I'm repainting the kitchen and one adjacent living room wall. Currently it is a dark red Benjamin Moore satin, seven years old and in fine shape. Thinking of making it dark blue for a change. I'll probably use Valspar satin since I have had good luck with it and have some Lowes gift cards? Do I need to prime first? As my walls are 90% cabinets, I should get two coats out of one gallon.
Dark Red to Dark Blue - Prime?
1 - 18 of 18 Posts
Joined
·
37,499 Posts
A dark color in a kitchen:huh:
It's going to show evey spot and look uninviting.
Going to do it anyway, yes I would preprime it with primer that been tinted at least 50% of the color your going for.
It's going to show evey spot and look uninviting.
Going to do it anyway, yes I would preprime it with primer that been tinted at least 50% of the color your going for.
Joined
·
2,518 Posts
No need to prime. Primer is for a problem, like adhesion. Changing colors from similar paints is not a problem.
But you are going from a premium paint ( assuming BM Regal ) to a very middle of the road paint...
But you are going from a premium paint ( assuming BM Regal ) to a very middle of the road paint...
I agree, no primer. If you use a half tinted blue primer you're starting out from a coverage setback. A dark blue will cover a dark red fine, and far better than it would a medium blue primer. If you use BM Genex colors there really is no longer a primer required when changing colors. Genex tints are superior in terms of hide, coverage. BM says two coats of red only, ever. And it's the reds that have the least hide historically. Genex products, like Aura and Regal Select, are pricier but they save you time and labor, your two biggest expenditures. But you can go with BM BEN, which is probably priced between topline BM and Valspar, closer to Valspar. Pricier products cost more for a reason, they work for you better than lower priced materials. A cheap brush costs you more in time and aggravation in making it work for you than you would spend buying the pricier pro brush, and you'll get better results. The same goes for paint. The goal is to be effective and efficient. Do the best possible job using the least, the optimal, amount of resources. Labor is always your biggest expense and dwarfs materials cost, and not operating from that understanding at the outset is the start of a fools errand. Save the gift certificates for hardware or grass seed.
Too funny, and one more notch for me! Seems something's don't change.
Joined
·
654 Posts
Feh. Every room is different and dark colors can work anywhere. People are just afraid of bold colors for some reason. Especially since, depending on the kitchen, you often don't have too much plain wall space anyway, so any dark color is going to be offset by cabinets, counters, etc.
The red paint is BM Regal in an eggshell, not satin. I figured the primer would be a step backwards. The dark red has worked fine. I have so many cabinets there is no piece of wall over 18" exposed. The cabinets are a natural stain and I have a ton of lighting so it works quite well.
With credit card rewards, gas points for buying gift cards at the grocery store, and 10% off coupons at Lowes, I can get the Valspar Signature for a net of under $25/gallon. I used it for a couple bedrooms last year and was happy with it.
With credit card rewards, gas points for buying gift cards at the grocery store, and 10% off coupons at Lowes, I can get the Valspar Signature for a net of under $25/gallon. I used it for a couple bedrooms last year and was happy with it.
Valspar box store brands and Regal are really not in the same league. I know the price is tempting and you have the gift cards but I would save them for something else, and get real paint. Especially so since this is a kitchen and you may want some degree of washability and you are putting a dark color on the walls.
By the way, since the sheen turns out to be an eggshell? I would take 15 minutes and scruff up the surface with some fine grit sanding paper or even the finer side of those 3M sanding blocks. It will help adhesion.
By the way, since the sheen turns out to be an eggshell? I would take 15 minutes and scruff up the surface with some fine grit sanding paper or even the finer side of those 3M sanding blocks. It will help adhesion.
Sdsester makes a good point. With a dark blue in the kitchen, the Genex would probably be good from a washability standpoint. Splashing water and wet wiping dark colors could leave a finish streaky. This would be more noticeable with blue than red. The darker the color, the more the tint, the softer the finish. And tint never really hardens, it only dries. Genex colorants mix in the vehicle and create what BM calls Color Lock, which from what I'm told creates a harder finish and superior color fastness. We're not pushing BM because we own stock. But, I know that you'll never get the gun out of the hands of those determined to shoot themselves in the foot. Trust our experience, read Brushjockey's signature line. I'm very familiar with it.
Joined
·
2,518 Posts
lol! Yes. Yes you are!
I wouldn't prime, unless the existing paint is semi-gloss. If that's the case, adhesion could be a problem.
Joined
·
8,307 Posts
not if you light sand it first
Tis true.
Our daughter & her husband just bought a craftsman bungalow house. All walls were painted white semi-gloss. Unfortunately, the previous owners had also used - shall we say - "aggressive" texture to cover patches in the plaster. There was no way to reasonably sand it before priming. So we primed...
What grit do you typically use to scuff a semi-gloss finish?
Joined
·
8,307 Posts
100 will do it
OK, scratch the dark blue. I've decided to stick with dark red, probably a little darker.
The other thing I had forgotten about is that I have always had a little bit of red bleeding when this paint got wiped down. The attached picture is a wet paper towel wiped across about 20 inches of the wall. You can see the outline of my fingers on the towel.
Is this a concern for covering with another similar color? Is a light sanding and covering with another high quality paint OK?
The other thing I had forgotten about is that I have always had a little bit of red bleeding when this paint got wiped down. The attached picture is a wet paper towel wiped across about 20 inches of the wall. You can see the outline of my fingers on the towel.
Is this a concern for covering with another similar color? Is a light sanding and covering with another high quality paint OK?
Attachments
Joined
·
2,518 Posts
This is where quality of paint is everything.
Deep colors require lots of pigment, and the usual pigment (universal tints) ,if not locked in the resin will wipe off.
BM's Aura is about as fail safe for not doing that or burnishing than any paint I know. It uses a pigment system ( genex) that becomes part of the paint more totally. That is why it is worth the price.
IMO, of course..
Deep colors require lots of pigment, and the usual pigment (universal tints) ,if not locked in the resin will wipe off.
BM's Aura is about as fail safe for not doing that or burnishing than any paint I know. It uses a pigment system ( genex) that becomes part of the paint more totally. That is why it is worth the price.
IMO, of course..
1 - 18 of 18 Posts
