To Prime or Not to Prime
Paint primer is defined as “a preparatory coating that is put on materials before painting. Priming ensures better adhesion of paint to the surface, increases paint durability, and provides additional protection for the material being painted.” Anyone that is preparing to paint a room, a wall, or some other surface in their home or business, must first decide if the project would benefit from priming the surface before painting it. There are some general rules of thumb that professionals recommend when it comes to priming a surface that is meant to be painted. Below, you will find some of the ideas that professionals like to consider, regarding priming, or not.
If the surface that you are painting is drywall that has never been painted before, then priming the wall first will be very beneficial. If you paint drywall directly, then the paint will be absorbed into the drywall and the results will not be exactly what you are expecting. When you use primer on drywall before painting, the primer seals the drywall surface, and the paint will adhere to the surface of the wall, instead of soaking into the drywall, itself.
If the wall that you are preparing to paint has a lot of nail holes that you have had to repair, or if there are obvious cracks in the wall, then prime the area first. Priming these uneven areas will make the wall space more uniform and the final paint job will look more even and refined.
Another time when you may want to prime the walls before you paint, is when you are painting a lighter color of paint over a very dark paint. When you add primer on top of a dark paint color, then it will be easier to apply the light-colored paint. The use of the primer will limit the amount of light paint that you will need to cover the original dark surface.
Paint primer is meant to make your painting project easier and provide results for you that are smooth and uniform. If you are considering a painting project in the near future, then it may be well worth your time to consider using paint primer first, depending on the type of surface that you are painting on, and on the specific wall that you are painting, or leave it to the experts at Noel Painting!
