Is it really necessary to prime the walls of your home before you apply fresh coat of paint? Priming may just seem like an extra step, and if you’re in a hurry to paint your home you may be tempted to skip the primer entirely. Priming your walls before you paint them, however, is essential to any home painting project that will make painting easier and help paint dry more successfully. Here is some more information about the importance of priming from the technicians at Ottawa Gatineau Painting.

What Does Primer Do?

Primer is not just a coat of white paint. While it may seem useless, primer actually provides the following benefits:

  • It seals the pores of wood, drywall, and other unpainted surfaces.
  • It covers parts of the wall that have been patched, damaged or repaired.
  • It covers stains and discolouration so that paint will dry to the same colour everywhere on the wall.
  • It makes surfaces easier to paint so fewer coats are needed.

When Is Primer Necessary?

Some of the instances that require a primer coat of paint include:

  • Painting on Drywall or Unpainted Wood – Both drywall and unpainted wood are highly absorbent surfaces, so paint is soaked into them as it’s applied. This means that drywall and unpainted wood often require multiple coats of paints for a strong and even finish. Rather than wasting time and money with multiple coats, priming drywall or wood before painting allows paint to cover these surfaces in one to two coats.
  • Big Colour Changes – If you’re planning on painting a light colour over top of a dark wall, it will take a lot of coats of paint before the new colour sticks. Darker colours can overpower lighter ones, bleeding through the new topcoat to create a murky combination of both colours. A primer gives you a blank slate so your new colour choice can shine vibrantly on its own.

Primer may seem unnecessary, but it’s actually a very efficient way of saving you time and money on having to apply multiple top coat layers of paint. At Ottawa Gatineau Painting, our team will fully prepare your walls before the project begins to ensure that paint is applied as swiftly and evenly as possible. For more information about our interior and exterior painting services, contact us today at Ottawa Gatineau Painting.