Interior painting questions.....

[cha...@gmail.com]

About to repaint a large living room, and had a couple questions.

1. Is priming necessary? Ive done some patching on the walls (drywall
nails popping out mostly), but my biggest pet peeve is when I paint a
wall and can see a different texture/color where I patched with drywall
mud. Ive always assumed my best bet is to use a good primer first and
then put color on top of that, but I figured Id ask here (the room is
big enough that saving $$$ on primer is a decent chunk of $$$). As an
alternative to priming, would 2 coats of color suffice? I normally
prime and then do 2 coats of color on top of that, but Ive never
painted a room this large in our house before.

1a. Is there any good way to texture the patches like the rest of the
wall? That might eliminate needing the priming step I think.

2. Any suggestions on paint brand? The last few painting projects Ive
been using SW SuperPaint, and I like it alot. The wife found a color
for this room on Benjamin Moores site, so Im debating trying out their
products or just having SW match the color. If BM is the better route,
does anyone have insight on their product lines? Regal, Moorcraft,
etc. Help with their primers (if its necessary to prime) would be
appreciated too. Google returned some older results, I figure by now
opinions may have changed since 2003 or 2004.

Thanks!
-CHris

[ba...@sme-online.com]

cha...@gmail.com wrote:
> About to repaint a large living room, and had a couple questions.
>
> 1. Is priming necessary? Ive done some patching on the walls (drywall
> nails popping out mostly), but my biggest pet peeve is when I paint a
> wall and can see a different texture/color where I patched with drywall
> mud. Ive always assumed my best bet is to use a good primer first and
> then put color on top of that, but I figured Id ask here (the room is
> big enough that saving $$$ on primer is a decent chunk of $$$). As an
> alternative to priming, would 2 coats of color suffice? I normally
> prime and then do 2 coats of color on top of that, but Ive never
> painted a room this large in our house before.

Seems you've answered it- yes. Suggestions: use screws near the popped
nails, and just hammer the popped nails below the paper. Keep coats of
mud thin, and minimize any scratching with sanding. How much primer you
gonna use to cover a few screws and nails? I'd spot with the finish
paint. (You don't mention important stuff like how different the new
color is from the existing.) You don't do this often, and seem to want
to get it right, so it's gonna take a chunk of $$$. Enjoy it.

> 1a. Is there any good way to texture the patches like the rest of the
> wall? That might eliminate needing the priming step I think.

Okay- what is the rest of the wall like? Seems if you just need to
cover a few screws and nails, you'd have extremely little total area of
patches. Maybe you need to focus on limiting that? And maybe on the
general prep. Mudded patches are always going to absorb paint MUCH more
than any painted surface. So spot them.

> 2. Any suggestions on paint brand? The last few painting projects Ive
> been using SW SuperPaint, and I like it alot. The wife found a color
> for this room on Benjamin Moores site, so Im debating trying out their
> products or just having SW match the color. If BM is the better route,
> does anyone have insight on their product lines? Regal, Moorcraft,
> etc. Help with their primers (if its necessary to prime) would be
> appreciated too. Google returned some older results, I figure by now
> opinions may have changed since 2003 or 2004.

I'd check Consumer Reports and such for ratings, and use that info to
help shopping for what you end up using. All brands have differing
product lines, so sweeping statements are meaningless. If the color is
much of a change, I'd think about a tinted primer coat before the
finish.

J

[cha...@gmail.com]

Thanks for the reply.

Actually I probably didnt word my priming question correctly....what I
actually do is prime everything Im painting, regardless of if its
patched or not. But maybe spot-priming (or extra-coating with color)
is the way to go.

The room is going from white to dark beige, as such I plan on getting
tinted primer, and might end up priming all of the walls just because
of that. On the other hand, spot-priming the patches and 2 coats of
color might end up with the same result.

Not really worried about $$$, but Im estimating 2.5 gallons or so of
color for one coat, so I didnt want to have to buy the same amount
(give or take) of primer if its not absolutely necessary. Spot priming
might be the way to go, either with primer or just finish paint first.

Thanks!
-Chris

[CraigT]

On the texture issue I usually spot prime with 1/2 nap roller which really
puts a pebble grain to the new work which is undoubtedly smoother than the
rest of the wall.

BTW-Benjamin Moore makes great paint. (So do others).

<cha...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1151530181....@d56g2000cwd.googlegroups.com...

[Pat]

First off, unless you have a calibrated monitor, don't trust colors off
a web site. Go get a sample from the store. If it prints the way you
want it, take that to the store. But beige is simplier and more common
than some colors.

Second, go to the paint store and check out different rollers. Certain
rollers leave more texture than others. If you use one with enough
texture, it might camo your smooth area.

Good luck. But a big beige room ???

[Pat]

Hey, if money is not object, look at:

http://www.behr.com/behrx/inspiration/artistic_8.jsp

I've used frottage. Pretty cool. A bit of texture will hide a
multitude of sins (but yes, no sins are better).

It is more pricey because of the glazing (sort of like elmers glue),
but really worth the effort.

[cha...@gmail.com]

Thanks for all of the suggestions! Ill try looking at different
rollers to hide my patch work.

And since we've started moving towards color in our room (assuming
white isnt a color) we've learned that you need to come back with
samples first, and even go as far as putting them up on every wall to
see what color fits best. Wait until I tell our 5 month old son how
many samples it took before we were happy with the colors in his
nursery!

As for a big beige room, I hear ya on that one too. Its a thorn in my
side, but it keeps the peace (wifes idea.....basically my house is
turning into different shades of beige except in "my" rooms, where Ive
gone for actual color like a shade of blue in the computer room and
gray in the basement). Right now the room is white and even Im getting
tired of it, the alternative idea was a maroon/burgundy (which would
also allow my existing window blinds to match), but the wife poo-pooed
that idea (I wonder if only because it was *my* idea, or maybe just to
spend extra $$$ replacing the blinds too).

Again, thanks for the suggestions.

-Chris