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janinnc123

Painting questions and Aura

janinnc123
12 years ago

I have only painted a room once in my life but will be painting several rooms in my home during the next several months. Based on recommendations on this and other forums, I plan to use Aura paint. After reading others' experiences, though, I am a bit worried about it drying too fast and having unsightly lines or textures on my wall.

I'm hoping some of you can answer a couple of questions to help me do this right:

1. Two of the rooms I will be painting currently have very dark (and very old) paint on the walls - one a dark blue and the other a dark red. I will be painting with a creamy off-white color. Aura is supposed to be self-priming with no more than two coats needed for any job. Given the age and color of the current paint, should I prime the walls anyway or just trust that the Aura will do the job?

2. The dark red room that I will be repainting is a bathroom that previously had a wallpaper border around the top. I scrubbed the walls after removing the wallpaper to make sure there was no residue, but I've heard that any previously wallpapered walls should be primed with a laquer-based primer to seal in any possible residue or else the new paint may start bubbling/peeling after a short time. Do I need to do this, or will using just the Aura be sufficient?

3. Until I read some of the previous posts, I was not aware of the importance of the type/quality of brushes and rollers. Can anyone recommend a brand or type of brush or roller that works best with Aura? I plan to use the matte finish on my walls.

Any other pointers you may have for an Aura newbie would also be appreciated!

Comments (5)

  • paintguy22
    12 years ago

    From my experiences so far with Aura, the light colors really do not cover all that well. If you are painting over a dark color with a white or off white, I would prime first and maybe even have the primer tinted a bit towards your final color. This is just more economical because there is no point in priming with $65 per gallon paint. The primer itself is just cheaper. I never heard of a lacquer based primer. Maybe it was shellac based BIN you were thinking of. If anything, I would use Gardz to prime over the area where there was a border. It is water based. The best thing to do would be to just remove all the paste which is usually fairly easy when it was just a border. Purdy, Wooster and Corona all make good brushes. Purdy, Wooster and Corona also make good roller covers. What you want to stay away from is the cheap stuff or throw away brushes and rollers. Some people do experience some difficulty working with Aura because of the fast dry times. The key is just to keep moving so that your edges don't dry while you are getting more paint. The Aura extender is good to use for some added wet time. Try a wall or two and see how you are liking using it before you commit to buying all the paint. Good luck!

  • PRO
    Lori A. Sawaya
    12 years ago

    EXCELLENT info/share, paintguy.

  • Faron79
    12 years ago

    Yes PG-

    VERY good tweak on things there!

    Faron

  • janinnc123
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Thank you, Paintguy.
    If I use primer on the walls before painting with Aura, does the brand of primer matter? It would be great to save some money by using a cheaper brand for the primer.
    You are right - I did mean shellac based primer when referring to the walls that had the wallpaper border. I did scrub to remove the paste but after reading other horror stories about paint jobs that were ruined when water based primer and paint were used that I wondered if it would be worth the extra mess to use the shellac based primer just to make sure it wouldn't bubble or peel.
    Thanks again for your advice!

  • paintguy22
    12 years ago

    The brand of primer really doens't matter, but cheaper primers are cheap for a reson. They don't seal as well. Some are so bad at sealing, it almost feels like you are priming with a dead flat paint. Benjamin Moores general purpose primer isn't that expensive I don't think compared to Fresh Start so you could go with that. I would stay away from cheap PVA primers or Home Depot stuff though.

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