Applying Primer and Wall Paint

By Tim Carter
©1993-2009 Tim Carter

Summary: Primer and wall paint may not be enough to cover your walls adequately. Sealers and primers may be needed together to achieve proper paint coverage, depending on what type of surface you are painting.

Priming

Painting new wood? Shifting from an oil painted surface to latex or water based paints? New drywall? If so, you must use primers, sealers or a combination of the two. These paints are specially formulated. They help even out textures and equalize porosity. Without them, the best finish paint will look lousy. I spoke about these primer paints in this linked article.

Applying Wall Paint

Most rookie painters make the same mistake. They simply put on too little paint. Many paint manufacturers recommend a minimum coverage for their products. They do this because they know that when first applied, a paint looks like it is covering well. But, an hour or two later, after the water or solvent has evaporated, the coverage looks horrible. You, the homeowner, then blame the paint. Well, it's your fault, not the paint's!


Do your white walls need some color? Find the professional painters by using my Interior Painting & Staining Checklist. I offer a 100% Money Back Guarantee.

This happened to me recently at my daughter's school. I test painted a wall that was previously light blue. We were changing to a wall paint that was almost white. I primed the wall and got good coverage on the first coat. After it dried, here and there you could see the blue through the paint. I knew this would happen. The next night some volunteers painted the other walls in the room while I was helping elsewhere. I specifically showed them the wall I had primed. It was made clear to them that they must not over-roll (apply too thinly) the paint. I even showed them how thick I was applying the paint. Oh well, what a waste of time! I came back into the room one hour later and it looked as if they had poured five gallons of water into one gallon of paint. The paint was applied so thinly that we had to paint everything they did an additional time. Don't let this happen on your job!



Comments:

Dennis
23 Jul 2008, 11:59
why does the bubbles appear after painting the drywall with primer. That's after removing wall paper
Bernadette
05 Jan 2009, 19:22
my builder does not want to prime the walls before painting our new construction. We have sheetrock - is it necessary to prime the walls before painting?
Jack Pauhl
19 Jan 2009, 11:26
Many builders do not offer primed walls but often do as an upgrade. The reason for this is simple. To keep the cost down and not everyone requires this added level of finish.

The best primer for bare drywall depends on what expectations you have from the paint you will apply over it. You have a few options, the short answer is – primer is not the best option for new drywall, a drywall sealer such as Zinsser Gardz is. However, keep in mind like any product, there are many differences in quality and features.

It’s best to decide what you expect out of the paint you will be putting over the bare drywall. Some people paint to simply freshen up a room with no other expectations such as 1) hanging wallpaper at a later date or 2) having the option to wipe, 3) wash, 4) scrub the walls or 5) in kids rooms being able to remove crayon and permanent marker, 6) ability to repeatedly remove taped-up posters and pictures and 7) to apply and remove masking tape for a wild color scheme of stripes and stars, 8) applying finish paint such as eggshell or semi-gloss, 9) high traffic areas and 10) in rooms or areas with large amounts of window glare.

Whatever your expectations are for finish paints - washability and scrubabilty features and the items listed above are dependant on the basecoat beneath the top coat.

It’s important to understand the different capabilities of wall primers. You may want to google me and read up on bare drywall for a more in depth look at the limitations of wall primer and then come back here.
Greg
02 Mar 2009, 22:03
I just primed a painted wall. How many coats of primer should I use? The primer doesnt look like it covered too well...is that normal or should it look completely white like a painted wall?
Thanks
BPorter
25 Aug 2009, 22:00
When applying primer to wooden cabinet door, should I apply thin layers of primer one at a time; or should I apply havey layers of primer to the wood.
Dale K
27 Sep 2009, 09:50
I used Behr Primer to cover a room previously painted Red (Behr) it was a semi gloss finish. I did not sand the walls, but I fixed all holes and sanded/wiped. when the primer was applied it seperated. Hard to discribe, the primer left a mosiac design on the walls. why did this happen

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