I'm impressed! HD finally has an enformed associate that's giving professional advice.

You need primer! The professional rule is to never, ever paint over a flat paint without a primer. The flat paint is porous and will cause uneven sheen, especially in dark red colors, and other colors as well.

Use a smoke gray tinted primer and get professional results.

I'm curious. Why would you consider skipping one of the most important steps in painting?

Michael

I'm backing Michael 107% here...you'll regret NOT using a Med.-gray primer under that red. Our store used to have Behr paints, and that color is so transparent.
>>> It's mainly because SO much colorant is added, that it'll look like you're applying kool-aid. I'm not knocking Behr...it's just a physical property of ANY red/violet paint colorant.
>>> Gray primer's don't reflect near as much light as white primers do. Therefore, if no gray-primer was used, you'd EASILY have to put on 4 coats of the red. Primer is CHEAPER than paint, unless you like putting on red...
Good luck,
Faron

From experience with red paint I can tell you, use the gray primer. We painted a library in Ralph Lauren's Hunting Coat Red about 5 or 6 years back. It took (gulp) EIGHT coats. It was nuts. Never again.

We're going to do a library in this house too, also red. We'll be using primer because it's the correct thing to do, and we'll be using gray primer so our arms don't fall off again.

Ivette

Hello Ivette!
WOW! Are you serious?! EIGHT coats...hoo boy!
Ralph Lauren (made now by ICI paints) has greatly improved over the last 5 yrs. If you use RL again, look for the newest 35xx tint-base numbering. The previous numbering system was 15xx. Example, the current Eggshell Brilliant-White tintbase is 3591. For a Satin dark color (Neutral base), it's 3293.

We sell lots of Ralph L. "Reds" where I work, and we don't let people out the door without gray-primer to go with it! You DO need a 5-6 hr. drytime between coats though! There's about 13oz's. of colorant in those reds, so it dries SLOWER. It takes a full 1.5 minutes for our computer tinters to dispense a gallon of it!

Doesn't matter what "brand" of red it is, gray is the proper background. About 1/3 of the time, a 3rd coat may be necessary if the wall is strongly lit.

I love the Ralph L. reds, and many of our clients do too. Some have even come back to thank us for "forcing" the gray-primer on them!

See ya,
Faron

Hi Faron!!

Yes I heard that RL was using a completely different base now and is much, much better. At the time we did the eight coats from Hades, we purchased the RL paint at the Home Depot. I have no idea what base they were using then. And of course, no one at the Home Depot recommended anything about gray primer. In fact, we may not have primed at all, just painted over the flat original white paint. Horrors! We know so much more now.....

Best,
Ivette

Don't want to hijack the thread but it's another painting and primer question and there are lots of experts here. I am planning a green medium sage sand paint in a bathroom. I had quite a bit of repairing with spackle. Should I use something other than white primer with that color and should I put the sand in the primer and/or paint? Thank you.