Do I need to put primer over walls I want to paint if they're already painted?

Question

The walls are a light yellow and a light minty green. I just got through using oil based primer over wallpaper and hated it the stuff gets over everything. Is water based primer easier?

Answer 1

With light colors you probably won't need a primer ... just 2 coats of paint.  If you were trying to cover a really strong color with a much lighter color, a primer would be a good idea.

Answer 2

You don't need to use primer.  They say that if you use primer then you use less paint but either way you are still doing the same amount of work.  So whether it's one gallon of paint and one gallon of primer or two gallons of paint it's all the same.  The only reason it got all over last time is due to the fact you were using it on wallpaper.

Answer 3

Water based primer is like water based paint and oil based is messy like oil based paint. You may not need a primer though it depends on how much color change you are going for, and if the primer would create a base that covered better than am extra layer of paint would.