How to Treat Stains on Plaster and Drywall | Ask This Old House

Ask This Old House general contractor Tom Silva explains the best way to get rid of water stains on ceilings and walls.
SUBSCRIBE to This Old House: bit.ly/SubscribeThisOldHouse
Time: 1-2 hours
Cost: $50
Skill Level:
Easy
Tools:
Paint brush
Rubber gloves
Bowl
Sponge
Shopping List:
Bleach
Primer
Water-based paint or acrylic paint
Steps:
1. Before treating the stain, locate its source, which may be a water leak.
2. To get rid of any potential mold, stir up a 50/50 mix of bleach and water.
3. Wear rubber gloves and a sponge to wash the stain or carefully spary the mix in a spray bottle. It’s possible the bleach/water mix could remove the stain, but unlikely. The goal here is to kill the mold.
4. Once the bleach mix has dried, use an oil or shellac based primer to cover the stain. It can be a spray can primer or a traditional brush or roll on primer. Spray or brush on one coat.
5. Once the primer has dried, use an acrylic or water-based paint and paint brush to cover the stain. It’s likely the entire ceiling or wall will need a fresh coat to make it match.
About Ask This Old House TV:
Homeowners have a virtual truckload of questions for us on smaller projects, and we're ready to answer. Ask This Old House solves the steady stream of home improvement problems faced by our viewers-and we make house calls! Ask This Old House features some familiar faces from This Old House, including Kevin O'Connor, general contractor Tom Silva, plumbing and heating expert Richard Trethewey, and landscape contractor Roger Cook.
Follow This Old House and Ask This Old House:
Facebook: bit.ly/ThisOldHouseFB
Twitter: bit.ly/ThisOldHouseTwitter
bit.ly/AskTOHTwitter
Pinterest: bit.ly/ThisOldHousePinterest
Instagram: bit.ly/ThisOldHouseIG
bit.ly/AskTOHIG
Tumblr: bit.ly/ThisOldHouseTumblr
For more on This Old House and Ask This Old House, visit us at: bit.ly/ThisOldHouseWebsite
How to Treat Stains on Plaster and Drywall | Ask This Old House
/ thisoldhouse

[@MSI2k]

"You want to protect the 'arear'"

[@lisab.1595]

I have a small water stain on the wall in my bathroom. Probably about 6" in diameter. I was wondering if I could use the Clorox Bleach pen to go over the stain , if it would remove it. I'm trying not to paint the entire bathroom for such a small area, and I never have bleach in the house because the smell is horrible, so I was looking for a quick fix without having to mix water/bleach, transfer into a bottle, etc etc. The drywall is painted a flat white paint. The usual builders white paint.

[@daniel.pendzich]

A while ago I was carrying a cup of ice tea up the stairwell. I ended up tripping, and dumped the entire cup down the wallpaper from the top floor all the way to the basement. I tried everything to get the horrid brown stain out. I thought I was a dead man until I discovered that just blotting it with a bleachy sponge instantly returned the wallpaper back to white.

[@saulgoodman2018]

Get Kevin to remove the wall paper.

[@dean3583]

bleach + water + sponge or cloth from old tshirt, daps on it once or twice. It's been a year and the stain didn't come back or maybe it didn't come back and got bleached out on its own.

[@onyxe.s.4349]

paint stripper and play glue works

[@rolfsinkgraven]

White road paint covers everything

[@Pure_KodiakWILD_Power]

i see kevin is still snatching things from people.

[@cupbowlspoonforkknif]

Please make a montage of him grabbing things.

[@MB-ve3ex]

Yeah...wtf! he snatched the hell out of that can!

[@al.g9534]

I thought I was tripping that was really rude and instead of asking a question and waiting for the answer he tried to guess what the answer is instead of allowing an answer. Pray for him 🤦‍♀️

[@al.g9534]

Idk if Kevin hates his job or hates the guy why would he say get to it???

[@hedgewitch59]

Bleach merely whitens the stain. You need vinegar to actually kill the mould, then bleach to "bleach" the stain out. Primer on its own WON'T seal the stain in. It will just come through the subsequent layers over time. You need a sealing paint first, then the primer. Things are a bit grim when a woman has to tell two blokes how to do home dec.

[@JJ-gk9ri]

feminist.

[@NeonGen2000]

Hahaha if you want to complain about traditional gender roles. Cleaning is your department...

[@KC-fb8ql]

@neon 😂😂😂

What's the big deal now? Remember EVE? All the answers are from the mom(s). I take my hat off every time.

[@davetrayford]

What (in your perception) does gender have to do with this specific knowledge?

[@WLest18]

After all this time and Kevin still doesn't get it!

[@saulgoodman2018]

Doesn't get what? They do this for the viewers at home, who may not know.

[@meerscan9101]

bullseye primer,

[@HowardSantiago-qn4kv]

Im going to MAAAk the mold with bleach right here and kill you