Replies

1. 
   RW | Jul 29, 2005 01:31am | #1

   greys seem to not only provide good backing for red but blot it out effectively as well. What I mean is, rather than just tinting the primer a lighter shade of the wall color, if you're painting red, a grey primer goes a great length to blot out the white and let the red show, rather than pink. And when you want to cover it up, grey does the same to the red. One coat and your red will be gone. If your topcoats are a lighter color, use a lighter grey. Very dark ones could cause the issue you're trying to avoid.

   "If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man." - Mark Twain

1. 
   PurpleThumb | Jul 29, 2005 03:33am | #2

   Years ago, at my FIL's suggestion, I went from dark brown to white on a big dresser with an intermediate coat of aluminum paint.  Worked fine.

1. 
   SamT | Jul 29, 2005 06:47am | #3

   Second the aluminumunimunm. . .um

   Blocks everything.

   SamT

2. 
   msm | Jul 29, 2005 08:04am | #4

   kilz and other stain-blockers, including the aluminum, would not necessarily be needed unless the red paint is faulty and would actually bleed through (different from simply showing through inadequate primer. For eg, you could seal the red with clear polyurethane which would prevent seeping and bleeding, but would not cover the red visually.) a single coat of kilz won't cover red better than any other paint.
   i'd say you just need a good, thick and pricey primer. good brands that painters i know swear by are sherwin williams, benjamen moore and pratt & lambert. P&L especially. these are all denser than your average hardware store brand. there's been a couple of other threads on color mixing here lately with brand discussion; check those out.
   tinting lightly with grey also makes good sense to neutralize the red.

   
   

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   Edited 7/29/2005 1:31 am ET by MSM

1. 
   AaronRosenthal | Jul 29, 2005 08:23am | #5

   Second the SW primer. I tried it after a painter suggested it and I found Bullseye 123 too thin & not covering a nicotine overlayed passion pink apartment.
   What a revelation! And better than that - cheap like Borscht.Quality repairs for your home.

   AaronR ConstructionVancouver, Canada

    

3. 
   SBerruezo | Jul 30, 2005 07:50am | #6

   According to Fine Homebuilding #161: "Red paint and other bold colors don't cover well, especially over white primer.  By using a deep-tint primer, one that's custom-mixed to resemble the paint, you can get the result you want with fewer coated of paint."

   That said, I wonder if B-I-N shellac base, or a PVA primer would do it.

    

   Young, poor, and eager to learn

4. 
   WayneL5 | Jul 30, 2005 06:55pm | #7

   I agree with what has been said before, that stain blocking primers are not what you need.  They are good sealers against bleeding, but are rather poorly pigmented (to improve sealing ability), so they don't cover well.

   Years ago True Value sold a High Hiding Latex Primer.  I'm not near a True Value anymore, but something like that is more like what you need.

5. 
   DaveRicheson | Jul 30, 2005 07:16pm | #8

   Excellent suggestions thus far.

   Some red paints have bleeding pigments in them, as has been noted. Rather than purchase a high price primer that may not work, I would do a test spot with whatever latex primer I have laying around. a couple of quick coats, rolled on a 2' x 2' area will tell you a what type primer you need. If the red has a bleeding pigment in it, you will need a sealing or stain blocking primer.

   I agree with others about the gray being the best color primer to hide the red, but if it has a bleeding type pigment, it will continue to wash into ever subsequent coat.

   Years ago, I work in a paint formulation lab. I had access to free drywall that was used for testing interior paint. Most of it was ok to paint right over the multitude of stripes that were rolled or brushed on each sheet. I got hold of a couple of sheets with bleeding reds and blues on them. The only way I ever got them to hide was by using a shellac and then priming. Of course the worst one showed through the texture of ceiling, even though I had mixed white  paint in the texturing mud. Had to seal the pink stripes that kept coming back, and then repaint the whole ceiling.

   Test priming became sop from that point on, whenever I got hold of that free drywall :)

    

   Dave

6. 
   mforbes | Aug 12, 2005 10:09pm | #9

   OK, report back from the field--I bought Sherwin William's "best" primer, something something 200. Said it was good for hiding--I didn't bother with the stain blocking ones, as advised. It was expensive ($33/gal) but on sale. First coat did an OK job. We did a second primer coat with the same primer. Then we bought regular Behr paint at HD in white and it covered in one coat. Only complaint is that what they call "eggshell" I would call "semigloss." That stuff is shiny! But, I recommend the S-W primer for covering dark colors. We went from barn red to white in three coats (2 primer, 1 paint). Not bad, since I think it took 5 coats to go from white to red originally (we did not use tinted primer).

   Thanks again for all the advice.

1. 
   SamT | Aug 13, 2005 01:35am | #10

   MForbes,

   Thank you for the update.

   It's really appreciated when y'all come back and let us know how everything worked out.

   SamT

   Edited 8/12/2005 11:12 pm ET by SamT