It is more of an academic question now but I want to know what benefits does a coat of paint bring over just a coat of primer?

I just finished painting the ceiling in my daughter's room. (It was a messy job and thank God its over but I digress...). After I was done putting the primer on, it looked nice. I bought Killz (?) brand primer from Home Depot and it had a nice blueish white tint and it looked real good. At that time, I was asking myself if it was worth putting a coat of the paint. But I convinced myself that it would be better since it is supposed to go over the primer as a top coat. (I have no experience in painting before this).

The paint was Ace Hardware's own brand (I know... but I had some store credit which I was trying to spend) and it looked a little yellow-white. By the time I painted half the ceiling, it was clear to me that I should have stayed with the primer. In my humble opinion, the top coat of paint did not do any good at all. So, my question is, if you have a good quality white tinted primer, is there any benefit in putting a coat of paint on it?

 

Primer is meant to create a surface to which paint adheres evenly, it is not meant to be decorative. If you liked the way the primer looked, there would be nothing wrong with keeping that as the exposed surface. Putting on only primer and expecting beautiful results is generally not going to work.

 

Primers are made to seal and bond and are not formulated for wear. Having a coat of finish paint will look good longer than the having just primer.

Not all whites are the same color white. Pure white can vary greatly between brands.

 

From your e-mail, I'm guessing you only did one coat of the finish paint??

Always apply a minimum of two coats...some colors even 3 coats. Of course, this is in addition to the primer.

 

Yes, you are better off having top-coated the primer.

For future reference, there are dozens of off-white shades available. You really don't want pure white. Flat sheen paint works best for a ceiling.

 

Oops! too late now. Yes, I applied only one coat of paint because I always thought it was two coats of paint or one each of primer and paint.

I have taken down all the tape and newspapers from walls and cleaned up the room too. I will be moving furniture into the room tonight. So I guess this room will have to stay with one coat for a while.

But I will keep this advice in mind for future. And thanks to others for contributing too.

 

Yes, it looks like flat sheen but I was not aware of various shades in white. I just saw one and bought it. Mind you it wasn't a speciality store like Sherwin Williams or Benjamin Moore. It was Ace hardware and their own brand of paint. Seems stupid in hind sight but at that time, I had some store credit and picking up the paint and painting hardware seemed like a good idea

I will not be buying paint there again!

 

Zinsser has a primer/sealer/ceiling finish product called BIN Odorless. It's alkyd, and dries to a nice bright white finish, that supposedly doesn't yellow. The can says you can just leave it on the ceiling as the finish coat, but I would still be tempted to do 2 coats anyway for better coverage.