PRIME TIME
It has been said that a paint job is only as good as the primer.
Well that is true only if you put the right primer in the proper place. Different primers serve different purposes. In the case of our troubled room we need to determine which primers we need and where to put them.
Remember the water rings on the ceiling and the various crayon and whatsit stains on the walls. These stains call for a primer/sealer. The water based sealers do not seem to hold back a stain quite as well as the solvent based products. A word of caution, some solvent based sealers have a very strong odor. For water spots and wall stains I recommend the alcohol based sealers. They offer good results without the overwhelming odor.
We will talk about other primers later, right now we need to take care of these stains. With a three inch disposable brush, spot prime the stains, making sure to cover the entire stain. Some stains may require a second coat, we'll check back in about fifteen minutes for any "bleed through".
Looks good... No bleed through.
TO PRIME OR NOT TO PRIME
We have already sanded, caulked and otherwise prepped our woodwork . Now it is time to ask ourselves that burning question. "Do I really have to prime this stuff?" Since our woodwork has been sanded and appears dull we might get by without a primer, but I wouldn't recommend it. Because of bonding factors a primer and one finish coat of paint is far more durable than two coats of finish paint.
A primer also gives us a uniform canvass on which to paint. The primer of choice here is a high quality acrylic latex interior primer. Solvent or oil based primers and paints (with a few exceptions for stain sealing) are pretty much a thing of the past, for more reasons than one. Acrylic latex paints (remember the key word Acrylic) rival or are superior to the old solvent based paints in almost every way.
Since priming with a brush is not unlike finish painting with a brush, we can discuss trim brushes and brushing techniques now. These techniques will apply to primers as well as finish paint, the only difference is that more care should be taken on the finish coat (fuller, cleaner, smoother, etc.)
We need a brush. Do not retrieve that throw away brush we used while spot priming, leave it in the trash. I have heard that a good painter can paint with a whisk broom, well he can, and it would look like it had been painted with a, you know.....a whisk broom.
A good quality paint brush is very important.
