[Coupon Cook]

Okay this may be long.

When I was pregnant I couldn't wait to paint our fixer upper. Yeah.. I picked ugly paint.

For some reason I let the local big box paint store convince me that latex in the living room and regular old water base in the kitchen was a good idea. This is one big open concept style room. The latex paint is a yellow gold and the regular paint is a light blue. - Its ugly.

7 kids and 6 years later the walls are covered in crayon, marker, and greasy finger prints. I'm ready to paint.

The walls have been washed many many times. and I've removed as much gunk and crayon as I can. The marker seems here to stay. These are Sheetrock walls.

I just want nice clean beige. that's all. Something I can wash down when needed.

My question is what should I prime with? I see shellac, and latex ect. But I'm getting confused.

I'd like a no or low voc primer if such exists. I have a son with asthma. Although, I am willing to move him out of the house for a few days if we need to. Chemicals are a trigger for him.

Once I prime, can I tint the primer beige? Or will I need to paint? What kind of paint should I cover this particular primer with?

Brand names would be wonderfully helpful.

If anyone else has an alternate wall covering suggestion, I'm certainly willing to look into it.

Thanks so much and God bless you.

 

[chrisn]

Prime with this. It is oil and says odorless but they lie, it has a smell. but in the situation you are in you really don't have much choice. After primer is dry, paint with a paint from a real paint store( S williams super paint, maybe)

What did they tell you the difference was between water base and latex???:huh:

 

[mustangmike3789]

Okay this may be long.




7 kids and 6 years later the walls are covered in crayon, marker, and greasy finger prints. I'm ready to paint.




And you found time to paint too...wow, im impressed.:laughing:

 

[jsheridan]

Coupon, I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt and assume that you are exaggerating the extent of the wall markups, like the people I know who have spotless organized homes and ask to excuse the mess.

If that's the case you might consider skipping the labor/time and fumes involved in a full prime coat. Spot prime, with the recommended primer, anything that is obvious. Ink, crayon, and food stuffs will be a problem, but not all markers will be, nor will pencil. Then apply one coat of finish and give it two or three days for anything you missed to reveal itself. Spot prime those areas, then spot color them with finish, then apply the final full coat. Also, there are some solvents, like Goof-Off, that removes certain inks and markers.

As to painting. I don't think you need to tint the primer. And for finish I would go with Benjamin Moore Regal Matte Finish, or Regal Select. It's a bit pricey but it's a great product and it will give you the washability that you need. You need at least a bit of sheen, which Matte will give you. If you're an OCD scrubber however, you might consider a full eggshell sheen/finish. If you're skipping the full prime route, that would help offset the higher cost of finish. Whatever you use, go to a real paint store and explain your needs and ask for recommendations on price points. Good luck
Congrats on the family, that's great, and God bless you:laughing:

 

[Coupon Cook]

Thanks so much

Let me clarify. I didn't birth 7 kids. I only have 2 of my own. But there are 7 total that were and are here full time. I've had them all since they were infants and toddlers. My home is preferable to where they would have had to go is all. It has slowed a bit as their own family situations have changed. I consider them mine and always will. I didn't really mean to mislead you. I'm kinda tired after so many years. lol. So for the moment I have some time to paint.

I wish I were a super scrubber. I'm not. I'd rather finger paint with chocolate pudding and cook for an army than do a load of laundry. I recently took advantage of having less kids in the house to scrub the walls and also clean out some rooms. There are greasy prints, markers, and crayon marks from about waist high down. I've scrubbed and scrubbed as much as will come off. now I feel I'm ready to apply primer

To answer your questions:
I used the cheapest lowes brand of water base paint which is blue colored. and I can't remember the latex paint brand, it is gold/yellow colored. Likely whatever was cheapest at lowes 6 years ago. so no one told me anything about differences. Of course.. I didn't ask either. :wink: in hind sight that likely wasn't smart.

We do have a S Williams store close by. It will probably save time and money to use them.

Thank you all so much have a blessed day. :thumbup:

 

[chrisn]

Let me clarify. I didn't birth 7 kids. I only have 2 of my own. But there are 7 total that were and are here full time. I've had them all since they were infants and toddlers. My home is preferable to where they would have had to go is all. It has slowed a bit as their own family situations have changed. I consider them mine and always will. I didn't really mean to mislead you. I'm kinda tired after so many years. lol. So for the moment I have some time to paint.

I wish I were a super scrubber. I'm not. I'd rather finger paint with chocolate pudding and cook for an army than do a load of laundry. I recently took advantage of having less kids in the house to scrub the walls and also clean out some rooms. There are greasy prints, markers, and crayon marks from about waist high down. I've scrubbed and scrubbed as much as will come off. now I feel I'm ready to apply primer

To answer your questions:
I used the cheapest lowes brand of water base paint which is blue colored. and I can't remember the latex paint brand, it is gold/yellow colored. Likely whatever was cheapest at lowes 6 years ago. so no one told me anything about differences. Of course.. I didn't ask either. :wink: in hind sight that likely wasn't smart.

We do have a S Williams store close by. It will probably save time and money to use them.

Thank you all so much have a blessed day. :thumbup:

yes you will
water based and latex are one and the same( for the most part)

 

[ToolSeeker]

Be sure to tell them of your stains because crayon is an oil based stain you may need a oil or shellac based primer.

 

[Coupon Cook]

Update just in case someone else is having the same trouble. I tried simple green, vinegar, greased lighting, dawn dish soap, and even took a suggestion of using paper and a hot iron to melt off the oil stains. None of it worked. I ended up using the Dollar store equivelent of a Mr. Clean magic eraser on the walls. What it wouldn't take off I used a thick coat of wall patch. ( I don't know the brand name but its at Walmart it spackles on purple and dries white. ) I was able to cover marker and grease stains with it. After a day the marker didn't bleed through the Spackle so I decided to paint over that. I used BHER No VOC paint from Home Depot. I went with a cream color and it covered all sorts of stains. Its been 2 months and I'm very happy with it. No more kid prints! The paint didn't run, it didn't stink very much. I painted every morning for a week right after my asthmatic son left for school. By the afternoon he was able to come home and not have any sort of respiratory discomfort. This made me a very happy mom. I did use the Valspar from Lowes equivalent in the bathroom. It was awful stuff. The paint ran, and despite being no VOC it had a horrible smell. I expeced some smell due to the fact that I had it tinted, but this was bad. I will never use that brand of paint again. Good luck to all in your painting adventures.