HELP!!! I painted 1 dining room wall latex eggshell sand. 1 YEAR LATER I decided I wanted a deep red. I asked the man at Lowes for eggshell latex. I was busy and when I picked up the paint I only checked the color. I didn’t notice the can said oil base semi-gloss. I noticed later but decided to use the paint anyway.
Unfortunately imperfections on the wall showed due to the semi-gloss I suppose (wall is paneling, I filled the lines in). The imperfections didn’t show up under the sand eggshell. So I DECIDED to get the right paint, again. I scuffed the walls with a palm sander and wiped. Next I put latex eggshell over oil semi-gloss (same color deep red). It was still shinier than I wanted but when I got up the next morning and as the day went on the paint continued to shine more and more. This morning the walls felt a little tacky which I thought was odd, it should have dried. Several hours later the walls were wet like with water, not sticky. I wiped the walls down good and it was as if I were wiping off oil, lots of oil. I’m totally baffled. How do I fix this? What happened to cause this?
Well, here's what I think happened. The first coat (oil base paint) wasn't cured when you sanded and re-coated with the acrylic (water based paint). It might have been dry to the touch but oil base paints take 3-4 weeks to fully cure. You sanded the new paint film which allowed the underlying solvents and resins to escape. Now you applied another layer of paint, quick drying acrylic. The solvents and resins have dissolved into the acrylic and migrated to the surface. This is just a theory as I've never done this layering of different paints before.
At this point you need to take a break and allow everything a chance to dry. This will allow the solvents and resins to finish what ever they are doing. Give the wall 2 weeks to dry before doing anything else.
After a good drying period do the following;
1) You will need to wash the wall to remove any oily residue. Use some liquid dish soap and warm water with a sponge or soft rag. Make sure to rinse well with fresh water to remove any soap residue. This could remove some acrylic paint that isn't well adhered due to the underlying oil base paint. Allow to dry overnight.
2) Prime the wall with either Kilz or Zinsser Cover Stain, both are oil based quick drying primers. Allow to dry overnight to see if anything strange happens.
3) If the wall primes well without any problems then you can repaint. If oils still seep through then spot prime those areas with the primer and wait to see if the wall is fully sealed. If the oil base primer won't seal up the wall then you will have to use a tinted shellac primer.
