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drywall primer paint and topcoat

cthammond

New Member
We are producing a adhesive back wall mural for our client and having issues with the paint. The graphic wall test is failing with the top coat peeling and coming off with the graphic. We are in Maryland and they do not sell oil based primers such as Kilz which is what 3M recommends. Does anyone have a suggestion of any other paint primers to bond with the drywall?
 

Jean Shimp

New Member
Curious to know why the paint is sticking to the vinyl graphic and separating from the drywall. Usually if there is a problem it is because the graphic will not stick to the wall paint due to uncured paint or low VOC paint.
 

Notarealsignguy

Arial - it's almost helvetica
I don't think it'll matter what you put over it, there's a problem with the bond of the topcoat to whatever's under it and nothing will change that short of stripping. Not something that I'd want to own... been there done that
 

bowtievega

Premium Subscriber
Obviously they didn't clean and prep the wall correctly prior to painting. As was mentioned above, nothing can be done to increase that original paint to drywall bond short of removing the existing paint and doing it again with proper products. I would pass that one back to the customer to fix lol.
 

Gino

Premium Subscriber
Obviously they didn't clean and prep the wall correctly prior to painting. As was mentioned above, nothing can be done to increase that original paint to drywall bond short of removing the existing paint and doing it again with proper products. I would pass that one back to the customer to fix lol.


No, ya can't start blaming the end-user for your short-comings. There are certain questions the sign guy/gal must ask before starting a project, such as this. You need to know what kinda paint was used and how it was prepped and how long its cured. Is the place in a climate controlled area. Is there insulation behind the wall. Knowing what direction the wall helps in some cases.

We've put up literally 1,000s or probably tens of 1,000s of signs, both vinyl and rigid substrate on interior walls with practically no failures over the last 15 years. We've had maybe 2 or 3 failures and it was always the paint did not have enough time to cure. However, one wall started to weep. It actually would sweat come around 1 or 2 in the afternoon, then it would stop at night. Turns out, when they remodeled the building, they added this and added that and never told us, when they put the extension on this one wall, nothing was between the outside wall and the sheetrock. That air buffer acted as an oven and the heat built up since this was a southern exposure. With the interior being climate controlled, it would sweat and our stuff did not hold very well. The builder got in a lotta trouble for cutting those corners. He sidetracked the original plans, but didn't tell anyone. Ended up costing him a mint to make good. Afterwards, we went back and re-hung everything and never another problem in that particular building.
 

cthammond

New Member
Thanks for everyone posting their experiences. We believe the wall was not prepped and cleaned properly for the primer coat. Since the primer coat was not bonding properly the top coat and graphic would peel away from the drywall or compound. The contractor is going to add a layer of drywall and start over with the wall. Can anyone recommend a good primer and topcoat they have used with success in the past. We are in Maryland so they do not sell oil based primers here.
 

visual800

Active Member
Thanks for everyone posting their experiences. We believe the wall was not prepped and cleaned properly for the primer coat. Since the primer coat was not bonding properly the top coat and graphic would peel away from the drywall or compound. The contractor is going to add a layer of drywall and start over with the wall. Can anyone recommend a good primer and topcoat they have used with success in the past. We are in Maryland so they do not sell oil based primers here.

for bare sheetrock you can use a flat interior paint and then I prefer matte or eggshell BEHR for topcoat. Theres no sense in running out to New Look and overpaying for paint you dont need
 

netsol

Premium Subscriber
No, ya can't start blaming the end-user for your short-comings. There are certain questions the sign guy/gal must ask before starting a project, such as this. You need to know what kinda paint was used and how it was prepped and how long its cured. Is the place in a climate controlled area. Is there insulation behind the wall. Knowing what direction the wall helps in some cases.

We've put up literally 1,000s or probably tens of 1,000s of signs, both vinyl and rigid substrate on interior walls with practically no failures over the last 15 years. We've had maybe 2 or 3 failures and it was always the paint did not have enough time to cure. However, one wall started to weep. It actually would sweat come around 1 or 2 in the afternoon, then it would stop at night. Turns out, when they remodeled the building, they added this and added that and never told us, when they put the extension on this one wall, nothing was between the outside wall and the sheetrock. That air buffer acted as an oven and the heat built up since this was a southern exposure. With the interior being climate controlled, it would sweat and our stuff did not hold very well. The builder got in a lotta trouble for cutting those corners. He sidetracked the original plans, but didn't tell anyone. Ended up costing him a mint to make good. Afterwards, we went back and re-hung everything and never another problem in that particular building.


sounds to me like whoever painter the wall, did not understand what primer is, and it's purpose. does paint stick to wallboard? NO BUT IT STICKS TO PRIMER, AND PRIMER STICKS TO WALLBOARD.

i bought a house from a man who didn't understand the distinction. it's all a matter of adhesion & cohesion. improper painting gives you probably a perfectly acceptable wall (you will never know it's shortcomings) UNLESS you are applying graphics to it.
 
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