Primer and Why I Am Using It

 

I have gotten more than a couple of questions privately about why I am using primer on the Beachside Bungalow build. I am aware that the kit manufacturer states that primer is not necessary and they site the reason that paint will stick to the wood just fine without it. In my opinion that is just one of the reasons to use primer and in this case it is not even on my list of reasons.

So why do I use primer?

What ever is the first coat on those pieces of wood is going to soak in much more than later coats. The first coat seals the wood surface for the later coats. Primer is typically a little bit thinner than the paint I will be using for the final finish and is designed to soak in. For the exterior of the house I will be using latex paint that is designed for use in real size houses, the kind you would use to paint the interior walls with. This paint is designed to work best over a primer. In fact most of the latex paints will cure which means they undergo a chemical change as they dry. This chemical change is dependent on the paint drying at a normal rate. If the surface is not sealed the paint soaks into the wood and therefore dries much faster. This will effect how the paint cures, how it looks and how well it holds up over time.

If you have watched any of my build videos before then you know that I paper all of the interior walls of my projects. This of course requires some kind of glue. Just like I don't want the paint to soak into the wood I don't want my glue to soak in either. Without primer the glue I use to adhere the wallpaper might not work correctly, it might cause my paper to bubble, to not discolor, or possibly even to not stick at all. In any of these cases I would then have to take all the paper I had put up down and start over.

Another purpose of the primer is to help hide my tape-wire. If I decided to use a light colored paper on the walls that the color of the tape-wire shows through I can simply paint a coat of primer over the tape-wire to help hide it. If the wall was not primed this would be a much more involved process.

Also for me starting with the plain white coat of primer allows my imagination to flow much better. I can “see” more options for what I want to do with the house if it is all a very neutral white, like a blank sheet of paper.

So those are at least some of the reasons I am priming all the surfaces on the Beashside Bungalow as I build it.