Hello,

Can you weigh in with some advice on prepping for bathroom painting?

Here is my situation. I'm painting an upstairs bathroom; It's a smallish bathroom that has a shower/tub combo, toilet, sink/vanity. The bathroom has a pretty big skylight in a well; within the skylight well is the fan that vents to the attic. the bathroom will be primarily used by my son, who is almost 9, and I want this paint job to last for 10 years or longer.I've purchased BM Kitchen and Bath paint (didn't go specifically with Aura because I wanted a glossier finish then the Matte).

I started with washing the ceilings with TSP. As I was washing I noticed several spots of paint failure; the paint was cracking in a few spots and mildew was starting. None of this was super noticable until I got up close to wash the walls. I puttied those spots and a few places where the ceiling had cracked at the corners, and, where the drywall had peeled somewhat along the top of the acrylic shower. There was no paint failure noted on the walls.

Here are my questions:

- do I need to prime the ceiling all over, in just the spots where I puttied, or, not at all?

- Do I need to wash the ceiling (because I used TSP) before applying primer, or paint?

- I was planning to caulk last, but I saw another thread that recommended buying paintable caulk and applying it before the primer. Does this process provide a better seal?

- I'm adding texture to the walls to match the ceiling. Do I need to prime the walls after texturing them?

-If I do need to prime either the walls or ceiling, do I need to use a special primer?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Andrea