5 Tips for Choosing the Right Primer for Your Home Painting Project
Sam Lutz • September 18, 2018
Everything starts with primer. Before you begin choosing your colors and getting down to business, you’ll need to select a primer. A primer prepares the surface for your paint, ensuring that it adheres properly redundant and making the colors brighter and more brilliant. Here’s what you need to know:
- Choose the right type of primer for your needs. There are oil-based, latex-based and shellac primers. Oil-based paints are commonly used for their durability and ease of use, but they dry slowly, and they may emit volatile organic compounds into the air. Latex-based primers are faster drying and gentler, but they aren’t as thick and high coverage as oil paints. Shellacs are generally used for outside purposes, for sealing as well as painting.
- Get the right color. If you’re going lighter, you need a white primer. If you’re going darker, you will want a black primer.. The color matters a lot; it’ll be an uphill battle if you’re trying to paint a dark color over a light primer or vice versa.
- Consider stain blocking primer. If you’re having moisture issues, or if you’re trying to paint over stains and odors, a stain-blocking primer works best. This forms a protective seal that will prevent anything from coming up out of the surface and into your paint. This is commonly used when repainting an area in which a smoker lived.
- Get the right brand. Often, it’s best to match the brand of primer to the brand of paint, as you’ll get more consistent results. Of course, there are also industry standard primer brands, such as Zinsser, which have solid reputations. Look for reviews and don’t go for just the cheapest primer.
- Be careful with self-priming paints. Self-priming paints exist for those who want a one-stop solution. However, they often aren’t nearly as effective as using a separate primer and paint, especially in terms of getting deep, vibrant colors lasting a long time. If you want something that’s going to be permanent, use a separate primer.
Priming is going to be the first step towards a successful home painting project, so it’s worth doing some extra research. For more information on the best paints to use, continue to follow Ace Paints.
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