Stop Writing "Paint Bathroom" on Work Orders
We finished a bathroom refresh this week and ran into something that costs this industry real money: the wrong paint on the wall.
The existing coating was a flat water-based latex. In a bathroom, that is a losing setup. Flat paint has almost no binder at the surface, so the first time anyone cleans it, the finish burnishes, lifts and peels. Add shower humidity and it fails faster.
What actually holds up in a bathroom:
• 100% acrylic latex, satin or semi-gloss. Acrylic resists moisture far better than vinyl latex, and the sheen is what lets you scrub it.
• Mildew-resistant bathroom formulas. Sherwin-Williams Duration Home,
Benjamin Moore Aura Bath and Spa, and Zinsser Perma-White are all built for wet rooms. Perma-White is hard to beat on vacant and REO properties.
• Prep is not optional. Clean the surface, kill any mold with the right product rather than painting over it, degloss, and prime. A stain-blocking primer on water-damaged drywall saves you a callback.
• Never spot-paint flat over satin. It flashes, and it will peel at the seam.
Now the part aimed at management companies and property managers:
If your work order says "paint bathroom" and nothing else, you are leaving the specification to whoever is cheapest that week. Then you pay again in six months when it peels.
Put the spec in the scope. Name the sheen. Name an approved product list. And approve a line item for prep and primer instead of treating it as included.
A gallon of the right paint costs a few dollars more than the wrong one. Repainting the same bathroom twice costs a full trip, a full crew and a QC failure.
Specify it once, get it done once.
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