Why the hell not? As long as the color of the leftover paint (primer) doesn't compromise the color of the paint. Their are some exceptions (KILLZ for water damage) but paint primer is just flat latex paint...All of these manufacterers claim they have paint with a primer in it! In all reality the new paints just cover better. I would say "YES" and if you are spraying primer add water to the paint. On the other hand, on bare drywall I use a primer, then a paint (never thinning either). On already painted surfaces I never use a primer at all. The cost of a pint more of paint outweighs the time and cost of priming a pre-painted surface.

 

Paint is not primer. Primer is designed to sand easy, paint is not.

You might be able to use it, but some substrates really need a bonding primer.

 

Using the paint for a primer coat on white wood that I'm using to trim a screen porch.
Totally agree some substrates such as new sheetrock requires a primer specifically formulated for sheetrock.

Can't always believe what you read.

 

Leftover Paint Used As Primer?




I would think the opposite of that. Painted exterior wood needs primer more so than Sheetrock IMO.

Many paints are specced to go directly on new Sheetrock including Superpaint, Regal, Aura, etc., etc.

Not nearly as many are specced for direct application to ext wood.

Anybody that's painted much has probably seen a failure or two caused by not priming exterior wood.

 

Paint shouldn't be used as a primer. Primers are specifically made for adhesion and sealing. Self priming and paint & primer in one is a load of crap. Years ago we called adding primer to paint for colors that didn't cover a "split coat" which served as our first coat but it does nothing for priming.

 

+1. Using old paint to prime is penny wise and pound foolish. A good primer (I use a long of Zinsser 123) greatly improves the paintability of many surfaces.

 

Does that also mean you can use primer for paint? Each has specific qualities and do specific things. And really how are you saving aren't your customers buying your paint and primers.

 

I had some leftover paint from a recent job. I was thinking of using it to prime white wood on my house, not a customers house.

 

Paint is called paint and not primer for a reason...

 

I've seen many painted surfaces that have failed because they weren't primed.

 

OK.
Well the jury has convinced me using paint to prime bare wood is not a good idea.

Case closed.

 

Paint is paint. Primer is primer. Specially outside. Sure i'll hit a ceiling with a couple coats of flat and call it good. But not outside.

Paint has additives that primer doesn't and vise versa. Primer doesn't have long lasting UV and water protection like pigmented paint.

 

I think the answer to this depends on the paint and the application. Not even all primers give good enough adhesion - the number of paints that can also give good results as a primer in a given situation is usually very limited. Behr ultra paint+primer on new drywall is an example.

 

Mix some Emulsa Bond in and have at it. I use old latex flat paint as primer on non-critical areas like an old fence or areas that aren't that important.

 

It's important to note that I consider all areas of a job important. In the above post, I wasn't referring to Emulsa Bond as an end all solution, nor as a substitute to primers. I occasionally use Emulsa Bond in combination with leftover latex paint as an adhesive first coat for color changes on sound surfaces or for sealing non visual areas.

 

Primer is a Sealer with white pigments, paint is a protective decorative coating.:thumbsup:

 

Primer is a Sealer with white pigments, paint is a protective decorative coating.:thumbsup:

Not the way some people put it on:whistling

 

In my world it's called self sealing. But I deal with lacquers and such.

 

Things are changing, perhaps not as much as the marketers would like us to believe, but coatings (like everything else) are being improved with technology. The tricky part is sifting through the BS and double talk of the marketing campaigns and figuring out the real capabilities of these new products. After all, if they can make this work it would be an improvement for the industry.

Take a real hard look at products like PPG's Breakthrough, and BM Aura, not to mention advances in the world of industrial coatings ad DTMs. In the realm of lacquer, pre-cat products have done away with the need for lacquer undercoats in many instances.

I suspect we will know a lot more about these "improvements" five years from now. As the natural selection of market forces weed out the duds, and the performers rise to the top. In the mean time, I'll keep experimenting. We'll never know if we don't try.

 

This could be a long discussion. To me, there are sealers, primer / sealers (basically tinted sealer), primers, and paints. This is a conventional penetration view.

If you just look at product performance attributes, there are some interior wall paints that perform better than many interior drywall primers. Putting 2 coats of paint instead of one coat of "primer" and two coats of paint to get comparable or better results isn't a bad idea.

 

Well as for paints being better? As for clean up goes they are great but as for long lasting not there yet. Average paint job will last about five years some paints don't make it that long. When dealing with a water base product it's made to break down, so your not going to get those hard enamel finishes like you got from oil base products like varnish, lacquer , oil base paints. Now we have urethane, acrylic , latex all water base, where floor varnish would last 75-80 years now you might get ten if your lucky an no one drags furniture across your floors! But we in this trade can thank the Congress of the United States for all these wonderful water base products!:whistling

 

The EPA

 

With formulations changing so fast, just getting an acrylic product that actually dries hard and won't stick wooden windows shut 2 months after painting is a chore.

 

So, your experience is that whatever they're putting into primer and paint in one coat is causing some of those type latex enamels to dry not as hard as they once did? Causing windows to stick? Maybe..maybe not.

Gotta be sure the next day to "exercise" newly painted windows and other trim where movement is involved to keep them from sticking.

 

I feel primer is very useful for some applications but just I don't use it for everything. I would rather do 3 three coats of the body color then have to prime something white and then paint two coats over that. I know you can always tint the primer and I have but Its just another detail to try and keep up with and I have bigger fish to fry! :thumbsup:

http://straightedgepaintingllc.com

 

Use an actual primer for priming. Don't take short-cuts or you may have adhesion issues.

 

:laughing:I wish there was a standard in the painting industry, like a manual!
And if you break the rules you get brush cleaning duty for 4 weeks!

 

There are standards.

 

People confuse process standards and performance standards. If you go by performance standards, you get to choose the process to achieve them. I've seen plenty of "good" paint processes that resulted in performance problems.

 

much like frying chicken, skipping the flour dip, the egg wash, then the coating makes for bad fried chicken.

Primer clings to the surface. Paint clings to primer.

 

Paint is designed to dry from the top down. If you skip the primer, the substrate can wick the moisture out of the back of the paint and it will dry before it can bond.