It takes more than just a few coats of paint to achieve a paint job that looks smooth and professional. Priming the surface before painting is an important but frequently missed step in the painting process. As the base, primer makes sure that paint dries quickly, covers completely, and has a longer shelf life. Without it, the finest paint may not produce the desired effects.
Making the proper primer choice and applying it correctly can have a big impact on how your walls turn out in the end. Primer is necessary to achieve the ideal finish whether painting freshly installed drywall, hiding dark colors, or priming a previously painted surface.
This post will walk you through primers’ main characteristics, when and why you need them, and how to use them for optimal effects. By taking the appropriate approach, you’ll get one step closer to realizing your vision of immaculate, colorful walls.
Painting walls requires the use of a primer because it provides a level, smooth surface that improves paint adhesion and extends its life. It ensures that the final paint coat has a consistent and vibrant appearance by sealing porous surfaces, covering stains, and providing a uniform base. A professional-looking finish can only be achieved by applying a primer correctly, so this is an essential step in any painting project.
- Meet: primer
- Preparation for painting
- Traditional option
- Priming on paint
- Study of samples
- VD-AK-0301
- Primer Neomid for old paint
- Optilux
- Preparing a painted surface for painting
- Video on the topic
- Primer on old paint Neomid
- Primer-paint for walls and ceilings #promix
- What are the features of applying PRIMER-PAINT. Application errors. Apartment renovation, renovation errors.
- What is the primer paint for!
- Olecolor Primer for old paint
Meet: primer
Paints and primer compositions are different in a few ways:
- Pigments in them are either absent or contained in insignificant quantities. In addition, the cheapest dyes are used.
Note that the so-called primer-enamels are the exception. For instance, paint-primer for metal AU-1417 R can be used as a stand-alone coating as well as a foundation layer for subsequent painting.
- On the contrary, maximum attention is paid to adhesive qualities. Primers adhere perfectly to any surface; some compositions are not limited to this: they include compounds that transform the base for better adhesion or to acquire some additional qualities.
Thus, phosphating primers convert a thin metal film into its stable compound with phosphorus, and strengthening primers work to increase the strength of loose surfaces.
Metal phosphating primer.
Primers and paints have different compositions, even though they serve different purposes. As a result, the alkyd primer GF-021 is based on the same binder (GF-01 varnish) that is utilized to prepare the enamels in the PF line; drying oil is used to prime the surface of oil paints while also diluting them.
Preparation for painting
Traditional option
What steps need to be taken before painting a base that has previously been painted?
- Cleaning the paintwork.
- Puttying to eliminate minor defects.
- Sanding the surface to give it roughness.
- Applying a primer selected for the type of surface and the composition of the new paint.
To be clear, primer-paint is simply applied to the base in 2-4 layers with intermediate drying. It can also be tinted to the desired color if needed.
The wall paint-primer in the picture can be used for facade work as well as interior painting.
Nevertheless, removing old paint can present challenges in some situations.
The list of potential causes is rather long:
- Limited resistance of the base to washes.
- Insignificant heat resistance, which does not allow using a hair dryer to soften the old coating.
- Low mechanical strength of the base, which does not allow removing old paint with a spatula or sanding.
- Finally, just a large surface area to paint. Imagine that you have to paint a hundred or two square meters of surface alone. Here you can’t help but think: is it worth spending several days, or even weeks, of work on cleaning it??
Priming on paint
Fortunately, you can greatly simplify your life with the help of contemporary primer compositions.
Using primer on old paint is feasible provided a few requirements are satisfied:
- The finish is not glossy. If so, you"ll still have to spend time rough sanding it.
- Old paint won"t peel off. Where its layer comes off, it must be cleaned.
Every peeling coating needs to be cleaned mechanically.
Additionally, intermediate priming is typically not required if the new paint is the same type as the old one. Alkyd over alkyd, oil paint over oil paint, and so forth are all perfectly compatible with acrylic water-dispersion paints and acrylic-latex paints.
Old paint primers serve a variety of purposes: they can be used as an intermediary layer between old and new coatings, adhering to both with an equal degree of tensile strength.
Study of samples
Let’s examine the characteristics of various soils of the kind we are talking about as consumers.
VD-AK-0301
Here we have an acrylic paint primer that can be used to prime old paint and varnish coatings in addition to absorbent bases.
What details about this primer can be gleaned from the manufacturer’s and sellers’ descriptions?
- Guaranteed compatibility with previously applied coatings of the PF, NC types and oil paints. The full list is hidden behind the laconic postscript “etc.p.”.
- After drying, the primer forms a uniform milky-white film.
- Consumption is approximately 200 g / m2.
- Dilution with water is allowed (no more than 7%).
- The primer can withstand freezing to -40C (no more than a month) or five freeze-thaw cycles.
- Drying time “to the touch” is no more than two hours. Complete drying of the primer applied in one layer at room temperature takes no more than a day.
VGT Primer VD-AK-0301.
Primer Neomid for old paint
Neomid, according to the manufacturer, is a primer for water-based paint and any enamels based on organic solvents, making it a more versatile composition.
- The primer includes an aqueous dispersion of acrylates, a polymer binder (unfortunately, its chemical composition is not specified), a mineral filler, a pigment and additives that improve adhesion.
- Dilution with water is acceptable (up to 10%).
- Drying at room temperature is somewhat faster: it takes only an hour.
- Unlike VD-AK-0301, Neomid primer is recommended to be applied in two layers with intermediate drying.
Neomid acrylic primer for painted surfaces.
Optilux
Furthermore, this primer is versatile; it can be used to prime oil paint, putty, wallpaper, different varnishes, enamels of the PF and NC types, and concrete bases for paint and varnish coatings of any kind.
- The base of the primer is the same aqueous dispersion of acrylic resins with the addition of mineral filler, pigments and special polymers to increase adhesive properties.
- Consumption – 100-200 grams per square meter, depending on the type of base.
- Drying of one layer at room temperature takes no more than an hour.
- The composition withstands five freeze-thaw cycles.
- The manufacturer especially emphasizes that its composition does not require preliminary grinding of the previously painted surface before application.
- The wholesale price of the primer is about 40 rubles per kilogram.
Cheap domestic primer for NC and PF enamels, oil paints.
Despite the sample’s low representativeness, we can nevertheless draw some conclusions:
- Any primer for oil paint or enamels on organic solvents is acrylic water-dispersion.
- If so, any work is possible only at positive temperatures.
- For storing materials of this type, it is strongly recommended to use rooms with a stable positive temperature.
Preparing a painted surface for painting
How can you manually prime and prep a previously painted wall or ceiling?
For every kind of primer, the directions are essentially the same.
- Use a spatula to remove peeling areas of the coating.
- The surface is sanded with coarse sandpaper or a sanding mesh of numbers 80-100. It is permissible to use a metal brush or an appropriate attachment for a hand-held power tool. The goal is to leave the maximum number of small scratches on the coating, promoting the adhesion of the primer.
Please take note: even if the manufacturer says you can skip the sanding, it is still best to do this operation. There is never better adhesion between a glossy surface and the subsequent coating.
- Irregularities left by peeling paint are filled with putty compatible with the base (concrete, wood, etc.).d.).
Applying peeling paint to certain areas.
- Puttyed areas are sanded again.
- Primer is applied with a brush or roller. A spray gun is not suitable in this case: all the primers we have reviewed have a consistency that is too thick for pneumatic spraying.
- Primer for wood under painting
Feature | Description |
Purpose | Primers prepare the wall for painting by sealing pores and creating a smooth surface, ensuring better paint adhesion. |
Application | Apply with a roller or brush, covering the entire area evenly. Let it dry completely before painting. |
Types | Choose based on wall material and paint type. Water-based primers work well for most surfaces, while oil-based are ideal for tougher spots. |
Benefits | Prevents paint from peeling, helps the color last longer, and reduces the number of paint coats needed. |
To get a smooth, durable finish, priming is essential before painting. It makes the colors more vivid and ensures that they last longer by improving the paint’s adhesion to the surface. The correct primer can make all the difference when working with fresh drywall, wood, or even metal.
The kind of paint you intend to use and the surface you’re working with will determine which type of primer is best. Long-term time and labor savings are achieved by using high-quality primer, which also reduces the need for additional paint coats and shields against common problems like peeling and cracking.
To put it briefly, if you want your paint job to look good and last a long time, don’t skip the primer step. It’s an easy step that yields better outcomes and a more resilient finish.