Why Prime Before Painting: Save Time, Money, & Effort

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Why prime before painting? First, primer is an undercoat you put on the wall before painting it. Priming helps paint stick to the surface instead of sinking into the wall. Primers can keep previous paint and stains from showing through the new paint. Wood primer can also hide imperfections in the wood. Always prime new drywall, wallpaper, and wood paneling.

You can learn why skipping this step can cost you time, money, and effort.

John shakes his head in disgust and disappointment.

His hard work is going to waste. He spent 2 days painting the bedroom and now it’s becoming a mess. The wallpaper is starting to show through for one. The paint is peeling in a few areas where it didn’t stick well enough to the surface.

But what is causing this to happen? John looks back over the directions when he realizes his mistake: he didn’t prime first. He thought it would be ok if he followed the rest of the directions on how to paint over varnished wood.

Now the varnished wood and drywall areas are in bad shape.

He had thought “why prime before painting, it’s just an extra step to make the paint look better, right?” Apparently not. Now John is going to have to redo the entire room (yeah, it’s that bad). He needs to drive out to the store, buy more materials, and spend time fixing his mistake instead of enjoying the new look.

John shakes his head in exasperation. He grabs his wallet and keys and heads out to the store to start all over again.

He may as well have paid the cost to have his interior painted. Let’s see what happens if John doesn’t skip the priming before painting step.

What Happens When You Prime Before Painting

Rewind to when John is painting the bedroom…

“Hmm, maybe I can save some time and money by not priming. That’s an hour or so in time and no money spent on primer,” John mutters to himself. “Mmm but I do want a nice looking room. Fine, I won’t skip it.”

John primes the wall the same way he will be painting it.

A few months later…

John walks into his bedroom to grab the book he is reading. As he’s looking for it he thinks he sees something coming through the paint on his wall. He examines it closely. It’s just a smudge, so he doesn’t have to look up how to clean wall paint. He quickly rubs the smudge off.

John looks around the room for any other signs of wall paint damage. Nothing. Looks like priming before painting is a good idea after all.

He finds his book and goes back to the living room where his spouse is waiting, book in hand.

Why Use Primer Before Painting

For John, priming before painting his walls is a great time saver. Now he can spend it with his family, friends, or doing whatever he wants because he isn’t busy repainting his room.

Using primer before painting will help your paint stay on your wall. Even if you don’t need to use it, primer can still help you save time and effort by not having to repaint sooner and money by not having to repurchase the materials.

Or you can have a professional paint your home interior >>