My house is about 30 years old. I recently painted over exiting off-white trim in two rooms with white alkyd enamel. The new white paint turned yellowish tan in about 4 weeks.
I then painted over the discolored alkyd enamel with a coat of Zinsser shellac based primer. The bleed through continued. I then painted over the shellac based primer with an Oil Base primer. I waited two weeks, and then repainted the trim white again, this time with latex semi-gloss. The two primers did not solve the bleed through problem.
The trim along the floor is bright white (for now), and the trim around the doors and windows is a very noticeable darker shade of off-white. I have new carpet scheduled for installation in two weeks. I’m desperate and in need of some sound advice.
3 Responses
Sounds like a hassle. remove and replace the trim. Prime and repaint. Or paint it a darker colour.
Kevyn
finishesbykevyn.ca
The key here is "my house is about 30 years old" … what is happening is the resins in the original wood substrate and in the underlying varnish are bleeding thru… I have seen this and the only REAL solution albeit a messy time consuming job is to strip off everything using a good brand Paint and Varnish Remover… then proceed again with an Oil Primer, two coats… and finish coat with a EXTERIOR Oil Paint…
Interesting responses. After using Zinsser priming products (both oil and shellac based) with little success (I too have a recurring stain bleed through), I'm convinced that the posters suggesting the use of a product that you've tried and failed with may have some financial interests in the product. I bought an 80 year old house that originally had stained interior trim that had been painted. Upon stripping the trim, I noticed that the underlying coat of paint was indeed metallic (Aluminum) paint. I had not idea the purpose for the use of that paint was to block the bleed of stain through the top coat/s. So, I'm going with the guy who grew up in his father's paint shop and his recommendation of aluminum paint.