hey gang, we live in an old farmhouse. i believe the bathroom was an afterthought as there is a window in the tub/shower area. how can i keep the wood from rotting, it is currently stained(finished). also the walls are dirty with hard water stains ,iron stains, & some mildew. must i scrub the walls before painting , or would a primer coat of kilz be good enough? if i should wash the walls what product should i use? as always , thanks again, fred

-- fred in wi (sixuvusmeyers@aol.com), October 20, 2001

Answers

Hey Fred, I once lived in a house like that, had a full size (24" x 36") window right in the shower/tub area plus plaster walls,no tile. Never could keep the wood from becoming wet,and soaked with water.I scraped and sanded and primed and used oil base enamel high gloss paint and that lasted for a while but water still got in around the edges and stuff, finally just took it out and dry-walled and tiled around the tub and put in a exhaust fan to cut down on the steam and such causing mildew.

Try and get as much off the walls as you can,you might try vinger and water or TSP (trisodium-phosphate)and then go ahead with 1 or 2 coats of kilz.

-- TomK(mich) (tjk@cac.net), October 20, 2001.

Bathrooms are weird- my old house on the original 5 acres wa sbuilt with no bathroom originally. Later a bathroom was added at one end of the house, but the outside wall wasn't a wall- it was a double set of sliding glass doors! It was kind of weird, but since the house was out in the woods I guess it didn't really matter. The house I am in now has a window in the shower because the guy who built the house wanted the outside of the house to look the same all the way across. It is a drag because the windows are wood. At first I just tried to dry off the window after using the shower, thinking that the polyurethane would protect it, but that did not work. Finally, I added a second shower curtain on the wall side. I just close the curtain when using the shower and that does the trick. Unfortunately I still have to refinish the window to repair the damage that has already been done.

-- Elizabeth (ekfla@aol.com), October 20, 2001.

I have the same problem,interior polyurethane coating wont stand up to the moisture,I am thinking of using an epoxy type coating which would have the same appearance as poly just thicker and maybe a little more glossy,but I know epoxy is pretty tuff and the ones I have seen are not affected by water. Good luck Dave.S

-- dave smith (duckthis1@maqs.net), October 20, 2001.