I had the same problem in my house when I first moved in. We have poor ventilation and it's just how you've described it. It's in bathroom and on the doors near bathrooms. Just clean it up like I did, and then paint over it. They have paint that keeps mold from coming back through paint. Home Depot.

Answer 10

The material would need to either have an internal source (i.e. behind the wall) or else an external one.  It seems it's more likely to have an external source.  So I would guess that unless the substance is dripping down onto the wall that it may just be condensation.  But you said it's oily.  Hmmm, hard to say without more information.  Whatever it is I don't see any reason to assume it's paranormal in nature.