So I have a question regarding paint vs paint and primer.
I have been painting my house, and admittedly, I have not been using primer. The baseboards, however, are a darker color, and painting them white has taken several coats (somespots up to 4 coats) to get the old color to cover. I have gone through a lot of white paint because of this.
My question is, if I use primer now on the baseboards, will the tint be off because of the primer underneath as opposed to just the original paint color and paint? I'd hate to have to reprime and paint all the baseboards I have done up to this point, but if priming them first and then repainting them is what needs to be done, then I will do so. If I can get away with just priming what's left, and painting the white over the primer without a noticeable tint difference, then I will do that.
Also, what is the best color primer to use with white? I was thinking like that light grey primer, but I am not sure the white would cover that very well. I was also thinking white primer, but I think it would be hard to tell the difference between what's painted already and what's only primered (even more so on second coats).
Best Answer
I rarely use primer on previously-painted walls unless the existing finish is suspect with regard to bonding. It's a disaster to have paint come loose due to incompatibility.
The right primer color when doing dramatic color change is usually whatever gets you close to your final color. You want whatever underlies your topcoat to have minimal effect on the color you selected. That said, sometimes a base coat can affect the topcoat in desirable ways, such as making the color deeper or more rich. That usually applies to bold colors, though, and gray (or custom-tinted) primer is often appropriate.
You ask about changing approaches mid-stream. That is a potential concern, but you'll have to try it and see. If the primer approximates what the first coat of paint did, it may not be noticeable.
When painting white over white primer, it's usually not as difficult as you might think to see what you're doing. Wet paint has a gloss, dry paint usually has more sheen than primer, and the color is rarely that close anyway. Use good lighting, good technique, and it shouldn't be a problem.