The walls of my entire house are a light ecru. Do I need to prime before painting over?

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

if you're choosing a red tone (e.g. crimson, cherry, etc.) for a room or an accent wall, then you MUST prime with a GRAY primer or else you'll have tons of problems

Source(s):

jane lockhart, danielle hirsch, etc. The reason given is quite interesting. the paint industry has no choice but to use red pigment molecules which are large and therefore reds do not cluster as tightly. this causes original wall colors (especially whites and off-whites) to peek through in between (streaks).

..... blue and yellow pigment molecules are smaller than red ones, therefore they cluster tightly and they cover white more efficiently. so if you hear people wondering why it takes them 6-8 coats of red to cover white, now you know why.

Answer 2

jimmy is correct. "that guy" is being a robot.

Factually, if youre going to repaint the same color, you can just paint right over top.

If the paint on the walls is very deteriorated (unlikely) then its best to prime. If there is a vast color change you may elect to prime - but this is chiefly because primer dries faster than paint and often has better hiding power - thus it makes it faster and easier to do a drastic color change.

The purpose of primer is to seal the surface and prepare the surface for receiving paint. If the surface is already painted, then its ready to receive paint.

Source(s):

19 year painting contractor

Answer 3

No. if the wall is already painted then there is no need to prime.

Piming is only for bear walls where the primer is the very first coat of paint. Primer can also be used to help cover up very dark paint or to cover and seal stains on the wall.

If the wall is already painted a light color then you can just paint over it. If the existing paint is semi gloss or satin then you should lightly sand it with fine grade sand paper first. This will make the new paint stick better and help it to go on thicker so it covers better. If the existing paint is flat with no sheen then just start painting.

Answer 4

It's always a good idea to prime. If the new color is lighter than the old color, by all means prime.

Answer 5

It depends on how much of a color change you are making.