When to Prime?
We just finished skim coating most of the walls in the house. We’d like to wait a few months before painting, so we have time to see what colors look best where. My question is can we also wait a few months to prime? We’d like to pay someone to do it all at once….
We just finished skim coating most of the walls in the house. We’d like to wait a few months before painting, so we have time to see what colors look best where.
My question is can we also wait a few months to prime? We’d like to pay someone to do it all at once. Will the plaster be hurt in any way if we don’t prime now?
Also, we might put wallpaper up in some areas and are not sure how the raw plaster walls should be prepped.
hi
if you are looking to install wallpaper i would use a primer called R-35 . IT GOES ON CLEAR AND HAS NO ODER .if you need someone to install the paper ….That is what i do… i am a wallpaper hanger for over 12 years and do alot of work in the bk area
917-337-0040
mike
Thanks!
The primer will lock down any residual plaster dust. You can clean it up but it’s so fine that it will continue dissapate, particularly if you brush against it, which you undoubtedly will. Just rub a clean dark shirt up against it…And yes, I am the wonderful painter who would be willing to prime, then paint…over a long period of time 🙂 seanbeckerman at aol dot com. My company, Complimentary Colors, has finished several full home renovations in your neighborhood.
OK, I’ve got another dumb question: Why would priming cut down on dust? We’ve got a lot of dust now, but it’s from sanding the plaster. You’re saying if we clean the dust and the walls, the plaster will give off more dust all by itself without more sanding?
So is there some wonderful painter who will prime & paint over a long period of time for one very decent all-inclusive price?
Wouldn’t mind priming ourselves, but we just don’t have time. For one thing, we’re spending a lot of our weekends cleaning up dust!
I’ve never waited 30 days. I think once there are no obvious damp spots you should be fine priming. What I’ve always done is do a thin primer coat, sand w/400 grit till smooth, then another thin coat. I hate lumpy primer — and having used 123 once, will never do so again except for bathrooms.
Agree with HDL. You don’t need to wait 30 days and the priming will make a huge difference in the amount of dust in the house. You could roll out the primer yourself and even get away with skipping the cut-in work in the corners and edges(making the job super quick), and then have the painters finish everything properly when you are ready to go.
You will need the walls primed to test colors in the rooms in any event. Your test areas should be 3′-5′ wide and floor to ceiling, and ideally next to some trim which can also be tested. Use 2 coats on the test areas to get a better sense of the true color. Don’t rely on paint chips.
It’s a skim coat.
I’ve heard of waiting 30 Days before priming plaster work, but that usually applies to a built up plaster on lathe because of its greater thickness. A skim coat can be primed in much less time. I like to prime as soon as I can; it will give the wall a harder finish and make it more resistent to scrapes and dings. Also since it sounds like you’re living there, priming will greatly reduce the amount of dust in the house which gets everywhere. As stated primer under wallpaper is a must.
Regarding wallpaper, if you’re going to hang traditional paper, e.g., actual paper that’s not pre-pasted, oil-based primer is recommended.
Once you pick a paper, find out from the mfr what the ideal undercoat is.