Natwerk Designs

How do I start to paint bare walls so they are prepared to paint on with designs done with acrylic paints?

I live in an older home and the bathroom walls are getting stripped down to the bare walls, so what would be the best procedure to follow so I can paint acrylic designs on the walls and then would a sealer be needed, and if so what kind? Also is there a website for this type of remodeling/art work? Thanks so much!

Public Comments

1. Get a primer that is designed for bathrooms. Probably oil based. Answer to your email as you don't have yours set up so one can reply to you: A sealer (usually a type of putty!) is only needed if you have cracks that need to be filled in. The primer seals the surface for the paint. When you buy the primer be sure to tell the sales people that you intend to put acrylic over it, so they can pick the correct primer for you.
2. lets take a break here.. first there is an older home in question, do you know that the walls are dry wall, or horse hair and cement, you really are going to make it hard on you self if you break open the porous surfaces of rough inner materials, I would recommend going to a bath room area in a big box and getting 1/8th inch plastic sheets and gluing and putting sealing strips and doing the job once in your whole life, when i do this stuff it's forever, nobodies got the time to find that they really weakened the whole bathrom with loosing a water tight bathroom to start with. at the point you stop and examine the shear plastic sheets in 4x8 (white) that can protect it and then here you are where you want to be with the artsy acrylics stuff
3. I'm with Bev [previous answer]. If there is one room in your house that will cause you ongoing grief it is the bathroom! The most expensive renovation next to the kitchen. Problem is water, steam, condensation and mould.The bathroom walls are getting stripped down to bare walls? What does that mean?Paint coming off? Tiles coming off? You need to establish what the sub-strat is. ie: the final surface on which you can work. Unless you are trying some "little house on the prairie" style [clap-board]you will need to cover all the walls with a moisture resistant material.This can be blue-board panels, gap sealed and painted with a oil-based matt sealer. What is the ventilation like? Is the bathroom on the cold or warm side of the house? If you want permanancy for your designs you must have a sound base to work on. Designs in a good quality gloss acrylic should not need a sealer.