To prime or not to prime, that is the question. When should you use a primer when painting inside your home in White Rock, BC? The best interior painters know when to apply a coat of primer and when to save their customers some money. Let’s get into the various applications of primer and whether you should use one.
When To Use a Primer Inside Like The Best Interior Painters
Primer is a great tool, but it is not always necessary. If you are painting your project yourself, or if budget is no obstacle to you, then applying a coat of primer to everything will always give you the best result. But the difference can sometimes only be noticed by a discerning eye. Here are some reasons when you absolutely should prime.
Dramatic Change in Colour
These days there has been a strong trend in White Rock to paint the inside of homes white. If your walls are currently a dark colour, then you are in it for 3-4 coats of paint if you are going to follow suit. Whites and off-whites don’t have a lot of pigment in them, so after two coats of paint you will typically still see the old colour coming through. Primers tend to be cheaper than good quality paints, so you can save yourself a few bucks by applying primer for the first coat, or the first two coats if your walls are very dark.
New Surface
The most common reason to use a primer inside would be if the surface that you are painting is raw. For example, new drywall, or bare wood. Raw surfaces need to be properly sealed, and when it comes to painting, the best interior painters know that a primer is always necessary to achieve this. There are a lot of paints on the market that are labeled as paint and primer in one, but for the most even results, use a primer first. Paint is meant to sit on top of the primer, not to be the first coat.
Stains
If you had a leak at some point in the roof of your home in White Rock, BC, this is a good time to use a primer with stain blocking abilities. You might see some brown marks from the water on your ceiling. If you paint right over them, they will bleed through the new paint in a matter of hours. Paint lacks the properties to block stains. In this kind of situation, you need to apply a stain blocking primer over the top of the stain. The best interior painters use oil or shellac stain blocking primers. Water-based ones can work for light staining, but are generally less reliable for this purpose.
Adhesion
Paint likes to be able to grab onto surfaces. If in your home in White Rock you have a lot of surfaces that are very smooth, then an adhesion primer would be a good idea. In this situation, think of it like double-sided tape. If you have a surface that is very smooth, use a primer to adhere to that surface, and then apply the paint on top of that. The primer sticks to the surface, and then the paint will stick to the primer. Nobody likes to see their hard work go to waste and their painting job peel off. Applying an adhesion primer to slick surfaces will help to prevent that.
Finish
Applying a coat of primer will always give your topcoats of paint the most even finish. It’s like giving yourself a clean canvas to work with. Let’s say, for example, that you are painting your walls. A certain amount of the finish of the paint will get absorbed into wall. Depending on how many times your walls have been painted in the past, the absorption rate will vary. If your walls have been painted very few times before, then much of the finish will get absorbed, especially on the first coat. The opposite is true if they have been painted many times. The best interior painters know that using a primer will even out the playing field. Allowing the proper amount of finish to be absorbed into the wall with the finished result being smooth, consistent, and the intended level of sheen.
At the end of the day, people paint for different reasons. If you like perfect results, then primer will be your best friend. As professionals, at Blue Chip Painting, we know when to use a primer, and when we can save our customers money. Our interior painting services include free estimates on your interior painting project, give us a call. We are among the best interior painters around with many decades of combined experience, our house painters have your home in White, BC looked after.