Prime before paint?

[daddycreswell]

I am thinking I am going to paint the walls of my garage. They are drywall, is there any need to prime the walls before I paint them?

 

[shannonw]

i would. it saves quite a bit $ on paint.

 

[Devildogs]

I would too. I have seen what happens when paint fails to stick. Its alot of work to scrape and sand all that old paint back off.

 

[7th Kahuna]

Definitely prime the walls before painting. Raw drywall requires a PVA or similar type primer. It's fairly cheap and drys fast. By the time you have finished priming the garage, you should be able to start painting at the other end. ShannonW is right. The primer seals the surface so it doesn't absorb as much paint. The primer also helps the paint to grip properly.

Behr does offer primerless paints but I'm not convinced yet.

 

[spotco2]

There's no such thing as primerless paint or paint with the primer built in.

Prime, then paint with 2 coats of your favorite latex. I'm a fan of SW Pro Classic or at least Pro Mar 400.

 

[EJM02]

For bare drywall, absolutely. For previously painted drywall, not so much - pending the color of the current wall. But it sounds like bare drywall in your case. So YES, primer. Spend money on quality once instead of buying **** twice.

 

[Tim The Tool Man]

Definitely prime the walls before painting. Raw drywall requires a PVA or similar type primer. It's fairly cheap and drys fast. By the time you have finished priming the garage, you should be able to start painting at the other end. ShannonW is right. The primer seals the surface so it doesn't absorb as much paint. The primer also helps the paint to grip properly.

Behr does offer primerless paints but I'm not convinced yet.

YES definitely prime with a PVA primer! You can go cheap here as well without an issue. If you are going dark in color then have your primer tinted to match.

BEWARE of Behr and other manufactures offering primerless paint! IT DOES NOT WORK!!! I have had several bad experiences with this garbage. I didn't buy it but I have had two separate clients buy it and ask me to paint it on a couple remodel jobs I was doing. I expressed my concern in both cases. Regardless I primed with a PVA but still the paint was awful! these were both dark satin finish colors and if you were to touch or attempt to wash it you would leave permanent marks in the paint. Ended up repainting with Sherwin Williams in both cases.

 

[Randy in Maine]

I had good luck with the Behr primer/paint. 2 coats and it came out very nice. White though on new sheetrock.

 

[wssix99]

For bare drywall, absolutely. For previously painted drywall, not so much - pending the color of the current wall. But it sounds like bare drywall in your case. So YES, primer. Spend money on quality once instead of buying **** twice.

If the wall has cheap one-coat contractor paint on it or it looks like the wall wasn't primed, I prime over the paint. It makes a big difference.

For me, the value comes out of future touch-ups. Paint over a primed coat is much easier to touch up if primed. Just re-prime the patch and paint - it blends right in. For a garage, I'd expect this to be a common scenario!

 

[Davefr]

I am thinking I am going to paint the walls of my garage. They are drywall, is there any need to prime the walls before I paint them?

Yes prime the walls first!! Tell the paint store to tint the primer to half the formula of the final color to give you a head start.

Shop at a real paint store to get quality paint. (not the **** sold at Home Crapo, Lowes, K-Mart, etc)

 

[matouse3]

Yes prime the walls first!! Tell the paint store to tint the primer to half the formula of the final color to give you a head start.

Shop at a real paint store to get quality paint. (not the **** sold at Home Crapo, Lowes, K-Mart, etc)

First, absolutely prime. You can get a good drywall primer for a very reasonable price. I am assuming you are working with bare, new drywall.

Second, I have to disagree with the "real paint store" comment. HD carries Behr, which I have had excellent results with and I consider a high quality paint as does consumer reports. If you wait until a holiday weekend, they usually offer a rebate or discount on gallons and 5 gallon buckets.

 

[Vinci]

I haven't had any problems with Behr paint. In fact, I have been able to get away with single coats unless the previous paint had "crackle" finish applied.

 

[JimVonBaden]

I used two coats of contractor grade, read cheap, primer, then two coats of paint. It worked fine.

Primed.

Painted. I used exterior semi-gloss for cleanability. Valspar from Home Depot.

Jim

 

[ludakris04]

I am in the process of painting mine now. I went to Lowes and they gave me their brand of Primer ($12 something a gallon) and I had a gallon of Kills2 that I had bought previously. I have to admit that the Lowes stuff went on way better than the kills, One coat and you couldn't see any tape lines or anything through it. The Kills, I could still see the writing on the drywall through it.

FYI 20x20 w 10' walls. It took about 2 1/2 gallons of primer for everything.

 

[tcianci]

A PVA primer has always been a good bet for new drywall. Don't fall for the "tint the primer towards the paint" scam. That was invented by paint retailers so that instead of being able to use your left over primer on your next project, over time, you end up with multiple cans of tinted primer that are no good for anything but the job you bought them for.

 

[Tim The Tool Man]

A PVA primer has always been a good bet for new drywall. Don't fall for the "tint the primer towards the paint" scam. That was invented by paint retailers so that instead of being able to use your left over primer on your next project, over time, you end up with multiple cans of tinted primer that are no good for anything but the job you bought them for.

No. It is a way to use less of the more expensive finish coat.

PVA primer gallon + free tint = $13.00
Regular paint gallon = (up to) $60.00

 

[spotco2]

I agree. We always have our primers tinted.

 

[larry4406]

Prime the walls. Use high power lights at shallow angle to find wall and ceiling defects. Point up with tinted drywall compound (makes it easier to find the repairs), sand, and prime the repairs to seal the compound, then top coat.

 

[Bojans]

I would certainly prime. I bought a good primer and had it tinted light grey. That has been on my walls in the garage for 4 years and still looks good. I planned on painting right after I primed and only tinted to make coverage of the paint easier but once I got the first coat of primer down it looked good enough for my non showplace garage.