How do I fix bleeding spots on a ceiling?

by Karen
(USA)

I am having problems with my upstairs bedroom ceiling. It is an old house and I recently had the ceiling stippled. There were brown spots that came through the stipple.

At one time there had been some water damage in one spot only. The spots are on the north and south walls. There is no bathroom near this room. I had the painters come back and they sprayed a sealer primer over the spots and now it is worse. They had originally painted over the old water spots with oil paint before stippling. What can I do, if anything?

Answer

This is an interesting problem. Primer-sealers can dissolve a stain if it is reactivated by the solvent in the primer, mineral spirits for oil base and water for acrylic/latex primers. It’s possible this is happening.

I would try a shellac primer. The alcohol in shellac won’t react with and dissolve most types of "bleeding" stains. Tinted shellac primers are available in spray cans for spot priming as well as gallons for large area.

Have the painter's use a spray can before purchasing a gallon. It could take more than one coat to fully seal a spot.

Another alternative is to use an opposite type of primer on the spots. If the painters used an oil base primer/sealer try an acrylic. Once again two or more coats may be needed. Personally, I would try the shellac first. It dries very fast and multiple coats can be applied in one day.