I remember that the person who did my porch and staircase about one year ago used Olympics Solid Stain without painting primer underneath. Everything looked very rough, and the stain did not hold up well not even a year.

I asked a home improvement person who worked at the paint department what to do and what to use for most durability, without mentioning what was used before. Olympics was the one that was recommended again. Nevertheless, I was told to paint OIL primer first before I paint the solid stain for 2 coats. I commented on "no water based paint on top of oil based paint," questioning her suggestion. She said that PRIMER works differently, so I took her words for it.

I painted the OIL based primer and let it dry 24 hours, as the instruction said. Then, I painted my first coat. The solid stain did not seem to want to be bind or stick with the oil based primer. The first coat of this stain application looked so uneven. I am hoping that what the improvement lady told me was true. Perhaps the second coat would make the application look even.

However, I am really having a doubt now. Isn't primer helping paint to stick and bind to whatever being painted better? Now, it seems to me that the stain is just SITTING on top of the primer. Oil and water don't mix; that's the fact. Specially, no water based materials would stick to oil based materials..... Anyway... Is the second coat going to help? Is it true that primer works differently than "paints" or "stains?"

Thanks