We recently bought an apartment; the previous owners renovated everything except the toilet room. We have what I think (??) are metal walls, covered in an enamel type paint. I’ve seen these walls before in Finland, although rarely. I would love to paint them (and maybe even put some wallpaper on one wall).
Does anyone know what type of paint I should use? Do I need to strip the current color off first, or can I just paint on top (it’s a light color going to a dark)? Anyone have experience with redoing these type of walls and have tips?
Kiitos etukäteen!
– Added a photo which isn’t the most helpful, but maybe it triggers a memory for someone 😄
by thefastestroach
5 comments
This brings back memories, I used to live in an apartment with a bathroom just lika that, except the walls were the original dark blue colour. If I understood it right, that kind of bathrooms were popular in the early 70s, when the houses were built from premade modules. You just put the whole bathroom module in place, and were done with it.
Anyway, look for products called something like “kylpyhuonemaali” or “remontointimaali kylpyhuoneeseen”. They’re meant for wet rooms, so they won’t start to peel off or anything. Usually they will work on metal, too.
I wouldn’t put in a wallpaper in a room where things get wet. It just sounds too much like asking for trouble.
Every time you paint you need to sand down the previous paint. If you go to bauhaus or k-rauta I think they can assist you. There is some knowledgeable people working in the paint section. Also get some paint that withstands the stress because if that is the same kind of wall ive seen numerous times the wall moves.
Edit: not sand all the way to the metal because then you have to get paint and maybe primer to stick to metal.
If they’re already painted then you use regular wall paint. The regular wall paint doesn’t need to stick to the metal, just needs to stick to the paint already there
By the look of it, it’s Halltex. I’ve never seen something like that with metal though. Darker colours *always* covers light easy, so no worries with that.
I used to have walls like that in a previous apartment. It was painted by the previous owner and because they used a semi mat finish it was difficult to get totally clean. I ended up doing a small remodel and covered the walls with [Fibo wetroom panels](https://fibosystem.fi). It was a pretty quick process after removing the toilet and other fixtures. The panels screw right into the metal walls and form a totally waterproof structure.