DIY Home Improvement Forum banner

painting

1K views 4 replies 5 participants last post by  dubinpainting 
#1 ·
i am painting a bathroom a dark orange on top of contractors off white--home dpost exerts told us to prime w/ white primer..I wanted to buy th epaint/primer togther...after I started I notice th primer can said for light color top coats--what should i do--scrap the primer & just apint 2-3 coats of color???
 
#2 ·
priming an already painted light color wall with a white primer doesn't really gain you anything when planning to paint with a darker color. the point of priming when going darker is to get you 1 step closer (by tinting the primer) to the finish color to decrease the amount of coats needed with the finish color.

for instance, if I was painting over a white wall and my finish color was a chocolate brown....I would tint the primer to a lighter brown to get me closer to the finish color. this can also help an inexperienced painter see where the new paint over laps the light color and makes missed spots more visible.

using white primer on an off white wall is almost a step backwards.

all that being said, you'll be fine scrapping the primer. but like you said, it may require more top coats. chances are, if your using behr paint, even if you did have a tinted primer you'd still need 2-3 coats of finish color since behr (allthough inexpensive) doesn't cover as well as benjamin moor or sherwin williams.
 
#4 ·
Correct. Your problem is you got advice from home depot. Next time go to a real paint store, and they will tint your primer close to the topcoat color, so you don't have to apply three coats. usually, one coat of primer and coat coat of finish is enough, UNLESS you wash the walls a lot (if it's in the kitchen for example) then you apply two coats of finish. but three is too much.
 
#5 ·
Generally the darker the color you want to prime with a tinted primer, "The experts at HomeDepot" should have known that. Even with a tinted primer you are most likely going to have to paint three coats for proper coverage. With Bher Paint maybee even more. I'm not a fan of the Depot or their paints there are better products out there for what you are trying to do.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top