One coat or two of primer paint?

Question

I am painting a white wall a dark red color. I bought primer tinted with the top coat color. Should I paint 2 coats of primer first or will one coat be suffice?

Answer 1

depends on the existing paint. if it is Gloss or Semi-Gloss I normally rough up the surface with a light sanding first.place 1 coat and check for even coating. if not taking fully coat again.  Flat Paint needs only one good coat of primer and allow to dry thoroughly. Normally we ask what is the existing color but -- you are using a dark color so it almost does not matter

Answer 2

Mostly one coat of primer and 2 coats of paint. Red is a hard color to paint. Good luck.

Answer 3

One coat of primer should be enough. The primer helps hide any spots you miss and helps you apply less coats of actual paint.

That said, still need 2 coats of paint. The primer will be lighter than the paint. Since the primer is tinted, you will miss spots with your first coat - and you wont notice until dry. The second coat will help this.

Without the tinted primer, 2 coats probally would not be enough. Happy painting!

Answer 4

Unless you're using Benjamin Moore Aura, you need a primer. I've painted over a dozen times with dark red, and it is unlike every other colour you will paint with. It won't cover, it simply WILL NOT, without a dark grey or dark red primer - no matter what any supposed expert says. And I've had experts tell me I should be able to cover with two coats, and doubt either my honesty or my intelligence when I say it doesn't. Trust me: unless you're using Aura, it won't.

But you only ever need one coat of properly applied primer for any paint job. If the primer is either dark grey or exactly the same colour as the paint, two coats of the top coat will be enough - you might even get by with one coat and touch-ups if you're using dark red primer. If the primer only has a bit of the tint in it (and sometimes they do this - they try to give you pink primer, which makes no sense to me), you need to go back and get it retinted to either dark red or dark grey.

Answer 5

In reality, zero coats of primer, two coats of paint properly applied will handle this.

Yes, I know you see advertising that you should prime to mask color and that certainly is the general public impression (even some professional painters) of proper method.  From the advertising standpoint, it is a way to increase sales.  Others don't know any better.

The chemical makeup of a good primer is designed to do a specific job.  It should "soak in" to the surface being primed and provide a consistent surface to apply your finish paint to.  Some will fill slight imperfections in the wall, others may not.  The main point is a primer needs to soak in.

If a wall has been previously painted, the surface is already sealed and the primer can't penetrate.  The result is it will not get a good "grip" on the surface.  What this means in terms of your paint job is that your finish coat will be less durable -- when something rubs against it the primer may give a bit and allow the finish coat to develop microscopic tears in the finish surface.  Most people will not recognize the cause of this sitiuation and write it off as normal wear and tear.

Sealers are a bit different, they will grip to most surfaces and not cause a problem.  Many of the "primers" available today are actually sealers.  Most will not do any harm, but you really should not need them.  

Both primers and sealers present another problem when tinted to a shade of the final coat.  Neither offers any durability, but when you apply a topcoat of similar color it is hard to identify places that you have not appied the paint thick enough.  If the paint is not thick enough, it will not have a sufficient film strenght to provide a durable finish.

For some colors, a "masking" coat is helpful, but it should not be a shade of the final color.  For instance, if you were trying to cover your dark red with another color, you should use a masking coat in a shade of green (the opposite of red), but in a similar type of paint as your finish, not a primer.  You should not need a masking coat to cover a neutral color -- white is neutral.

So, the short version would be two coats of your finish, skip the primer.  If your primer is really a sealer, you can use it without degrading your finish.  Do not skimp on your finish paint.  Your first coat probably will not turn out the full darkness of the red, but it should not look blotchy.  If it is, you have applied it too thin.  The second coat should develop the full color, but it may take as much as two weeks.  Paint will darken considerably as it cures -- especially magentas.

Sorry this got so long.  I just get frustrated seeing the myths and misinformation spreading about, especially since it has hit advertising (mostly from a primer/sealer manufacturer).