i have two tiny pink blobs on my walls. they are flat and dont come off. What the heck are they?
Answers:
Old chewing gum?
Other answers:
They could be caused by a number of things. First, are the walls faced with plasterboard? If they are it could be the heads of a couple of fastenings; nails or screws. Plasterboard nails are normally galvanized and plasterboard screws coated; in both cases for the purpose of preventing oxidization of the metal. However, if the person putting up the board ran out of either and used a couple of uncoated fastenings they would oxidise over time and this would leach through to the surface. The diameter of a pencil eraser would be about the right size of the mark, and as jointing plaster is pure white, the red oxidization from the metal would show through as a pale-medium pink.
You can check this easily enough with a magnet. Hold it between finger and thumb and pass it lightly across the mark. If you feel the magnet pull then the fastenings are almost certainly the culprit.
If the walls are masonary and plastered over, it could be that a couple of screed pins were left in place. Some plasterers (not many fortunately) still use the habit of sticking nails in mortar joints to get a level for the plaster. These are normally pulled out as the work proceeds but occasionally some get overlooked. The result would be much the same as above and can be checked in similar fashion.
Another possibility is fungal propogation. If new plaster is painted over before it has properly dried, moisture is prevented from escaping and fungal spores can develop as a result. The rate at which plaster dries is proportional to its thickness and so if a couple of plasterboard fastenings are driven too deep into the board, it is conceivable that if the walls were painted prior to the full depth of plaster at that point having dried, fungal growth would develop. This too would show as a pale pink stain. Again the size would be about right in relation to what you describe although in time this would spread. Localised repairs to a plastered surface, again painted prior to drying out would produce a similar effect.
Remedial work is quite simple. If it is a question of oxidized fastenings, carefully cut-out the effected area of plaster to expose their heads. With a small art brush coat the heads with rust inhibitor and allow this to thoroughly dry. When it is dry, make good the plaster and allow that to dry before touching-in the paintwork. If the problem is fungul, scrape back the plaster over an area of twice the diameter of the defect (but only to a depth of about 1/16") and treat this with a fungus inhibitor. Allow the inhibitor to dry and then make good the plaster and touch-in the paintwork as before.
One final tip. When touching-in painted finishes to small areas such as this, use a small stippling brush of say 1/4" diameter. Start at the centre of the area and stipple out radially, this will blend the new paint into the old and although it will never be a perfect match (unless the decorations are reasonably new) it will make the repair less obstrusive.
They could be caused by a number of things. First, are the walls faced with plasterboard? If they are it could be the heads of a couple of fastenings; nails or screws. Plasterboard nails are normally galvanized and plasterboard screws coated; in both cases for the purpose of preventing oxidization of the metal. However, if the person putting up the board ran out of either and used a couple of uncoated fastenings they would oxidise over time and this would leach through to the surface. The diameter of a pencil eraser would be about the right size of the mark, and as jointing plaster is pure white, the red oxidization from the metal would show through as a pale-medium pink.
You can check this easily enough with a magnet. Hold it between finger and thumb and pass it lightly across the mark. If you feel the magnet pull then the fastenings are almost certainly the culprit.
If the walls are masonary and plastered over, it could be that a couple of screed pins were left in place. Some plasterers (not many fortunately) still use the habit of sticking nails in mortar joints to get a level for the plaster. These are normally pulled out as the work proceeds but occasionally some get overlooked. The result would be much the same as above and can be checked in similar fashion.
Another possibility is fungal propogation. If new plaster is painted over before it has properly dried, moisture is prevented from escaping and fungal spores can develop as a result. The rate at which plaster dries is proportional to its thickness and so if a couple of plasterboard fastenings are driven too deep into the board, it is conceivable that if the walls were painted prior to the full depth of plaster at that point having dried, fungal growth would develop. This too would show as a pale pink stain. Again the size would be about right in relation to what you describe although in time this would spread. Localised repairs to a plastered surface, again painted prior to drying out would produce a similar effect.
Remedial work is quite simple. If it is a question of oxidized fastenings, carefully cut-out the effected area of plaster to expose their heads. With a small art brush coat the heads with rust inhibitor and allow this to thoroughly dry. When it is dry, make good the plaster and allow that to dry before touching-in the paintwork. If the problem is fungul, scrape back the plaster over an area of twice the diameter of the defect (but only to a depth of about 1/16") and treat this with a fungus inhibitor. Allow the inhibitor to dry and then make good the plaster and touch-in the paintwork as before.
One final tip. When touching-in painted finishes to small areas such as this, use a small stippling brush of say 1/4" diameter. Start at the centre of the area and stipple out radially, this will blend the new paint into the old and although it will never be a perfect match (unless the decorations are reasonably new) it will make the repair less obstrusive.