I’m painting the kitchen. The people who owned the house before I did apparently painted over grease or some other kinds of stains because it’s now starting to show through the paint. I thought it best to prime the walls before I painted in order to avoid the same issue. (I scrubbed the walls well before starting, removed loose paint, etc.)
The can of Killz gives the square footage that the product covers, but doesn’t say what the result will look like. Is it okay that I can still see the wall color through the primer?
How should I deal with cracks? (I have those old-style plaster walls.) Should I use spackle to go over them before the primer, or prime first and then spackle to ensure a good grip?
I’m no expert, but I’ve been able to see the wall color faintly through white primer and the end result came out fine. I’ve spackled before primer and sanded, and again all was fine.
I look forward to other more expert opinions, though!
With the primer it depends on color. The old paint showing through the primer in itself is not an issue. It will only be an issue if the new paint isn’t dark enough to cover. As primer is cheaper then paint if you feel you might have blead through issues put another coat of primer up.
On the cracks in the wall. You should fill them before priming. I recomend joint compound over spackle.
I generaly see no reason to use spackle as its sold in stores because. It costs more. It is not as good for when it comes to adheasion.
Spackle is convenient for filling nail holes and such because it dries near instantly, doesn’t shrink and you can sand it with your finger and a little spit.
Kilz isn’t 100% opaque. If you’re concerned about any particular spots bleeding through, you can hit them twice.
One thing you don’t want to do is spot-prime with Kilz, especially if the wall has flat paint or you’ll find the paint will dry differently, and you’ll be able to tell where you primed and where you didn’t. :smack:
As for the cracks, no particular difference of priming then patching, or patching then priming, but priming after patching will ensure the paint behaves the same all across the wall - fresh patching will absorb more paint and you can wind up with a difference in the final sheen of the paint.
Frankly, if these are normal small cracks under a 16th inch wide from the house settling, I’d skip the patching as they’re likely to just open up again sooner or later.
The walls are painted yellow right now. The new color will be cream. The only place where the color issue concerns me is in the corners and a few other flaking places where remnants of a former paint job (sage green and dark burgandy, which clash horribly) show through.
I thought the word “spackle” was interchangable with joint compound. I’m used to using that white stuff which comes in a large bucket-- the stuff used by drywallers. I think it’s also called “mud.” Which is that?
I bought this stuff because the cracks are so small and I was taking the lazy way out.
I gave one coat with a roller to all of the walls and the ceiling. I can still see bits of yellow through it-- sort of like a “sponged” effect. But it sounds like to me from what you guys are saying that I should be fine.
That’s exactly what they are-- faint hairline cracks which are ubiquitous to those old plaster walls. Every wall in my house is spiderwebbed with them. They’re so small that most of them were covered up with the one coat of primer.
Another weird thing I noticed once I got up real close to the walls: in places, some of the things I thought were cracks look like they were caused by the paint “shrinking”-- like it pulled apart when it dried. I’ve never seen anything quite like it.
If it bugs you, you’ll need to sand/scrape down to bare plaster. Or just live with it as “old house” character and feel smug knowing that people can go through great effort to intentionally create this “age” effect, and you have it for free.
The most common cause is putting an incompatible finish paint over the primer - oil/alkyd enamel over latex primer is the usual scenario.
It will continue, then? I can expect that the coat of paint I’m applying will alligator because of the stuff beneath it?
I can’t say I’m really fond of it, but it doesn’t irk me enough to do that much work.
I don’t know what kind of paint they used. The sage green is still in my breakfast nook. It’s not a latex. It’s a very matte finish with a sort of “powdery” feel. From what I can see, the yellow latex was painted over that green in the kitchen.
It’s common after primer to show a bit of the old color. Primer is more to allow for proper adhesion and curing for the finish coat than to completely cover the old.
Also I wouldn’t worry about the hairline cracks right now, you’re not doing an overhaul of the room, just painting. Even a bit larger larger plaster cracks can be fixed for a few years by just caulking them. You just don’t want quarter inch cracks a half inch deep into the wall or ceiling, where a big chunk of plaster can fall off.
If you can push on the wall/ceiling and feel a lot of give/looseness, then you are starting to have problems. That means the plaster has come loose from the lath behind it.
You will want two coats of a good quality finish paint, preferably a semi-gloss type, (easier cleaning) and it’s also a good time to clean behind/around the refrigerator, because you are not going to cheat and not paint behind it, right?
Now that it’s dried, I can see it better and I did a pretty thorough job.
There are a couple small holes which need to be filled which the prior residents just sort of painted over.
Nope-- walls are nice and firm.
No cheating here-- I’m trying to do this right. I cleaned under the fridge this morning before I began, and it’s currently sitting in the center of my kitchen.
I discovered that it made great scaffolding while I was coating the ceiling. I just sat on top with the bucket in front of me. Hell, if the cord had been longer, I might have wheeled the thing all around the kitchen. (Probably terribly unsafe. Don’t try this at home, kids!)
Oh! I forgot to tell you guys the neatest part. While I was scraping and prepping, I looked again at the “mystery door.” It’s about two and a half feet tall, six inches wide and made of metal, set into the wall beside the stove. It’s hinged in the middle. I always assumed there was some sort of unused old electrical panel back there-- it was painted shut and I never tried to open it.
Today, I decided to pry it open and I discovered that the door folds down like a shelf in the center and there’s a small row of little metal shelves: perfect for spices. The bottom half is a tall shelf which would be perfect for olive oils and such. I really wish I’d tried to pry it open long before now!
Although you’ve done it, this might be useful in the future.
I had water stains and a friend who is a professional painter told me to give it a coat of Universal Primer before painting. It’s a sort of grey and I think it is oil based.
<slight hijack>
Is it uncommon or a big no-no to not repair drywall behind where future cabinets are going to be? I’m going to have to punch some holes to run new outlets and such, and I’d rather just not deal with them because the cabinets will cover up the holes. Outside wall, brick exterior. So… laziness or “do the right thang (patch the holes”)?
</slight hijack>
I would say with outside walls that you want to patch them back up.
Reason being is you want to keep the walls closed up so that the insulative properties of the wall is kept intact. You should also be using gasketed outlet boxes for any electrical useage in the outside walls.
If you just slap the cabinets over the holes then you may be at risk for some moisture due to escaping cold/heat between the hole in the wall and the back of the cabinet. And ants and mice have easier access to your abode as well.
Close everything up and make sure your electrical boxes are sealed as well. Use gasketed boxes and apply silicone to the opening where the wiring comes into the box if you can.
Even a bit larger larger plaster cracks can be fixed for a few years by just caulking them. You just don’t want quarter inch cracks a half inch deep into the wall or ceiling, where a big chunk of plaster can fall off.