To prime or not to prime?

Question

We are in the process of remodeling my daughter's bedroom. She wants light yellow walls and white furniture. I know that when you have old walls (we bought a very old house), you have to prime over the bad stains and I know that to cover dark furniture I have to prime before painting white. But what about......

new sheetrock?

old white furniture that needs a fresh paint job?

unfinished wicker chairs?

If it were up to me, I would prime everything, but my husband disagrees. PLEASE HELP!

OH - and regardless of priming or not, do you always have to sand before you paint?? Like even for the fresh paint over old paint?

Thanks!

Answer 1

ok here goes, New sheet rock, primed ?? YES
White furniture that has been painted before not necessary, two coats of paint for sure.
unfinished wicker chairs, primer?? YES
You only need to rough the wall up before the first coat of paint you put down, more than that not necessary, But if you really dont want to sand it its not going to make a huge difference.

Answer 2

New sheetrock - it soaks up a bit of paint from the first coat, so you use the inexpensive primer rather than your (usually more expensive) tinted paint. If it's indoors and there's no significant cost differential between the primer and your paint, then just go straight to paint.

White furniture - if the surface is smooth and the old paint is not flaking or peeling, it only needs a light sand to roughen the surface a bit so a new coat of paint sticks to it.

Unfinished wicker chairs - these can be difficult to get paint to adhere to, so I'd be safe and prime.

And no, you don't always have to sand. If you're using acrylic paint over acrylic paint (or enamel over enamel), and the underlying coat is in good condition, purists would say you should sand but I don't bother. If you're not sure that you're using the same kind of paint as before, I'd tend to roughen up the surface a bit to assist adhesion. If you have any doubts about the quality of the previous paint - ie any peeling or flaking - then I'd sand. I hate sanding, too. One thing that I've done successfully if the item can be taken outside is to use a high-pressure water cleaner in a thin stream instead. Crude, but effective! Those suckers will blast off anything that's not solidly attached and leave a beautiful clean smooth surface to paint on (after it's thoroughly dried, of course).

Let me qualify my advice by saying that I'm not an expert, just a DIYer with a bit of experience. Hope this helps!

Answer 3

You do have to prime sheet rock. Otherwise the paint will soak into the wall unevenly making your paint job look terrible.

Old furniture that is already a light color does not need to be primed. It only need to be clean and if there are rough spots they need to be sanded.

Usually any unfinished furniture needs to be primed before painting. just as a precaustion to the final paint job going on evenly.

Sanding sometimes helps the new primer/paint stick better usually you don't have to sand unless there are rough spots that need smoothing.

Hoped this helps. Good luck.

Answer 4

Clean down old furniture.Lightly sand back wood, in the case of the white furniture.Wicker chairs either paint or spray with clear polyurethane spray.You don't need primer nowadays.You can buy a dual purpose Acrylic paint.The idea of lightly sanding(just roughen the surface) is to form a film for new paint to hold onto.As far as walls go, just wash down.Fill holes or damage with wall filler, and paint.Only use a white primer if you want to change a dark colour to a lighter colour. Good Luck!

Answer 5

You definitely need to prime over new sheetrock.

Old white furniture-maybe. It may need to be sanded down and primed or just washed off. Depends on the surface.

Unfinished wicker chairs- I have seen then just spraypainted, but depending on the color they may need a second coat.

You do not always need to sand over old paint, like walls, but if it is wood furniture, yes you should. Otherwise it will likely peel.

Answer 6

Yes wash walls, sand out stains and putty and sand some more. Primer is a definite as if you're going to do all that work you should make sure the paint adheres properly to the wall. This is what a primer does! It help with adhering the paint to the walls.

Answer 7

New sheet rock needs to be primed, otherwise it acts like a sponge. We used a paint called Kilz that was a primer/sealer. Did wonders. Wicker I would prime, again with a sealer paint. Already painted furniture probably does not need a primer coat.

Answer 8

We live in an oldish place too and according to my husband everything needs to be primed, and yes defo sand things between any coats of paint unless it's a waterbased emulsion.
BTW we are still decorating 2 years later.

Answer 9

I would prime everything too. The cheap primer lets you use less of the more expensive paint.

Answer 10

primer also acts as a sealant. it helps if you are going to texture the wall first.

you'll definately have to prime dark furniture but it's best to strip the old finish off first.