Painting a Bathroom in St Kilda: Mould, Steam and Getting a Finish That Lasts

The bathroom is the room most likely to need repainting and the room most likely to be repainted badly. Steam, splashes, temperature swings and, in St Kilda, Elwood and Balaclava, a damp coastal climate mean that paint in a bathroom works harder than anywhere else in the house. When it fails it fails visibly: black spots in the ceiling corners, paint lifting above the shower, and a room that never feels clean.

A bathroom repaint done properly lasts years. One done as a quick coat of whatever was in the shed lasts a season. This is what makes the difference.

Mould has to be killed, not covered

The single most common mistake is painting over mould. Mould is a living growth in and on the surface, and paint applied over it either fails to bond or has the mould grow straight back through it within months. Before any paint goes on, every affected area is treated with a proper mould wash, left to work, rinsed and allowed to dry completely. Heavily affected plaster or paint is removed rather than treated in place.

If mould keeps returning in the same place regardless of what is done, the cause is usually water getting in behind the surface, a leaking shower, failed grout or a roof leak above, or a room that simply never dries. Paint cannot fix either, and we will tell you if that is what we find.

Preparation for a wet room

Once the room is clean and dry, the walls and ceiling are prepared like any other interior surface, only more thoroughly. Flaking and peeling paint is scraped and sanded back to a firm edge. Gaps around the bath, basin, cornices and window frame are sealed with a mould-resistant sealant rather than filler. Old gloss on doors, frames and trim is sanded so the new paint has a key. Any bare plaster or patched areas are primed with a sealer suited to wet areas so the finish coat bonds evenly.

The ceiling deserves particular care because it is where the steam condenses first. Ceilings that have flaked are sealed with a stain-blocking primer once repaired, or the old moisture marks bleed through the new white.

Choosing the right paint

Bathrooms should be painted with a paint formulated for wet areas. These carry mould inhibitors, resist moisture and washing, and hold their finish on a surface that is repeatedly steamed. Standard flat ceiling paint in a bathroom is a mistake; it absorbs moisture, marks when touched and grows mould. For walls, a low-sheen or satin wet-area acrylic is the usual choice: enough sheen to wipe clean, not so much that every imperfection in an old plaster wall shows. For the ceiling, a wet-area ceiling paint in a flat or very low sheen. For trim, doors and window frames, a durable enamel or a water-based enamel that will not yellow.

Two coats is standard, and on a bathroom that has been mould-treated and patched, a third is not unusual.

Tiles, render and the surfaces that are not plaster

St Kilda's older bathrooms have a mix of surfaces: plaster or plasterboard above the tiles, rendered walls in some of the Deco flats and terraces, and occasionally full-height tiling with a painted section at the top. Rendered walls are treated like any masonry, with cracks repaired, drummy render patched and a sealer before paint. Tiles can be painted with a tile-specific system, but it is a specialist coating best treated as a separate decision.

Painting around tiles is the fiddly part. The line where the paint meets the top row of tiles is cut in by hand, and the sealant along that line is renewed at the same time so water does not track behind the paint.

Colour in a small room

Bathrooms are small, and in St Kilda they are often windowless or lit by a single small window. Light colours make the most of the space: whites with a warm undertone, pale greys, soft greens and blues. The ceiling is usually kept white or a shade lighter than the walls. A dark bathroom can look striking with good light and high ceilings, but in a small internal bathroom it feels like a cupboard and shows water marks.

Match the white to the tiles. We bring test pots and check in the room's own light.

Ventilation is part of the job

Paint holds up in a bathroom that dries out between showers and fails in one that does not. A working exhaust fan, run during and for a while after showers, is the difference. Many St Kilda bathrooms have no fan at all, or a fan that vents into the roof space rather than outside. Opening the window helps. If the room has neither a fan nor a window, adding a fan is a small job for an electrician and is the best money spent on the bathroom, because no paint on the market survives a room that is permanently damp.

Rentals and apartments

Bathroom repaints are one of the most common jobs between tenancies in St Kilda's rental market, and one of the quickest ways to make a unit feel clean again. In apartments, the bathroom is inside the lot and does not need owners corporation approval, but the exhaust ducting and the building's plumbing are the building's, which matters if a leak from above is the cause of the problem. Our articles on painting apartments and units and painting a rental property cover the wider picture.

What the job involves

A bathroom repaint on its own is typically a two-day job: mould treatment and preparation on the first day, with drying time, and painting on the second, sometimes with a third visit for a final coat or sealant. The room is out of action for the painting days and should be kept as dry as possible while the paint cures. It is frequently done as part of an interior house painting job, which is the most efficient way to fit it in.

If you have a bathroom in St Kilda, Elwood, Balaclava or anywhere across the bayside suburbs that is mouldy, peeling or simply tired, send us a photo of the worst corner and the ceiling. We will tell you whether it is a paint job or a leak, and what it will take to make it last.