Refinished my porch railing with the wrong prep step and it's already peeling

Last weekend I stripped and sanded my front porch railing, but I skipped the tack cloth step before priming. Three days later the paint is bubbling up in spots near the hinges. I'm debating between sanding just those areas and touching up versus stripping the whole thing again and starting over. Has anyone dealt with spot peeling after a refinish and had the touch up actually hold up long term?

2 comments

2 Comments

nancy27520d agoOG Member

Three days is nothing for paint failure to show up. That bubbling near hinges tells me moisture got trapped under there, likely from the wood not being clean enough before primer. The tack cloth skip is probably the issue but it could also be leftover dust or oils from your hands. I'd bet money the touch up will peel again within a month because the adhesion is already compromised. You're better off stripping the whole railing, cleaning it with mineral spirits this time, and using a tack cloth before you prime. Spot fixing on something that failed that fast is just delaying the inevitable.

scott.mia19d ago

@nancy275 I think mineral spirits might be overkill, soap and water usually does the trick.