Non-yellowing white water-resistant finish for bathroom wainscoting?

[Harry Nicholson]

Please help! I am installing fiberboard or hardboard wainscoting against the lower half of the plaster walls of a small, basement bathroom. My wife insists that it be ultra-white and MUST NOT yellow with age. It also must be water-resistant, since it will be right next to the corner toilet. Some males have poor aim :rolleyes:

What paint or paint with water-resistant finish do you recommend?

[Steve Meliza]

White exterior latex paint. Sit down to pee if you can't aim?

[Harry Nicholson]

Thank you for your first suggestion.


White exterior latex paint. Sit down to pee if you can't aim?

[Prashun Patel]

I have mdf wainscoting in my basement bathroom. Installed it about 7 years ago. Looks as good now as day installed. I used an interior semigloss trim paint (Benjamin Moore). My point is, unless they're peeing directly ON it for long periods of time, any semigloss interior is going to hold up fine. We clean ours weekly.

Also, basement bathrooms don't get as much use as the others in the house, so the danger is (IMHO) less.

The wall near the sink - under the towel bar, specifically, is the bigger threat. That's why we made our wainscot about 48".

Around a toilet, the bigger threat is the floor. If you are tiling your bathroom, the bigger threat is the grout getting dirty.

[Scott Holmes]

Do NOT use an exterior paint! Exterior paints and finishes are SOFTER and LESS waterproof than interior finishes.

Use a quality INTERIOR gloss or semi gloss enamel.

[Rich Engelhardt]

In addition - exterior whites usually aren't as pure a white as interior.

Whenever I install MDF or hardboard anywhere, I make it a practice to backprime it (BIM - pigmented shellac) and prime all the edges also, as well as running a bead of latex caulk around all the edges and the seams where two pieces join together. I also never run it all the way down to the floor. I leave between a 11/4" and 3/8" space at the bottom & run a bead of caulk there also.
It might be overkill, but, I don't trust the stuff enough to leave it unprotected on all six sides.

[Quinn McCarthy]

I would prime the backs too. Especially in a batroom situation.

Quinn

[James Marshall]

I would use a good oil based enamel. I used Rodda Porcelite in the past. More recently I have used a Sherwin Williams oil based enamel. Ask them for their best oil based enamel. It went on great and has stood up well.

Jim

[Harry Nicholson]

Thanks, Jim
I've had very disappointing experiences with yellowing of the Benjamin Moore and Duron (now Sherwin Williams) white, oil-based enamels I have tried on baseboard trim and kitchen cabinets. I finally reverted to white latex enamel. The latex paint doesn't have the hard finish of oil-based, but it has held up well and stayed dazzling white. I don't think that I would try white oil-based paint again unless I was sure a revolutionary improvement had been made to the so-called non-yellowing properties.

[Carl Beckett]

My experience has been that the oil based products hold up well (harder) - but DO yellow. I havent found one that didnt. I still use oil based for pantry shelves (I have found the water based paints will let a can 'sink' into them if left for long times). For anywhere I want true 'white' - latex is the choice.

[Prashun Patel]

With due respect to the other posters here, don't over think this. Get a good latex interior semigloss trim paint. That will give you plenty of protection, will not yellow, and will be just fine for your bathroom basement wainscot. There are others, but I'm partial to Benjamin Moore.

I did prime both sides of the panel and used a panel adhesive + 18gauge trim nails to secure it to the drywall.

I have young kids with bad aim and the wall is the least of yr probs.

[Carl Beckett]

I have young kids with bad aim and the wall is the least of yr probs.


Indeed!

I just figure on repainting it every xxx years. Starting out with a repaint after the potty training years. Then a lull for a few years until the boy hits the teens and then increasing the frequency again until he hits about...... 30? Of course, after 50 its nighttime problem as well (aim... where?)

[Harry Nicholson]

Good advice and humor too. Such a deal!

[Mel Fulks]

Carl,ask a friend about...."laser pointers"

[Rich Engelhardt]

"Bad aim" doesn't concern me in the least - well - other than the nasty part of it.

I seal in all 6 sides and caulk all the seams as insurance against the effects of the inevitable failed plumbing fixture.

Over the years, I've become convinced of two things which are impossible to accomplish.
Keep water in a house and keep water out of a house...

[Jason Roehl]

No oil. They will yellow.

What you want is a paint that is labeled, "100% Acrylic ENAMEL". For the most part, you'll get what you pay for. As a pro painter, I'm personally partial to the Sherwin-Williams Pro Classic Acrylic, despite it being a little tricky to use, but there are other good ones out there. For a bit less money, the PPG/Porter Paints Advantage 900 is also pretty good, but I find it to be a bit softer than the Pro Classic.

[Rich Engelhardt]

What you want is a paint that is labeled, "100% Acrylic ENAMEL".

I'm running into some issues finding anything that has a label like that.
For some reason (probably marketing) it seems like everyone is sticking the word "latex" on the label in addition to the 100% Acrylic.
The S&W Pro Classic is a good example.
It comes in either 100% Acrylic Latex, or a Latex-Alkyd hybrid.
Both clean up with soap and water BTW, the Acrylic-Alkyd isn't an alkyd oil product.
Matter of fact - oil based anything pretty much doesn't exist anywhere within an hour's drive of Akron, Ohio that I've been able to find - w/the sole exception of Rustoleum.

The other thing I've noticed in the last 6 months has been a shift to a 100% acrylic formula for nearly every brand of material at the "best" level and some at even their "better" level.
Along with that, I've noticed the prices have soared from what they were just 3 years ago for "latex enamel" products.