confused about what primer to use for cabinets

13 years ago

I'm repainting some old cabinets. The insides are particleboard so I'm planning to use Gardz on the insides to make sure the finish is well sealed. (Where the paint has worn off, the particleboard is a little bumpy and even flaking off a little.)

The face frames, doors, and drawer fronts are solid wood, covered with badly yellowing oil-based paint that's at least 25 years old. We're going to use SW Pro Classic acrylic latex paint. One SW person told my husband that we don't need to use any primer at all. At the other store, they told me we absolutely need to prime or the Pro Classic won't stick, and sold me the SW brand "Adhesion Primer." They also told us conflicting things about whether we need primer over the Gardz.

So now I'm confused and have a few questions:

1. On the solid wood parts (ie not the insides), do we need primer at all? If so, which primer should we use? I'm not at all partial to the SW Adhesion Primer - it was pretty expensive and I have no idea if it's good. If I should use a primer, I'd really welcome specific recommendations.

2. On the inside walls of the cabinets, do we need primer over the Gardz? The insides are painted in the same oil-based paint as the rest of the cabinets. If we do need primer over the gardz, can I use the same primer as I'm using over the rest of the cabinets?

Thank you so much in advance!

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Comments (4)

kafkatamura
13 years ago
1. I think a primer is good to seal wood before painting, regardless of whether your paint is 'self-priming' or not. I would use something oil based like Zinsser Cover Stain or an Fresh Start by Benjamin Moore. Any decent, oil-based bonding primer is going to prepare your wood just fine.

2. Gardz is a primer. You could certainly top-coat your primer with a latex or oil-based primer.

Here is a link that might be useful:
kafkatamura
13 years ago
edit: top-coat your primer with a latex or oil based paint
paintguy22
13 years ago
I think I know the reason that you may get conflicting information from different stores. You don't have to use a primer if you sand well and are painting over a properly dulled and clean surface. The problem is that a lot of homeowners don't know how to sand. I know it sounds silly, but they just don't do it correctly. So, for them a primer will help because a primer will bond better than a paint to a surface that is not clean and dull. The safe thing to tell a homeowner/DIY'er is to sand and use a primer just in case they don't sand well enough there is some insurance with the primer step. All that said, being that they are cabinets that are old and are currently painted with oil based paint, I would recommend priming no matter what. You don't need to prime over Gardz. Gardz is a primer. The only drawback to using Gardz is that it is clear so using it has no hiding power and will get you no closer to your white topcoat color, but it is still fine to paint right over it. I think I would use an acrylic bonding primer like Zinnser 123 for this project. I'm not too familiar with SW paints, but I assume their 'adhesion primer' is the same basic type of product.
PRO
Christopher Nelson Wallcovering and Painting
13 years ago
What he (paintguy) said,100%