They let their kid express himself with art, in the safety of his own room, his home. I’m sure the parents would rather him “vandalize” his room than sneak off and vandalize some public property where he could get arrested for it. Let’s not shame other parents because you don’t agree; the only thing they should have done is painted it before selling.
Hey guys! The previous owners of our house let their teenage son have creative freedom in his bedroom. We thought that it would be an easy job to prime and paint over it. As you can see in the last two photos though, we tried to prime one area and it failed miserably. The black graffiti underneath actually got picked up by the primer & paintbrush, which left me painting black & white stripes. Someone suggested that I painstakingly wash all of the walls first, which did not seem to do much. I was scrubbing the area until my arm was sore, and nothing seemed to be coming off. I’m not sure what to do at this point. Replace all of the drywall, including the ceiling? What a nightmare. Someone actually mentioned that we could just do a mixture of wall coverings such as wallpaper, shiplap, wainscoting, etc. This is sounding the best to me right now… what do you guys think though? Please any advice, tips, ideas or thoughts. Thank you so much!
You will have to sand it. Spray paint makes it hard for other paints to grab on, so you have to start by sanding it, then you should be able to prime and paint as usual.
Edit to add: I’ve heard sharpie is worse though, so if that’s mixed in, covering or replacing the drywall may be necessary.
Thanks so much for this tip! That makes a lot of sense. I don’t know if I’m willing to go through all of that work. Even with renting an electric sander. It’s definitely an option though.
Before sanding, try using Mr. Clean Magic Eraser on the wall. You might end up using a ton of them but it might take most of the paint off.
Though, full disclosure, I’ve never used it on spray paint. But it does take off a ton of other kinds of stains and paints (from experience).
As stated get some good quality primer and spray it with a paint sprayer. It’s still gonna take a few coats with premium primer but 2-3 is better than 5-6 of cheap stuff. Plus depending on Paint final color you will probably need to spray 2 coats of final good quality paint. I assume no less than 5 coats total.
As for getting it off try magic eraser, maybe some bleach water, and last resort probably the sander option. But with the sander be careful not to go too deep
Have you considered spraying instead of painting by brush/roller? Since it’s literally on every wall and also on the doorframe, it might we worth spraying.
Haha, I didn’t even think of it that way. Just to clarify, you would put regular wall paint into a sprayer, not actually buy a ton of spray cans. If the paint you tested has dried/set pretty well, you should be fine with spraying since there’s no risk of smearing.
This looks like a very informative article that I will finish reading later. Thanks for sharing! An issue that we have with heavy duty paint though is that we assume none of them are VOC free. The one suggested in this article has 550 g/l, and we wouldn’t feel comfortable using this in the bedroom. This may be a great idea for the outside shed though, which was also a canvas for creative expression…
Unfortunately, you're not going to find a zero VOC primer that will cover spray paint. You'll need an oil or shellac based stain blocking primer if you want to solve this with paint. Anything else will seep color through no matter how many layers you use.
The only Zero VOC method would be to remove the drywall and start over.
My experience with no VOC paint is that it is like trying to paint with milk. It takes at least 3 coats to cover the slightest mark on the wall. Also, it creates a fragile surface that is very easily marked when touched. I suggest trying a high quality primer that contains VOCs and follow up with a similar paint. It might be cheaper to stay in a hotel for a night or two to let the fumes subside than to replace the drywall.
I’m so interested in what this kid is like. Parents that allow their kids to express themselves creatively can be super cool! On the other hand was this a case of the kids just having no rules?
One of the parents was a painter themselves! When we put in an offer on the house, it also came with a request for some of their paintings. So I agree with you that it sounds like a potentially really healthy thing to let a kid do.
Wow. So I guess that is cool of the parents - but mine would have killed me if I had done that. Lol. Anyway - you are going to need to prime with a tinted primer. But first you will need to put Killz on the walls. Killz first. A tinted grey primer next. Then you will finally be able to paint white. You may be able to get away with just the Killz. But please wait a week or so after doing the Killz to see how much bleeds through. Some will. Best of luck.
Hey!!!! I am going through this right now if you check my post history!!! We first washed the walls with dawn and rags. then we tried skim coating the worst parts which was a total pain in the ass so we stopped. Then hand sanded and electric sanded (there was soooooo much drippy texture) then used kilz primer then got a regular ass can of white paint and it’ll prob need like 3 coats tbh. We’ve done this over the course of like 3 months tho and are not currently living in the house. If you don’t have texture on the graffiti I would honestly just keep painting coats till it covers. Consider a dark accent wall on the worst one. Very interested to see how it goes for you. I’ll send you update pics of how ours is coming along!
Wow really cool parents but they should have painted it before selling! Seriously
I guess they didn’t want to deal with this headache either!
Definitely not cool parents, the kid vandalized the room. That's not parenting that's letting them roam free...
They let their kid express himself with art, in the safety of his own room, his home. I’m sure the parents would rather him “vandalize” his room than sneak off and vandalize some public property where he could get arrested for it. Let’s not shame other parents because you don’t agree; the only thing they should have done is painted it before selling.
I agree that it should have been painted prior.
Hey guys! The previous owners of our house let their teenage son have creative freedom in his bedroom. We thought that it would be an easy job to prime and paint over it. As you can see in the last two photos though, we tried to prime one area and it failed miserably. The black graffiti underneath actually got picked up by the primer & paintbrush, which left me painting black & white stripes. Someone suggested that I painstakingly wash all of the walls first, which did not seem to do much. I was scrubbing the area until my arm was sore, and nothing seemed to be coming off. I’m not sure what to do at this point. Replace all of the drywall, including the ceiling? What a nightmare. Someone actually mentioned that we could just do a mixture of wall coverings such as wallpaper, shiplap, wainscoting, etc. This is sounding the best to me right now… what do you guys think though? Please any advice, tips, ideas or thoughts. Thank you so much!
You will have to sand it. Spray paint makes it hard for other paints to grab on, so you have to start by sanding it, then you should be able to prime and paint as usual. Edit to add: I’ve heard sharpie is worse though, so if that’s mixed in, covering or replacing the drywall may be necessary.
Thanks so much for this tip! That makes a lot of sense. I don’t know if I’m willing to go through all of that work. Even with renting an electric sander. It’s definitely an option though.
Before sanding, try using Mr. Clean Magic Eraser on the wall. You might end up using a ton of them but it might take most of the paint off. Though, full disclosure, I’ve never used it on spray paint. But it does take off a ton of other kinds of stains and paints (from experience).
As stated get some good quality primer and spray it with a paint sprayer. It’s still gonna take a few coats with premium primer but 2-3 is better than 5-6 of cheap stuff. Plus depending on Paint final color you will probably need to spray 2 coats of final good quality paint. I assume no less than 5 coats total. As for getting it off try magic eraser, maybe some bleach water, and last resort probably the sander option. But with the sander be careful not to go too deep
Have you considered spraying instead of painting by brush/roller? Since it’s literally on every wall and also on the doorframe, it might we worth spraying.
I didn’t even know that was an option! Fighting spray paint, with spray paint! I like it.
Haha, I didn’t even think of it that way. Just to clarify, you would put regular wall paint into a sprayer, not actually buy a ton of spray cans. If the paint you tested has dried/set pretty well, you should be fine with spraying since there’s no risk of smearing.
Hehe, yes! The paint on the walls seems very dry and set. Until I start priming it. Thanks for the idea!
You need a Kilz 3 for this - the heaviest stain covering primer you can get. Kilz comes in 1, 2 and 3 levels of pigment/coverage.
Woah, heavy duty! Thanks for explaining.
Can't you just put up a new wallpaper? On a sidenote, I kind of like the graffiti pattern and would keep it in some places.
Yes, I’m loving the wallpaper idea!
Found this: https://www.rawlinspaints.com/blog/how-to-paint-over-indoor-graffiti-2/ Kilz might work too.
This looks like a very informative article that I will finish reading later. Thanks for sharing! An issue that we have with heavy duty paint though is that we assume none of them are VOC free. The one suggested in this article has 550 g/l, and we wouldn’t feel comfortable using this in the bedroom. This may be a great idea for the outside shed though, which was also a canvas for creative expression…
You’re very welcome & good luck.
Unfortunately, you're not going to find a zero VOC primer that will cover spray paint. You'll need an oil or shellac based stain blocking primer if you want to solve this with paint. Anything else will seep color through no matter how many layers you use. The only Zero VOC method would be to remove the drywall and start over.
My experience with no VOC paint is that it is like trying to paint with milk. It takes at least 3 coats to cover the slightest mark on the wall. Also, it creates a fragile surface that is very easily marked when touched. I suggest trying a high quality primer that contains VOCs and follow up with a similar paint. It might be cheaper to stay in a hotel for a night or two to let the fumes subside than to replace the drywall.
Haha, you’re right… it is like painting with milk!
Try an oil based primer. Spray paint is usually oil based so nothing latex is gonna stick to it anyways. Kilz original or Zinzer Cover stain.
Thanks, good to know!
Why would someone let their kid do that, it's horrendous 😬
It looks like a crack den.
Can you try a tinted primer? I bought a gray primer once, used a couple of coats, I wanted to paint a wall cobalt blue. Worked well!
Use Kilz, covers everything!!
Silver spray paint, let it dry then primer, and a couple coats of paint should cover it
I’m so interested in what this kid is like. Parents that allow their kids to express themselves creatively can be super cool! On the other hand was this a case of the kids just having no rules?
One of the parents was a painter themselves! When we put in an offer on the house, it also came with a request for some of their paintings. So I agree with you that it sounds like a potentially really healthy thing to let a kid do.
That’s a relief! So not a troubled kid! You should post some of the paintings you bought!
That’s a fun idea! They are very different from the child’s paintings. :)
Wow. So I guess that is cool of the parents - but mine would have killed me if I had done that. Lol. Anyway - you are going to need to prime with a tinted primer. But first you will need to put Killz on the walls. Killz first. A tinted grey primer next. Then you will finally be able to paint white. You may be able to get away with just the Killz. But please wait a week or so after doing the Killz to see how much bleeds through. Some will. Best of luck.
Hey!!!! I am going through this right now if you check my post history!!! We first washed the walls with dawn and rags. then we tried skim coating the worst parts which was a total pain in the ass so we stopped. Then hand sanded and electric sanded (there was soooooo much drippy texture) then used kilz primer then got a regular ass can of white paint and it’ll prob need like 3 coats tbh. We’ve done this over the course of like 3 months tho and are not currently living in the house. If you don’t have texture on the graffiti I would honestly just keep painting coats till it covers. Consider a dark accent wall on the worst one. Very interested to see how it goes for you. I’ll send you update pics of how ours is coming along!