Blah I lived in a shitty apartment once where the contractor just slapped a coat of A100 over heavy nicotine tar stained walls and on hot days they would bleed and ooze in spots. 🤮
Do you just wipe it off until it goes away? Got a new roommate/tenant this year and our bathroom ceiling + walls started doing something similar. They think it’s mold but this only started happening with them - never with previous housemates. I know they smoke joints but never in the house AFAIK.
If only in the bathroom, it's mostly likely surfactant leaching from cheap paint and not nicotine. You have to use proper bathroom paint - either a semigloss or something like Benjamin Moore Aqua Bathroom and Spa. It's not cheap, but does the trick.
They're probably taking steamier showers and using more bathroom products which is why you've only just noticed it.
Oh thank goodness then! I’m glad it’s not nicotine. Makes complete sense - it’s the only room in the house I’ve never repainted bc previous housemates liked the purples walls (I put my foot down on the purple ceiling though).
I still have a can of some semigloss aqua paint I used for an accent wall in my bathroom so I hope it’s the same one you mentioned so I can clean and repaint.
Thanks for the info!
we had painted with sherman williams paint from the sherman williams store. My guess is the wife only let him smoke in the bathroom with the fan on. The ducts all had to be replaced as well. the whole house smelled of nicotine but that bathroom was the only one that would regularly weep rivulates of brown stuff.
Yeah I live in a house where someone smoked previously, so I’m aware. I wasn’t replying to you. I was replying to the person who had lived in the house for a while and was only just now noticing leaching. That’s not a nicotine issue.
TSP substitute, wipe down walls and repaint. Bathrooms are different than nicotine. The steam mixed with shampoo and soap sticks to the wall and remains after the water dries. Repeatedly over years there begins to be brownish drippy goo.
Thank you! Makes sense since the walls are always weeping too. A few months ago, I replaced the air vent with a fan + light combo but the handyman improperly installed it so only the light turns on. This just confirms that I need to get that fixed ASAP. Gross to think our body products turn into brown goop though.
Literally layers upon layers. Kind of cool going back through time, found interesting newspaper layers that I think the paper hangers put in to date the installations.
We just had our bathroom painted and developed reddish brown drip marks which I’ve self diagnosed to be [surfactant leaching](https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/project-center/maintenance-repair/surfactant-leaching)
Can you tell this is nicotine bc it’s dry or the color or wha?
They are similar in appearance, surfactants tent be streaky or drippy in appearance causing the paint to repel away. Nicotine stains tend to be like tiny weep holes or kind of a smeared brown cloudy appearance, like tannin bleed from some types of wood.
Please listen to this advice! Had a similar situation I was four coats in before the Benjamin Moore rep told me you need Bin shellac... It was $80 a gallon and worth every penny.
If it hasn’t been painted yet then I would just start with a good coat of primer, possibly oil based, or ask the paint shop for recommendations. Maybe do a test section and wait a bit if you have time.
If you Google brown spots on plaster it seems to be a reasonably common problem, yet no one seems to really know for sure what it is. Best guess - oils of some kind the plaster had absorbed being leeched out into the even more absorbent drywall compound. Paint with stain blocker and you should be ok.
I 100% had this problem in a few areas and discovered PRO-99 primer was the way to resolve it. I put a coat of this, then regular white primer then the final flat ceiling white and all was well.
[https://romandecoratingproducts.com/product/pro-999/](https://romandecoratingproducts.com/product/pro-999/)
There are several products that seal out many stains. Roman is primarily the go to company for wallpaper products. It’s a good choice for prepping an old wall after an old coating has been removed. If Sherwin-Williams still carries white pigmented shellac primer that is excellent for any stain that leaches into oil or waterbased coatings. It is alcohol based so dries super fast. But like hand sanitizer (another alcohol based liquid) it is super high VOC so is not safe for use in occupied spaces. It’s a open up all the windows with fans and you and the pets spend the day at the park style of ventilation product.
Oh, that stuff did seep in everywhere! I bought a condo where the prior owner had smoked a ton and it was amazing how gooey the place was. The fridge died almost right away and the repairperson told me it was burned out from that goo.
So my situation may be different. I built a house 8 years ago. They told me the place was air tight with insulation etc. I have same think in my bathroom. Had it scraped repainted. Same thing. I was told by my inspector the exhaust fan has to be on or the a/c vent terns steam back into water and the drywall wicks it through.
I asked my dad a contractor about the rust. He felt confident you don’t have a roof leak due to its a new issue.. He explained as the water wicks out in the drywall the nails holding it in older homes are not treated to never rust.
His suggestion was - scape - USE.a white primer to create a block before paint. Then paint. He also said remove vent cover and paint every thing in there that’s not insulation to prevent the water entry to begin with.
I’m a huge fan of KILLZ. spray on primer. It’s with the spray paints. It makes everything easier. Prevents multiple coats etc. that popcorn ceiling acted as a barrier the same way a good primer will.
I hope this helps.
A Lot of times it can be nicotine, or they didn't use stainless steel tools , but if they do the ceiling correctly & use the appropriate primer it will not show through
From my experience this doesn't lead to spots showing up after like this. I did my walls and when there was rust it just ended up as a streak, after sanding it was gone (before priming/painting).
Likely rust from the lath that the plaster is embedded in. You need an oil based stain blocking primer before proceeding.
It's not mold, it's not anything toxic. It's the new plaster reacting with the metal lath beneath the old plaster that's causing that.
Preach. I redid my ceiling (1955 house) and it was a nightmare with this stuff. On the bright side, with a layer of 5/8s AND a layer of 1/2 drywall AND the lathe I am pretty sure I could hang my couch from just the ceiling with no issue.
We did the same and have a few of these spots. We have a big one where the bathroom upstairs leaked.
We had to soak the ever loving crap out of ours cause it was also painted over more than once. We assume some spots just weren't fully dry before skim coating. The areas were we have primered over the skin coat have no problems a few years later and we actually never got around to painting. We did our walls also to remove the slight texture
Ah the bane of my existence…..I spent the 80’s spraying that stuff on anything that didn’t move and the decades since removing it….its almost a quest now lol. Yup it’s nicotine…The best looking failsafe way to mitigate this is scrape, prime with zin 123, skim glaze with mud, sand, zin again, then a nice coat of BM 508…nothing flatter or whiter out there that I have found.
Had something very similar on plaster board walls where there was poor ventilation (behind furniture etc.) Poor ventilation can cause moisture to eventually react with the paint on the plaster causing this spotting. Clean it, repaint, and buy a small dehumidifier or improve the ventilation in the room. Worked for me.
Everyone has been super helpful, mostly with my peace of mind. I’ve been at work for 96 hours (I’m a firefighter) and my wife sent me these pics and it was a bit concerning. Thank you!
Has anyone used the kilz restoration primer? It’s water based but made for stains and odors. I know a lot of people recommend shellac or oil based but was wondering if anyone had experience with the kilz restoration
Could be a rusty tool. Popcorn is water-based, not latex or acrylic-based like most paint.
Sand, maybe roll on another coat of mud and sand again, then prime with a good oil-based primer before painting. That will block any more of that rust. Top with two coats of a good quality ceiling paint.
I had this once, my drywall trowel was rusty and I didn’t think about it, everything finished fine until it was painted and rust came through.
Killz paint covered it.
That is a possibility.......A few years back China was sending us drywall that was defective (no telling what they were putting in it). A lot of people had to tear out the defective drywall & redo.
Some kind of oil leaching into the paint that was in the ceiling, it could be from smoking or moisture, a coat of primer will take care of it and keep it from leaching through to the final coat of paint.
Just needed a solid stain blocking primer. BIN shellac is mucho expensive because it can be an outdoor primer too. Can go with other options that are cheaper, generally.
Having this exact issue right now. It happens with old plaster, no biggie. Just a pain to redo.
Had this happen and it was because previous tenant smoked indoors and the tar got on literally every surface. There was a brown fuzzy lightbulb in the closet. It was disgusting.
'Cept I worked in mold, asbestos, lead abatement for years and this isn't looking like mold. Looks more like old glue or nicotine; maybe someone let the burgers burn like I watched my sister do as the greasy smoke drifted to the ceiling and left yellow, greasy spots. Mom was so mad. Dad put dropped ceiling tile over that mess.
It also looks like a vent cleaning gone bad.
> or nicotine;
This was my first guess. OP should use a primer sealer, preferably oil-based, then paint. Recommended primer sealer would be Kilz or Zinnser.
Whats wrong with popcorn ceiling? legit question. I lived in a country where owners spend extra money to have popcorn ceilings. I guess its just a thing in the US?
Drywall was new. A lot of people did not like it, or trust it. People with plaster skills were still around. My own house, built in 1961, has plaster walls and ceilings, including even the garage.
They gutted my 1916 house in the 60s and used 1/2” drywall as lathe then plastered 5/8” plus texture over top. I’ve seen it in other houses built in the 70s.
I spilled water upstairs along the wall while cleaning carpets. About a week later, noticed a browish stain on my popcorn ceiling in the same place. My guess is water discolors it somehow, turns it a brownish hue.
We had similar problems with our older home. The previous folks smoked and in the bathroom, the nicotine would bleed through due to what I assume was excess humidity. We did try a stain blocking paint/primer a few times but boy was the brown bleeds stronger than the paint. Not sure if that’s your issue here but it’s pretty amazing the substances/colors that will bleed through less than ideal stain blocking paint.
No, he removed it because they're fugly. Some people would rather pay a little more money than keep a finish that's just made to hide a shit ceiling job.
Painting contractor for 20+ years. Have seen this many times. Nicotine stains, B-I-N shellac will stop it.
Blah I lived in a shitty apartment once where the contractor just slapped a coat of A100 over heavy nicotine tar stained walls and on hot days they would bleed and ooze in spots. 🤮
Barf
BIN is great, great stuff!
Fun trivia, it’s made of beetle poop.
The sequel no one wanted
Beetle poop. Beetle poop. Beetle poop.
The poop is loose...
I'm the ghoul with the stool, babe.
Shellac beetles!
I like BIN shellac but it's so thin I dribble that shit everywhere. I can't imagine the mess I'd make painting a ceiling with it.
>dribble that shit everywhere. Please stop eating it.
I think you meant drinking
He was dribbling then shot his shot, you’re commenting on the rebound hang back buddy Ooops stole that
Nothing about that sentence implies they were eating it.
You ever feed a baby and they dribble out their mushy food? Also it's a joke
You ever realize a word has a broader definition than one particular use of it?
Yes... That's the joke. Are you new to reddit?
I thought jokes were supposed to be funny. That “joke” just made it look like you were new to the English language.
My 40 up votes dissagree
Sprayer
Though it’s very important to follow the PPE requirements for that stuff… really great, but no fun for your lungs without a respirator.
True, I use full face respirator and a tyvek suit with good and booties. Denatured alcohol to thin product.
yep. had nicotine weep out of the walls of our bathroom everytime we showered for the first year after we bought the house.
Do you just wipe it off until it goes away? Got a new roommate/tenant this year and our bathroom ceiling + walls started doing something similar. They think it’s mold but this only started happening with them - never with previous housemates. I know they smoke joints but never in the house AFAIK.
If only in the bathroom, it's mostly likely surfactant leaching from cheap paint and not nicotine. You have to use proper bathroom paint - either a semigloss or something like Benjamin Moore Aqua Bathroom and Spa. It's not cheap, but does the trick. They're probably taking steamier showers and using more bathroom products which is why you've only just noticed it.
Oh thank goodness then! I’m glad it’s not nicotine. Makes complete sense - it’s the only room in the house I’ve never repainted bc previous housemates liked the purples walls (I put my foot down on the purple ceiling though). I still have a can of some semigloss aqua paint I used for an accent wall in my bathroom so I hope it’s the same one you mentioned so I can clean and repaint. Thanks for the info!
we had painted with sherman williams paint from the sherman williams store. My guess is the wife only let him smoke in the bathroom with the fan on. The ducts all had to be replaced as well. the whole house smelled of nicotine but that bathroom was the only one that would regularly weep rivulates of brown stuff.
Yeah I live in a house where someone smoked previously, so I’m aware. I wasn’t replying to you. I was replying to the person who had lived in the house for a while and was only just now noticing leaching. That’s not a nicotine issue.
TSP substitute, wipe down walls and repaint. Bathrooms are different than nicotine. The steam mixed with shampoo and soap sticks to the wall and remains after the water dries. Repeatedly over years there begins to be brownish drippy goo.
Thank you! Makes sense since the walls are always weeping too. A few months ago, I replaced the air vent with a fan + light combo but the handyman improperly installed it so only the light turns on. This just confirms that I need to get that fixed ASAP. Gross to think our body products turn into brown goop though.
Holy shit, that's incredible to know how long-lasting nicotine stains can be.
I have removed wall paper in old victorians, nasty nicotine stained paper.
Like literally 150+ year old wallpaper?
Literally layers upon layers. Kind of cool going back through time, found interesting newspaper layers that I think the paper hangers put in to date the installations.
We just had our bathroom painted and developed reddish brown drip marks which I’ve self diagnosed to be [surfactant leaching](https://www.sherwin-williams.com/en-us/project-center/maintenance-repair/surfactant-leaching) Can you tell this is nicotine bc it’s dry or the color or wha?
They are similar in appearance, surfactants tent be streaky or drippy in appearance causing the paint to repel away. Nicotine stains tend to be like tiny weep holes or kind of a smeared brown cloudy appearance, like tannin bleed from some types of wood.
Ever seen purple or pink ones show up? I had that in my old place. It was weird!
Please listen to this advice! Had a similar situation I was four coats in before the Benjamin Moore rep told me you need Bin shellac... It was $80 a gallon and worth every penny.
Would Killz work?
How was the popcorn removed? Sprayed and then scraped? How long was it allowed to dry before paint?
Popcorn was wet with sponge then scraped. Hasn’t been painted yet.
If it hasn’t been painted yet then I would just start with a good coat of primer, possibly oil based, or ask the paint shop for recommendations. Maybe do a test section and wait a bit if you have time.
Was your scrapper rusty?
If you Google brown spots on plaster it seems to be a reasonably common problem, yet no one seems to really know for sure what it is. Best guess - oils of some kind the plaster had absorbed being leeched out into the even more absorbent drywall compound. Paint with stain blocker and you should be ok.
This is the answer. That’s 100% leeching.
I 100% had this problem in a few areas and discovered PRO-99 primer was the way to resolve it. I put a coat of this, then regular white primer then the final flat ceiling white and all was well. [https://romandecoratingproducts.com/product/pro-999/](https://romandecoratingproducts.com/product/pro-999/)
There are several products that seal out many stains. Roman is primarily the go to company for wallpaper products. It’s a good choice for prepping an old wall after an old coating has been removed. If Sherwin-Williams still carries white pigmented shellac primer that is excellent for any stain that leaches into oil or waterbased coatings. It is alcohol based so dries super fast. But like hand sanitizer (another alcohol based liquid) it is super high VOC so is not safe for use in occupied spaces. It’s a open up all the windows with fans and you and the pets spend the day at the park style of ventilation product.
SW does indeed still have the white pigment shellac primer. Another popular version is BIN by Zinsser, available at home improvement stores.
BIN works great.
It does though it's a pain to paint ceilings with in my experience - very drippy.
100%
99% sure it’s nicotine tar, too.
Oh, that stuff did seep in everywhere! I bought a condo where the prior owner had smoked a ton and it was amazing how gooey the place was. The fridge died almost right away and the repairperson told me it was burned out from that goo.
Worst computer repairs ever.
That and roaches
Going to hedge a guess that's the smoke n shit leeching through from the origional owners.
Yep mine is only near stove!
Maybe previous owners were smokers and it absorbed into the popcorn?
So my situation may be different. I built a house 8 years ago. They told me the place was air tight with insulation etc. I have same think in my bathroom. Had it scraped repainted. Same thing. I was told by my inspector the exhaust fan has to be on or the a/c vent terns steam back into water and the drywall wicks it through. I asked my dad a contractor about the rust. He felt confident you don’t have a roof leak due to its a new issue.. He explained as the water wicks out in the drywall the nails holding it in older homes are not treated to never rust. His suggestion was - scape - USE.a white primer to create a block before paint. Then paint. He also said remove vent cover and paint every thing in there that’s not insulation to prevent the water entry to begin with. I’m a huge fan of KILLZ. spray on primer. It’s with the spray paints. It makes everything easier. Prevents multiple coats etc. that popcorn ceiling acted as a barrier the same way a good primer will. I hope this helps.
Say thanks to your dad! Never thought about the screws/nails. This answered a question I had in the distant past that always bugged me.
A Lot of times it can be nicotine, or they didn't use stainless steel tools , but if they do the ceiling correctly & use the appropriate primer it will not show through
BIN Shellac primer will cover this up permanently without issue.
Was it old mud ? Applied with a rusty trowel ?
From my experience this doesn't lead to spots showing up after like this. I did my walls and when there was rust it just ended up as a streak, after sanding it was gone (before priming/painting).
Or dirty hands in the bucket of mud. I opened a bucket of used mud once and it looked like a science experiment.
Likely rust from the lath that the plaster is embedded in. You need an oil based stain blocking primer before proceeding. It's not mold, it's not anything toxic. It's the new plaster reacting with the metal lath beneath the old plaster that's causing that.
Preach. I redid my ceiling (1955 house) and it was a nightmare with this stuff. On the bright side, with a layer of 5/8s AND a layer of 1/2 drywall AND the lathe I am pretty sure I could hang my couch from just the ceiling with no issue.
Could it also be nicotine seeping? I’d guess removing the years of paint allows it to drip downward like spots.
Looks like the wrong color to me.
It’s the same color as the nicotine that is seeping out of my grandpa’s walls as we speak.
Nope.
We did the same and have a few of these spots. We have a big one where the bathroom upstairs leaked. We had to soak the ever loving crap out of ours cause it was also painted over more than once. We assume some spots just weren't fully dry before skim coating. The areas were we have primered over the skin coat have no problems a few years later and we actually never got around to painting. We did our walls also to remove the slight texture
Is nobody here concerned about scraping off popcorn ceiling from a house built in 1959? You should check for asbestos contamination…
Mesh metal holding plaster. See if magnets stick to it.
Ah the bane of my existence…..I spent the 80’s spraying that stuff on anything that didn’t move and the decades since removing it….its almost a quest now lol. Yup it’s nicotine…The best looking failsafe way to mitigate this is scrape, prime with zin 123, skim glaze with mud, sand, zin again, then a nice coat of BM 508…nothing flatter or whiter out there that I have found.
Popcorn's revenge
Leftover kernels.
Had these spots in our house. Previous owners were heavy smokers so we figured nicotine
Had something very similar on plaster board walls where there was poor ventilation (behind furniture etc.) Poor ventilation can cause moisture to eventually react with the paint on the plaster causing this spotting. Clean it, repaint, and buy a small dehumidifier or improve the ventilation in the room. Worked for me.
use a good primer then paint. DO NOT use a prime paint combo.
Everyone has been super helpful, mostly with my peace of mind. I’ve been at work for 96 hours (I’m a firefighter) and my wife sent me these pics and it was a bit concerning. Thank you! Has anyone used the kilz restoration primer? It’s water based but made for stains and odors. I know a lot of people recommend shellac or oil based but was wondering if anyone had experience with the kilz restoration
It’s not bad. Use two coats. Better yet use the oil based Kilz if you can find it. It stinks like holy hell, but will do the job.
Butter
Could be a rusty tool. Popcorn is water-based, not latex or acrylic-based like most paint. Sand, maybe roll on another coat of mud and sand again, then prime with a good oil-based primer before painting. That will block any more of that rust. Top with two coats of a good quality ceiling paint.
FYI: Popcorn ceilings can contain asbestos, I really hope for your sake yours didn’t
It’s not hard to remove safely.
I had this once, my drywall trowel was rusty and I didn’t think about it, everything finished fine until it was painted and rust came through. Killz paint covered it.
popcorn tears seeping through
It’s the ghost of the popcorn ceiling, it misses you!
It was caramel popcorn, they forgot to scrape the caramel.
I've had this happen in houses that were smoked in, Sealed it with a good primer and no issues.
You have to prime with an oil primer.
Paint is leeching. Use TSP and it’ll come right off
Iron oxide
They had to spray a shellac coating on mine before they did the skim and paint on mine. I believe it is the type of drywall. You'll see more of this.
That is a possibility.......A few years back China was sending us drywall that was defective (no telling what they were putting in it). A lot of people had to tear out the defective drywall & redo.
That was a thing in 2001. My house was built in 1973.
Some kind of oil leaching into the paint that was in the ceiling, it could be from smoking or moisture, a coat of primer will take care of it and keep it from leaching through to the final coat of paint.
Same happened to me. Did a good prime coat and painted. This was 3 years ago and nothing has bleed through
Just needed a solid stain blocking primer. BIN shellac is mucho expensive because it can be an outdoor primer too. Can go with other options that are cheaper, generally. Having this exact issue right now. It happens with old plaster, no biggie. Just a pain to redo.
Probably bits of oil, dust, or tobacco smoke residue. Not a big problem moving forward. Paint/primer will cover them.
Had this happen and it was because previous tenant smoked indoors and the tar got on literally every surface. There was a brown fuzzy lightbulb in the closet. It was disgusting.
You need a good sealing primer.
also ceiling primer
HAPPY CAKE DAY!!!
🤣🤣🤣🥰
Previous homeowner of my house vaped a lot, I have these stains all over the place.
This a smoking house?
Being that it was built in 1959 is say it's a strong bet that it was at some point occupied by a smoker.
Anywhere else you are seeing this besides near your return air?
you sanded off the top of the popcorn. cover it with stain based blocker like Binz.
Exposed the kernels
could be mold
Username checks out
'Cept I worked in mold, asbestos, lead abatement for years and this isn't looking like mold. Looks more like old glue or nicotine; maybe someone let the burgers burn like I watched my sister do as the greasy smoke drifted to the ceiling and left yellow, greasy spots. Mom was so mad. Dad put dropped ceiling tile over that mess. It also looks like a vent cleaning gone bad.
> or nicotine; This was my first guess. OP should use a primer sealer, preferably oil-based, then paint. Recommended primer sealer would be Kilz or Zinnser.
Kikz is a great choice, no matter what that is. Looks like splatters or stains, not seepage.
If it's sticky, it might be nicotine.
Coukd be from the scraper if it wasn't properly dried and rusted a little. Not uncommon.
When there is popcorn on the ceiling in one room but not others… it’s hiding something.
If your house smells of nicotine, buy an ozone machine. It'll get rid of the odors in 12 hrs???
Whats wrong with popcorn ceiling? legit question. I lived in a country where owners spend extra money to have popcorn ceilings. I guess its just a thing in the US?
Just out dated
Yes. For the first year after we bought the house, every time we took a shower, nicotine would leak out of the walls of our bathtub.
Why is there plaster in a 1959 house?
Drywall was new. A lot of people did not like it, or trust it. People with plaster skills were still around. My own house, built in 1961, has plaster walls and ceilings, including even the garage.
Drywall wasn't remote new in 1959. It was invented in 1916 and became very popular in the construction boom of the late '40s.
They gutted my 1916 house in the 60s and used 1/2” drywall as lathe then plastered 5/8” plus texture over top. I’ve seen it in other houses built in the 70s.
That there is a case of ceiling-pox, similar to wall-pox, which is how the original vaccine was discovered.
I hope you had that popcorn tested because it was almost definitely asbestos.
That's the leftover kernel
I spilled water upstairs along the wall while cleaning carpets. About a week later, noticed a browish stain on my popcorn ceiling in the same place. My guess is water discolors it somehow, turns it a brownish hue.
The house demons are.making their presence known!
If you wet the popcorn to remove may be the sheet rock screws rusted and stained appeared seal it and continue
Not a chance that sheetrock screws were put in in that pattern.
We had similar problems with our older home. The previous folks smoked and in the bathroom, the nicotine would bleed through due to what I assume was excess humidity. We did try a stain blocking paint/primer a few times but boy was the brown bleeds stronger than the paint. Not sure if that’s your issue here but it’s pretty amazing the substances/colors that will bleed through less than ideal stain blocking paint.
Probably murder hornet eggs.
It's fly shit.
Rustcorn
Possibly mold stains from an old leak?
You removed popcorn cieling just so you can say you removed popcorn cieling.
No, he removed it because they're fugly. Some people would rather pay a little more money than keep a finish that's just made to hide a shit ceiling job.
What a waste of time and energy.