# Primer after popcorn removal



## South-FL-Painter (Jan 17, 2012)

After you dry remove the popcorn,and skimcoat entire surface(mostly highrise condos with concrete slab ceailings)do you guys use primer or 2 coats of ceiling paint only? I always done it 1 primer and 2 finish.


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## Epoxy Pro (Oct 7, 2012)

Same as you, prime 2 finish coats.


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## South-FL-Painter (Jan 17, 2012)

I remember back in the day when i was working for someone,we used to prime nc walls and ceilings with cheap ceiling paint.

The other day i spoke to painter that has 45 years under his belt,and he straight up told me "you are wasting your time and money on priming skimcoat for ceiling.

I still think a complete skimcoat needs to be primed/sealed before ceiling top finish goes on.


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## Oden (Feb 8, 2012)

Two coats of flat IMHO doesn't look any different at all than a primer topped with two coats of flat.


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## South-FL-Painter (Jan 17, 2012)

Oden said:


> Two coats of flat IMHO doesn't look any different at all than a primer topped with two coats of flat.


I know it looks the same, my concern is adhesion


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## Oden (Feb 8, 2012)

South-FL-Painter said:


> I know it looks the same, my concern is adhesion


and only cause the PT IMO should be to share somewhat our experience. Not at all to be argumentative. I used to think the same thing, Wasted a lot of coats early on. That mud sucks that flat paint right into it. dries right away also and I go right back over it. For sure it grips and covers. Try it. Save you tons of time and money over the course of years.

I'm with the old head on this one is all.


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## South-FL-Painter (Jan 17, 2012)

Oden said:


> and only cause the PT IMO should be to share somewhat our experience. Not at all to be argumentative. I used to think the same thing, Wasted a lot of coats early on. That mud sucks that flat paint right into it. dries right away also and I go right back over it. For sure it grips and covers. Try it. Save you tons of time and money over the course of years. I'm with the old head on this one is all.


I will try on my next popcorn removal.

Thanks for your input


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## straight_lines (Oct 17, 2007)

South-FL-Painter said:


> I remember back in the day when i was working for someone,we used to prime nc walls and ceilings with cheap ceiling paint.
> 
> The other day i spoke to painter that has 45 years under his belt,and he straight up told me "you are wasting your time and money on priming skimcoat for ceiling.
> 
> I still think a complete skimcoat needs to be primed/sealed before ceiling top finish goes on.


He is right. With new paints on the market there are plenty that will prime and seal on the first coat just fine. The second coat will even everything out. This is applying to spec and not skimping. I have found this to be true with a lot do paints, not just ceiling paints. Even enamels, and or furniture/cabinetry finishes. The resins are so good they perform better than most primers do.

Biggest concern not priming with a solvent based primer after texture removal is water stains bleeding through.


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## Krittterkare (Jul 12, 2013)

Primer is cheap and so is flat paint, I do new garages with no texture and 1 coat of primer and no paint is acceptable with the contractor. I used to do one coat of flat paint and the primer seems to seal/cover better. 

I would not bother with 1 coat of primer and two coats of paint, 1 prime and one top coat or 2 coats of flat should be fine.


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## rwransom (Aug 7, 2013)

We did this exact job last week. One coat Zinsser Bulls Eye 123 + one coat ProMar 200 Zero flat all brushed/rolled looked beautiful. Interesting thing was once scraped the ceiling had a bunch of yellow areas (not water damage, maybe a smoker owned at some point?). That's why we prefer 1 primer + 1 finish vs. 2 finish.


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## Monstertruck (Oct 26, 2013)

Prime and 2 coat over skims.
How else do you get the proper film build?


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## MikeCalifornia (Aug 26, 2012)

We use coverstain primer first then a stack coat of flat when dry. Most ceilings expose some yellowing after you scrape and mud. The WB primers won't do as good of a job as the oil. If I was just spraying a ceiling with no possibility of yellowing I would spray two coats of flat. The flats we use in CA (isowall) are designed for direct application to drywall for NC.


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## Sir Mixalot (Sep 8, 2009)

straight_lines said:


> Biggest concern not priming with a solvent based primer after texture removal is water stains bleeding through.


Yep. Every popcorn removal I do gets oil primer as my little insurance policy for nice white ceilings every time. :yes:


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## Toolnut (Nov 23, 2012)

Usually after a skim and prime I find areas that need additional spot sanding. It seems the primer sands easier than paint.


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## CApainter (Jun 29, 2007)

I might have missed a post in this thread, but has anyone mentioned priming before applying a skim coat on just removed acoustic ceiling. If not, it is highly recommended. In fact, if you are dealing with asbestos, I believe it's mandatory. Further more, I would never apply mud to an unprimed ceiling that recently had acoustic over it. What about the powdering! And you know it's still there. Even after a wet sponge wipe.

While the ceiling is in containment, you have to spray that sealer on it.


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## A+HomeWork (Dec 10, 2010)

Crap. Now y'all got me thinking about a job I finished TODAY!

Scraped popcorn but there were dimples left all over so I lightly sanded, floated with compound to fill, then lightly sanded that. We then hand-troweled new texture followed by two coats pm200 dover white flat.

The walls had paper so after cleaning, we primed with Coverstain in case there was some solvent based surface (older home) beneath paper. 

I didn't prime ceiling since there was still some texture left.


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