How important is primer when painting??

[Moxie]

In an effort to no longer hate my kitchen, I am going to paint my cabinet doors dark gray (they are currently IU crimson--so ugly).  If I get a gallon of paint, I will have a ton left over.  So, do I really need to prime??  Could I just paint 3 coats instead of prime and paint 2 coats??  I'm doing this quick and cheap--we plan to gut the kitchen in 2-3 years--so I'm not going for perfect just NOT RED!!

[Shelly in IL]

You need to sand cabinets lightly the prime with zinzer 123 from Home Depot. It makes the paint stay on better and not chip. I'm sure the coverage would be fine with multiple coats, but you really need a good primer to get it to stick!

[Guest]

Primer is a lot easier to sand to get a smooth surface.  Also it tends to give a brighter "canvas" which keeps the color from muddying.  You can get a quart of it if that is all you need.  Or you can come and get my half gallon I'll have left over pretty soon.  :0)

 

[solascriptura]

You need to sand, prime, and then paint. I tried to avoid the sanding and primingand my cabinets started to chip pretty quickly. Ugh.

[gardenmom5]

going over crimson - you may prefer to use primer as it will help to block anything from bleeding through. you might want to try it on a door to see if three coats will give you coverage you're happy with.  sand with 220 grit to roughen the surface so the paint will adhere better.  also, clean with mineral spirits to make sure they are absolutley clean, with no residue etc so you will have a more durable paint job. 

 

you can buy paint with primer already in it.

 

primer is a "you really should" if you are painting or painting over dark/bright colors/whites or something that has never been painted.

[Moxie]

Ok. But won't it be harder to paint dark gray over white??

 

And, sanding. Ugh. I'll have red dust everywhere. How bad would it be to not sand? The cabinets are not shiny, if that matters.

 

Eta--I'd rather touch up chips than sand.

[catz]

For a well painted wall, I would say go for it, but I agree for cabinets you need to prep carefully to ensure the paint will actually stick.  We ended up using an oil based paint after using a zinzer primer on cabinets and it has looked great for several years. 

 

ETA - you can also get tineted primer to help with coverage so you can possibly eliminate a layer of paint.

 

[Pippen]

The paint with primer doesn't result in as good of a finish as the two products used seperately.

 

It will be fine to paint gray over white primer, but if you'd like your paint store can tint your primer.

 

Preparing the surface is critical to good results when you are painting. You either need to sand or use a paint deglosser, even if the old surface isn't shiny. You don't need to sand deep. You need to scuff up the surface so paint will stick better.

[Spryte]

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint!!!!

 

No priming, no sanding.  

 

I just painted my cabinets.  It was crazy easy.  I posted here about it, actually.

 

I only used one quart of paint, though I bought two.  I waxed afterward, lightly distressed, and waxed again.  It was truly one of the easiest jobs, I wish I'd done it years sooner.

 

Totally understand why they call it "girl's paint" now.  :)  

 

(and nope, I don't sell it or anything!)

[Shellydon]

You have to prime and sand. http://www.livelovediy.com/2013/04/10-easy-steps-to-paint-kitchen-cabinets.html

[PinkyandtheBrains.]

For cabinets you need to sand and prime first,

[poppy]

Don't attempt without prepping. Cabinets are hard and will look worse if you don't do a good job.

[Moxie]

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint!!!!

 

No priming, no sanding.

 

I just painted my cabinets. It was crazy easy. I posted here about it, actually.

 

I only used one quart of paint, though I bought two. I waxed afterward, lightly distressed, and waxed again. It was truly one of the easiest jobs, I wish I'd done it years sooner.

 

Totally understand why they call it "girl's paint" now. :)

 

(and nope, I don't sell it or anything!)

Where did you get it? I looked into it once and couldn't find a local distributer.

[Spryte]

I ordered it from the Purple Painted Lady.

 

She ships very quickly, and is great with questions!

[Moxie]

One more question--right now only the doors are red.  The cabinets are white, the doors are red (how I wish I could post photos!!).  My annoying sister says that it will look dumb to paint the doors without painting the cabinets.  What says the Hive??

[Moxie]

I ordered it from the Purple Painted Lady.

 

She ships very quickly, and is great with questions!

 

What color did you use??

[catz]

One more question--right now only the doors are red.  The cabinets are white, the doors are red (how I wish I could post photos!!).  My annoying sister says that it will look dumb to paint the doors without painting the cabinets.  What says the Hive??

 

In this case, I'd paint the doors white and maybe get some inexpensive hardware for them if they don't have any.

[mamajag]

If you paint them without primer the paint's going to flake off. I know this from experience. Previous homeowner painted the bathroom cabinets white and it's flaking off.

[Spryte]

What color did you use??

I used duck egg blue with clear wax. They turned out beautifully. Our cabinets were light wood, and the distressing is just a pale, almost white shade.

 

Once the wax went on... Wow!

[Spryte]

You could always paint the cabinets later, if you're not happy with just the doors. :)

[Moxie]

You could always paint the cabinets later, if you're not happy with just the doors. :)

Yeah, that is what my annoying sister said too. Only, in an annoying way like only a sister can.

[Spryte]

My friend who is really big into interior design stuff raves about this product called chalk paint (Not to be confused with chalkboard paint). It does NOT require a primer. This lady uses the paint and then a wax.

 

Here is a video:

 

Yep, that's the stuff. It's every bit as easy as they say.

[flyingiguana]

If you just slap the paint on with no prep, it won't just chip off.  It comes off in sheets.  Touch up is not an option.

 

I don't know how long this takes.  I only know a previous owner of one of our houses did this and we had to scrape all their paint off down to the next layer.  Because every time we handled that cabinet, another sheet would fall off.  (We might have put up with it, but the house is a rental and an inspector was not going to go for it.)

 

On the plus side, scraping that paint off was a breeze.

 

Sanding doesn't have to be a big deal.  You're not going down to bare wood, just making things sticky.  And there are paints you don't have to prime.  I'd ask at the hardware or paint store what they'd recommend.

[flyingiguana]

BTW -- if your sister is like my sister, she has no clue what she's talking about.  She's just good at faking it.

 

The doors are already a different color than the rest of the cabinets?  How does that look (other than the redness)?  Look ok?  Great.  Then just paint the doors.

[FiveOaksAcademy]

In an effort to no longer hate my kitchen, I am going to paint my cabinet doors dark gray (they are currently IU crimson--so ugly).  If I get a gallon of paint, I will have a ton left over.  So, do I really need to prime??  Could I just paint 3 coats instead of prime and paint 2 coats??  I'm doing this quick and cheap--we plan to gut the kitchen in 2-3 years--so I'm not going for perfect just NOT RED!!

 

Glidden has a 3-in-1.  It is primer, filler, and paint.  I use the primer/paint combo for a wall and really like it.  I looked down at some of the other posts, and the chalk paint sounds good too!!

[flyingiguana]

Ok. But won't it be harder to paint dark gray over white??

 

 

 

I suspect painting over red might be harder than dark gray over white.

 

But I think you can get dark primers?

 

[pehp]

I would definitely lightly sand, prime (I used Zinsser) and then paint.  I painted my cabinets (that were wood, no paint on them) 5 years ago and prep work is *everything* with this ugly job.

 

I love the idea of the Chalk Paint.  I haven't used it, but the idea that you might not have to do much prep work to use it is......very, very tempting for a girl like me who likes to paint but hates the prep!

[shawthorne44]

You are going to want to remove the hardware from the doors anyway, so you will have to remove them from the cabinets.  Then take them outside and sand them.  You can get a sander to take care of the large flat surfaces.   

You can have the primer tinted.