Please help! I near full blown panic here...I am painting my oak kitchen cabinets white and I sanded them, and then cleaned them with TSP substitute, which was in itself a long and painful process. Today I primed them and the stain is bleeding through 2-3 coats of the oil based primer (Gripper from HD). It seems to be getting lighter but it's there. I don't know how many coats of primer is advisable one after another or what to do. I think maybe I caused this problem by not changing my TSP-sub solution when I was cleaning all the doors? It seems like the ones affected may have been cleaned toward the end with dirtier solution. Please tell me there is a way to fix this...Thanks for any help!

 

Welcome to the forums.

Primer doesn't cover stains, it keeps them from showing through your paint. Typically, only one coat of primer is needed.

 

Make sure the primer is good and dry, sand lightly and apply a coat of enamel. It should come out fine, let us know if it doesn't.

I don't know anything about the TSP substitutes but with regular TSP, getting it rinsed well is the main thing.

 

Thanks for the responses. I'll give it a try! *fingers crossed

 

Gripper is a latex based primer sealer great for walls with smoke damage or things of that nature but not the best choice for cabinets. a shelac based primer sealer would work so much better like Kilz oil based. when top coating we use All Purpose Enamel from sherwin williams. just make sure you allow the paint to completely cure before washing them. i tell my customers atleast a week.
hope this helps

Robert
Master Painter 20 years Experience

 

I know this is an old thread but I'm having a similar issue on my ceiling. The ceiling is very old tongue and groove. The section that's causing trouble was originally in between two rooms (the walls have since been removed) and fumes from the chimney darkened that section. I lightly sanded the whole ceiling and applied two coats of latex high hide primer and followed with a coat of latex paint.

I am going from a horrible puke green to white so I assumed I'd have to do a few coats. Its beautiful except for the section that used to be in the walls. The darker area is still showing through the primer and paint. Ideas??

Thanks for your help! Since we moved into this giant, ancient house, these forums have been great!

 

Ideally you'd wash off all the smoke stains prior to priming but that isn't always practical. Oil base primers are usually sufficient although if the staining is real bad it's best to bite the bullet and apply a pigmented shellac like Zinnser's BIN. I've never been satisfied with the job any latex primer does when it comes to hiding water or nicotine stains - wouldn't expect it to work well with smoke either.

I'd apply a coat of oil base primer to the area in question , oil base Kilz would be ok.

 

ok, i'll try some oil based primer. Can I paint that right over the latex paint already there? Thanks for your help!

 

Yes, oil based primer is the solution and it can be applied over the latex paint.