How Many Coats of Primer Do You Want?

Do you need to always prime sooner than painting? If that is the case, what variety of coats of primer would you like? There’s no one reply on account of the number of coats of primer relies upon quite a few parts, harking back to the color you might be painting over, the type of paint you might be using, and the scenario of the partitions or flooring you might be painting. However, two coats of primer are normally used for a lot of initiatives.

Maintain learning to check when to utilize primer and what variety of coats of primer are very important sooner than painting.

What Is Primer?

A primer is a base coat that comes sooner than the last word, or base and finish, coats of paint. Primer preps the ground and significantly improves the paint’s adhesion and safety.

Do You Truly Need Primer?

You just about always need to prime a flooring sooner than painting. The one time you’ll in all probability skip primer is if you are going to buy paints with built-in primers. However, these self-priming paints are solely environment friendly for painting over partitions in good situation which is likely to be already painted.

Primer is useful for overlaying earlier paint or paint in a very completely completely different color or elevated sheen than you have received chosen and preps the ground so the model new paint adheres further efficiently. However, many alternative situations require priming, harking back to:

• Painting unfinished wood: Bare wood does not accept paint successfully and should be primed so the paint sticks. Seek for a primer formulated to seal knots when painting knotty wood.
• Making use of latex-based paint over oil-based paint: In case your current partitions are painted with oil-based paint, you will have a bonding primer to help the model new latex paint stick.
• Painting over plaster and joint compound: Partitions which have been repaired or skim-coated with plaster and joint compound will look uneven besides primed. These patched surfaces take within the paint in one other means than surrounding areas.
• Painting over new drywall: New drywall ought to be primed with PVA (polyvinyl acetate) primer, an reasonably priced product formulated for drywall.
• Painting over stains or mildew: Stains from water, mildew, and completely different substances could also be troublesome to cowl, requiring many coats of paint. Use stain-covering primers to cowl unusual stains and mold-killing primers to stop mildew progress.
• Using lower-quality paints: You’ll usually get away with using lower-quality paint for those who occur to make use of a decent-quality primer. However, low-cost paints may not closing as long as high-quality paints.

How Many Coats of Primer to Use

The number of coats of primer relies upon the details of your enterprise and the type of paint you might be using.

When to Use One Coat of Primer

Use one coat of primer for the subsequent situations:

• When painting over comparable paint colors
• Going from a lightweight paint color to a darkish paint color
• Surfaces which is likely to be in good scenario, along with metallic

When to Use Two Coats of Primer

Use two coats of primer when painting the subsequent:

• Unfinished surfaces like wood
• New drywall (use PVA primer); new drywall soaks up paint and primer prevents the paint finish from wanting splotchy and uneven when dry
• On the point of shade over wallpaper
• Poor scenario metallic surfaces
• Drastically completely completely different paint colors
• Defending a darkish paint color with a lightweight paint color

When to Use Three Coats of Primer

You may under no circumstances need three coats of primer. However, situations which can necessitate a third coat embody:

• If the second coat of primer hasn’t offered ample safety
• Painting over uneven surfaces like masonry, plaster, unfinished wood, and drywall joint compound
• Defending fundamental stains, harking back to water harm on a ceiling

What Sort of Primer to Use

Search the recommendation of the label in your primer for proper software program. Utterly completely different surfaces title for explicit types of primer and it’s important to utilize the acceptable one. When not sure, ask the affiliate on the retailer’s paint division for product strategies. When making use of primer, pay shut consideration to the producer’s instructions specifying what variety of coats of primer to utilize and any very important steps to take between the coats, harking back to sanding.