when painting what is primer? is it really necessary when your painting a porch or your house I need help?

Question

The pain is cracking on my porch so i need to paint it so is the outside of my home

Answer 1

Primer is a base coat of paint that helps the color show true in case you are painting over a different color.
It also helps when you are painting raw wood, because the wood will soak up a lot of paint, but if you use a primer then you won't need as many coats of paint.
I like Kilz brand because it resists mold & mildew.

Answer 2

Well, I looked at the 2 answers, and had some problems.

!st, you need to get rid of the "loose" paint (scrape, sandblast, etc). If you dojn't to that, then any point put over it will just peal off when trhe underlying paint comes loose.

Primer has a very specific intent and purpose - it is designed tieh two intents in mind. The first is to "stick" to the thing that is going to be painted (much stronger than regular paint will "stick". And then to allow the decorative paint to "STICK" to the primer. It is double-sided masking-tape you put on your walls. A secondary function is to "cover" any underlying paint, and be "close" to the decorative paint, but its main function is much stronger than that.

Another function of primer is to "seal" the wood - provide a moisture barrior to help prevent dry-rot, or "penetrate" the wood (it is cheaper than main-paint, usually.) With laytex paints, you can sometimes get a "primer" effect if you dilute with water by about 30% - - BUT READ YOUR LABEL!

Go to your local paint store (Sherman Williams? - even Sears is good), asnd describe your situation, and they can help you. Most stores can even suggest reliable contractors to do part or all of the work - you might want to hire people tso strip the wood, but YOU might want to do the priming, and painting.

Just don't "do" it withoug asking for some advice - and there is plenty of advice out there from paint stores, I promise...

Ron.

Answer 3

First the old paint needs to be scaped off and then a good wash with a product called TSP and rinsed and let dry, then put primer on all the bare spots, be sure to use oil base primer for oil base paint, latex with latex. Also wear a dust mask when scaping paint so as to not breathe in the dust and miss a days worth of work because your lungs are clogged up.

Answer 4

Primer seals the wood and also gives you a solid color to paint over. This prevents "blotching" from different colored surfaces. Scrape off any loose paint and then primer and paint.

Answer 5

If the paint is peeling or cracking you may want to sand/strip it first and then paint it...depending on what color you ware painting it you may or may not need a primer