Drywall Peeling in Moist Areas

Common Causes

• Paint can peel for several reasons. For example, a poor paint job produced unsuccessful results, the wrong paint was used or the drywall was not primed before the first coat of paint was applied. If none of those causes resulted in the peeling paint, then moisture forced its way through the paint film. Moisture usually originates from two sources in a home. The first is a high-humidity area, such as a bathroom, kitchen or basement; the area forms wetness or dampness that passes through paint film and onto the front of the paint. The second origination is moisture from behind the paint. It occurs from water that leaks either from a pipe in a wall or the roof.

Damage Repair

• Once you discover the cause of the drywall damage, you can tackle the repair. Sometimes the solution may involve only priming and repainting the affected surface after scraping away the damaged area. Other times, repair may require replacing the drywall. The cause of the ruined area will navigate you to the appropriate steps to take to correct the problem and prevent it from recurring.

Water Prevention

• Learning the climate zone of your house is important to prevent drywall paint from peeling. The vapor from moisture gushes from hot to either cold or wet to dry. Vapor circulation journeys in the air. Holes should be sealed, and cracked caulk along windows and baseboards should be sealed with new caulk.

Moisture Solutions

• Unfortunately, you cannot keep moisture from your home indefinitely. The only practical solution to regulate the problem of surplus moisture is to lessen habits that produce water vapor, such as not taking long showers and not running water for long periods of time. Exercising practical ventilation helps, too. Because water vapor moves directly through drywall and into wall cavities, which results in blistering and peeling paint, proper ventilation is important to move water vapor out of the home.