Learned the hard way why you don't skip primer on bathroom walls

Last month I repainted my small bathroom in Minneapolis and thought I could skip primer since the old paint was in good shape. After two coats of a nice dark blue, it looked perfect. Then I took a hot shower the next morning. The steam made the paint bubble up in three spots near the ceiling. Had to sand it all down, use a good Kilz primer, and repaint the whole ceiling. Took me an extra 5 hours. Has anyone else had paint fail from bathroom steam like that?

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morgan.cameron13d ago

Wait did you use the same paint on the ceiling that you used on the walls? Dark blue on a bathroom ceiling is a bold move but that's beside the point. The real question is did you let the first coat fully cure before you hit it with that hot shower? I've seen people mess this up before where they think a coat is dry to the touch after an hour but it hasn't actually hardened enough to handle steam yet. Also what kind of sheen was that paint because flat or matte in a bathroom is just asking for trouble no matter how good your primer game is.