I ask because although it's an attached garage, it gets quite cold and hot in the garage because it's unheated. We live in Indiana, and in the winter we can get sub-zero temperatures.

And can BIN or KILZ be used as a primer, or will I need to apply an actual primer over them? And then when I paint, again....should I use an exterior paint instead of interior?

I trust the people on this forum more than I do the employees at the paint store, so I'm asking here. Thanks!

Forget Kilz...the Zinsser line is better.

Indiana?!!? He&&, I'm in Fargo, ND! We'll sometimes see MINUS 30!

Zinsser's BIN is a great primer, but TOO much temp-change can be too much for it. BIN is a little more "brittle", and meant only for Interior projects, and "spot"-priming on Exteriors, like over resinous wood-knots only.

Yep, Interior paint is fine in the garage. Since the garage doesn't see direct weathering, Interior paints are fine. I'd use a Satin sheen, possibly Semi-gloss.

(I'm at a pretty busy upscale/independant paint/hardware/decorating/furniture store here. People often come to us though, after receiving "incomplete" advice at some of the "Boxes"...;-)
We dropped the Kilz primers, and just handle Zinsser's line, C2 primers, & a couple of ACE & XIM primers.)

Faron

I always thought the reason was that someone had painted with an interior paint not suitable for extreme temperatures. The garage did get very cold despite the fact that it was attached to the house. I don't think it was insulated (it is now, however).

So.....my husband used a sander and got off all of the remaining old paint, and now we have a new coat of drywall over it. Stains are already showing through it, and the drywallers said it was from sap from the the pine boards up in the attic. Although I don't understand that because those boards are so old.....hard to imagine they're still seeping sap.

Last night we were in a big box store (Menards in Indiana), and we got a sales person who actually was pretty good. He confirmed what you've said, and he recommended the Cover Stain also. He said it's much easier to work with (and cheaper) than the shellac-based BIN. That sounded good! After all, we don't need to cover up odors or smoke or anything like that.....just the stains.

Thank you so much....without your help I'm sure we would just have bought the KILZ because that is the brand we are familiar with.

Or...is the whole ceiling made of pine 4x8's that were drywalled over?!

Faron

But I think it's just the rafters, not sheets of lumber. Why do you ask? BTW, he painted the ceiling today with Cover Stain, and it did conceal all of the stains.

I was so curious if boards laying FLAT were bleeding.
* 4x8's laid flat would have potentially resinous knots in direct contact with your ceiling sheetrock.
* Were your peeling areas kinda lining up with the rafter lines??
* Or...are/were they pretty random?!
* Reason I'm asking that is...boards can't bleed thru IN BETWEEN rafters!
* Another possibility...have you guys been checking for water leaks? What kind of condition are the shingles in?? Age of roofing??

Faron