Choosing the Right Primer
Oil-based or water-based? Zinsser or Kilz? Which gives the best coverage over dark paint colors (chocolate brown) and stains? Where can I get a 5 gallon drum of it? My preference is for one that’s no or very low V.O.C. Also, I have quite a few walls and ceilings to do. Would you recommend using…
Oil-based or water-based? Zinsser or Kilz? Which gives the best coverage over dark paint colors (chocolate brown) and stains? Where can I get a 5 gallon drum of it? My preference is for one that’s no or very low V.O.C.
Also, I have quite a few walls and ceilings to do. Would you recommend using a paint sprayer? Are they hard for an amateur to use?
We didn’t use oil based primer. We used two coats of Valspar primer on all the rooms in our home. Valspar is low voc and you can get a 5 gallon from Lowes. If you prefer to only do one coat, there is a Valspar Hiding Primer.
If you have stains, use the Killz paint to get rid of the stains.
Thanks so much everyone!
Re number of coats: Usually one coat of primer and one coat of paint is fine, if you are using Benjamin Moore.
However, I am finding we need two coats of primer over the dark brown, stained, black glue covered wainscotting in our kitchen. One coat worked fine on the same mess in the bathroom.
I got a teeny bit of peeling on the bricks, but strangely enough brushing a second coat of semi-gloss paint over those tiny spots only fixed them.
low-voc paint will adhere to low-voc primer or regular primer with no problem – just not to the BIN. Two coats of primer should do you fine over the chocolate brown.
Ok…no oil based! I’m only painting your standard drywall and baseboards. Oh, and closet doors.
Wyckoff…So I still have to roll the top coat? What about doing 2-3 coats with a spray gun? Can one rent a good spray gun? I don’t wanna buy it. I don’t mind rolling/brushing on the doors and baseboards, but there are way too many walls and ceiling area to be covered for me to want to roll/brush everything. (I know, I’m lazy!)
Only reason to use oil-based primer on an interior is if your surface is oily wood which bleeds through, or you need to cover something crazy like permanent marker. Ben Moore primer is good. You can get a 5 gal bucket at any Ben Moore dealer.
Sprayers can save you some time if you get a high quality one that you can feed directly into your 5 gallon container. If you get a cheap one it’s likely to be more trouble than its worth. Definitely go with a roller and brush on your topcoats, however, as a spray gun won’t go on as thick and thus you won’t get good color saturation.
P.S. Two coats of primer over dark brown paint worked in our kitchen.
Snappy, don’t use oil base unless you plan to sleep elsewhere for a few days while it cures.
So far, we have successfully used latex-based Killz over water stains and Benjamin Moore’s regular latex primer over everything else, including over what appeared to be oil-based semi-gloss enamel paint on brickwork and wainscotting.
Whatever you do, don’t apply latex PAINT directly over oil-based PAINT or it will peel. You must use a primer when switching from oil to latex. According to the salesmen at Janovic (Benjamin Moore) you can use Benjamin Moore latex primer over oil based paint, and we have done so, and it works.
The quality and brand of the primer does matter.
If you are painting over a tin ceiling or pipes, you should use oil based paint.
You can also buy a respirator if you want, but that won’t help the cats. You should definitely crack open the windows, and a fan wouldn’t hurt.
Oy! Ok…from what you all are saying, I’ll buy an oil-based primer. I’m not sure what colors I’ll be painting next, so I guess I won’t be having the primer tinted. And no 5 gallon buckets either! I was aiming for no or low V.O.C. simply because I need to shut the doors to each room as I paint (nosy cats who will inevitably eff up my paint job and coat themselves with paint make this necessary) and I don’t wanna choke to death while painting. Is there a low or no V.O.C primer that a low V.O.C. regular paint will adhere to? Also, how dark was that purple wall, UW? Sounds like I’m going to have a helluva time covering chocolate brown. Also, any ideas/recommendations on the use of an airless sprayer?