Re-Decorating After Leak

[Barmaid]

I had a really bad water leak in July. I mean really bad - ie puddles on the floor. It became apparent that the water had got in between the living room and kitchen. The roof has now been fixed.

The paint on the wall that had the ingress has bubbled and flaked. Do I need to have any special treatment before I redecorate? I'm only going to have the walls painted but I'm concerned about repainting if it hasnt dried out or needs treating with something.

Any advice, please?

[ummmm]

Oh my dear!!!

Walls, ceilings, HAVE to dry out. No ifs or buts! When it's dry...might take a time, or you could purchase a dampy things to test.

When it's dry, and properly dry, you'll need to scrape off any flaking paint and sand the surrounding area down. When that's done one or two coats of sealer.

Good luck...you have my email address :-D

[Barmaid]

You can come do it for me! I provide food, alcohol and cuddles from a stroppy ginger. (So it will be just like being at home ;) )

[ummmm]

One or two coats of sealer might not be enough!

[ummmm]

Haha..I'll happily do it :-)

[Barmaid]

I've told the landlord I am happy to re-decorate (as per the terms of my agreement) however, I am not fixing the walls!!!!!!!!!!

[mazie]

We had a similar situation in the bathroom when we moved here BM..The bath connection under the bath had disconnected and the bathroom was soaking. We had to lift the floor and take all the plaster off... nightmare! Once we had done that we got a good quality dehumidifier and had that running day and night to dry it out. You can also get a paint once the room is dry to coat the walls with.

[Barmaid]

How long did it take to dry, Mazie? The house has been watertight since August and it was probably only October I started heating it.

[ummmm]

When our water tank burst it took over two weeks of having a industrial dehumidify on the go 24/7 for it to dry out.

[mazie]

We think the bath had been like that for about 10 years so it was a massive job and took ages.. I think yours should take a couple of weeks BM. Good luck with it. A good dehumidifier is a must in my opinion xx