Question:

I'm in the process of painting my kitchen.  I just put on the second coat and there are bubbles forming under the paint.  There are some small ones and some quite big ones.  What is causing this and what can I do to fix it?

Answer:

First off, let me say I'm sorry that this is happening to your painting project.  There are a few reasons that this could be happening, they are all related to poor preparation.  This sometimes happens when you paint directly over drywall mud that hasn't fully cured yet.  The moisture in the patching compound doesn't allow the paint to stick to the wall, but the paint is sticking to itself quite well, causing bubbles.  Another common cause of this problem is leaving sanding dust on the walls when you begin to paint.  It is imparitive that you wipe down the walls before starting to paint.  A good coat of wall primer will almost always help avoid this problem.  

There is some good news though.  Often, if there are just a few of these bubbles, they will dissapear on their own.  Just leave them alone and undisterbed overnight while the paint dries.  A lot of times they will just disappear and the wall be be good as new.  If this doesn't work you will unfortunatly have to scrape them off, repatch the wall, prime and then repaint.  But be carefull not to repaint too soon as the second coat is the one that usually causes the bubbles.  Wait a good 24 hours before trying to put another coat on.  This will ensure that everything has had proper time to dry and adhere to everything else.

Thanks for your questions.  Please direct any further questions to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it