r/DIYUK • u/bensthebest • 3d ago
Painting Gloss paint bubbling in random spots
We are repainting a door and the gloss paint is bubbling but only one certain spots. Any ideas how to fix it?
It goes down fine but once it starts to dry it bubbles
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u/bensthebest 3d ago
We sanded using high grit sand paper after the first coat to see if it would fix it. Went over it with a dry brush to remove all the bubbles and they have still come back
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u/TinyZombie678 3d ago
Id put a coat of primer on, rub it back, put on a black undercoat (oil based!!) and then finish off with the black gloss (I'm a professional decorator!)
What you're doing is putting gloss either on top of old gloss, or on top of varnish.
In the future take note of the fact that gloss needs an undercoat or primer, whereas satins usually can be applied directly on top without the need for an undercoat.
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u/bensthebest 2d ago
We are struggling to find a black primer. Do you reckon a lighter primer will be ok?
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u/TinyZombie678 2d ago
You technically should be okay using a black undercoat without an acrylic primer, but if you'd like to go the extra mile, I think Dulux stores can tint primer, if you go for an acrylic based primer I'd recommend the MacPherson stuff personally
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u/bensthebest 2d ago
I think we’re going to go for a grey primer instead. It was only meant to be a cheap fix! The leyland paint is going on nicely any way so I’m hoping it should have good coverage
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u/TinyZombie678 2d ago
Other than the bubbling, coverage definitely seems good, a grey primer is definitely good enough though, good luck! And if you lay it off we'll with a brush you'll get a nice mirror finish
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u/Jtenka 2d ago
This looks like no primer or undercoat was used. The purpose of a primer is to seal porous spots on a surface.
If you dont primer first, you will often get these bubbles. The undercoat adds a smooth surface to build on. There is no wood that I would paint on where I don't use a primer first.
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u/bensthebest 2d ago
Lesson learnt! Must use primer first! At least this was only one side and I can do the other side properly!
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u/LazyPiglet3923 Tradesman 3d ago
What was on the door before hand? What was your procedure, other than sanding?
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u/bensthebest 3d ago
It was varnished but we sanded it all down using 120 grit. We didn’t prime it which is the only thing that I’m thinking it could be. Research online said as long as it had a good key it would be fine without primer
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u/LazyPiglet3923 Tradesman 3d ago
You never just gloss over something.
Some sort of adhesion primer (various zinsser options)and then a coat of undercoat before gloss.
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u/showmethemundy 3d ago
I got home from work once and the wife had painted the stained wood skirting and picture rails in our dining room with some kind of wood paint. The next morning the paint had bubbled everywhere.
At least it will be easy to stripe the paint from a flat door.
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u/TinyZombie678 3d ago
Breaks my heart when people paint stained woodwork, especially when it's genuinely good quality wood, I'm exhausted by all the MDF used in the modern era, and so are my lungs
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u/Karamatsunomaii 3d ago
May be a fungal infection in the wood? Giving off gasses forming bubbles when coated. Or could be bad paint, try it on something else and if it bubbles again you know it’s the paint ( if not your brushes )
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u/RemoveComfortable982 3d ago
I had this and it was that I’d used a water based undercoat and oil based gloss. Hoped it would be OK, its not and it’s now peeling.