Painting without Primer......Am I doomed?

17 years ago

I just had a Bedroom re-done with new drywall and texture put up. Due to some time constraints I painted a thick coat on top of the raw drywall texture without using a base coat or primer. Is that going to create any problems with the paint as time goes on? If so, how can I correct it?

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Comments (5)

Michael
17 years ago
When you have the time, simply prime it and repaint it.

Michael
wlc123
17 years ago
you're not doomed. your heavy coat will have to serve as your primer. should be ok.
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Michael
17 years ago
wlc,

No matter how heavy the coat of paint, it will never, ever serve as a primer. Paint is not primer.

Michael
Faron79
17 years ago
Michael is obviously correct. Two ENTIRELY different substances.
>>> One bad thing about a heavy paint coat...it can easily sag under its own weight, because the inner portion can never really dry correctly!!
>>> An old saying in painting..."trying to save time/money just costs you more of both..."
>>> Make sure your heavy layer is TOTALLY dry b4 you re-prime and do 2 topcoats of color.
Faron
shadowcomputer_hotmail_com
17 years ago
Painting a wall without Primer will not hurt anything per say. Primer is formulated to bond better then paint to surfaces. Therefore, if you don't use primer, you will often find that it takes more coats of paint to fully cover the wall then when using a base coat of primer. Also, the paint may not last as long since is doesn't bond as well to the surface. The other problem with painting without primer comes from painting over existing surfaces that have been previously painted or may have stains and things on them. If you were to paint over a wall without using primer, that hadn't been touched in say 15 years, you would find that many of the stains and possibly the existing wall color would bleed through the paint. You would end up repainting the wall many times to fully cover it. If you used primer, you could cover it possibly with just one top coat.
So if your wall looks good the way it is, I wouldn't worry about it. But it may need to be repainted sooner than if you had primed it first. But keep in mind the next time you paint a wall, that it's well worth the money to use a good quality primer for your base coat. Also, I don't recommend using a thick coat of any paint on a wall. Use enough paint to cover the surface, then wait for it to dry and apply a second coat if necessary. Putting a heavy coat on will eventually lead to pealing and cracking of the paint, prematurely.

Thanks