3 coats and still not covered

Several years ago I let my then-teenaged daughter paint her BR ceiling in a black & white 12-inch checkerboard pattern. Now I'm trying to repaint with Behr Premium Plus ultra white flat (guaranteed 1-coat coverage...) and it's just not covering. I'm really loading it on using a 1/2" nap synthetic lambswool cover and re-loading the roller every 2 sq. ft.

I feel like I'm too far into this to switch to Killz or the like. Did I do something wrong or is this typical of "one-coat paint & primer in one" coverage?

 

With a black and white checkered board pattern I can't see any paint that can do a one coat coverage. You'll need at least two. The contrast is just too great.

I'd like to see that ceiling.

 

She's a bit OCD and did a fantastic job, taping off every square! But 10 years is enough.

I knew it wouldn't cover in a single coat so I bought a 2-gallon bucket. After 3 coats it looks like it's going to take 2 more.

 

Come on Guy send us a pic.

 

Never used that brand paint, only read a lot of complaints about it here (to be fair, there have been some positive reviews as well). If you're thinking about more coats of paint, why are you against putting on a coat of primer? I would be looking at an oil based sealing primer as my next coat.

 

Some brands/lines of paint cover better than others. I have limited experience with that brand. You might want to stop and apply a hiding type primer before going further. Latex should be fine [but not latex kilz]

Often rolling a ceiling one direction for the first coat and then other direction [across] for the 2nd will help with the coverage.

 

I thought you couldn't apply an oil paint over water-based...?

 

You can put oil based anything over anything. You typically cannot put latex paint over oil based paint but oil based primer is perfectly fine under latex paint.

 

I need clarification then...
How to Paint Oil-Based Paint Over Latex Paint | DoItYourself.com

I'm also gearing up to re-paint the exposed basement wall on my cottage & was told I had to identify what's already on there first.

 

While I don't disagree with that article, it's not a one size fits all deal. Oil primers are sometimes needed even if the underlying paint is latex. A lot depends on how thick the existing latex paint layers are and where/what the substrate is. I don't believe you'd have any issues applying oil base primer on your ceiling over the multiple coats of latex however I don't believe an oil primer is needed since you don't have adhesion issues or stains that need to be sealed. A good hiding latex primer should work fine although multiple coats of latex paint will also work.

I've probably painted a 1000+ houses where we used a latex undercoater followed by an oil base enamel on the interior woodwork. Back when oil enamel was prevalent in kitchens and bath we often used latex primer over the bare sheetrock or plaster.

 

I rolled on one more thick coat and I'm calling it "DONE"--even though I can still see the squares telegraphing through the 4 coats of "one-coat" paint. At this point I think you wouldn't see it unless you knew to look for it.

Because of this debacle the wife bought a can of Zinsser Fast Prime to knock down the turquoise wall paint before re-painting in light gray. One coat of the primer and I think it would be more accurately called a "semi-transparent sealer"

 

I'm not familiar with that primer and couldn't find it on Zinnser's website. Could you post a link to it?

 

She bought it at Menards. Probably just re-labeled same-old-stuff.

FastPrime 2

 

Thanks for the link That should be a decent primer although I don't buy their claim of it being able to seal ink and water stains [I wouldn't trust any latex primer to do that] Sometimes a goof up happens at the factory so you might contact Zinnser and let them know of the coverage issues you experienced. I have had companies replace the product before when I complained so it doesn't hurt to question them

I assume the primer was mixed well ?? sometimes the solids will sink to the bottom and if not mixed back in the liquid at the top won't have much body to it.

 

One last thing to paint in this bedroom--the bi-fold closet doors. They're oak-veneered slabs, stained very dark and I want to paint them a cream color latex trim paint so I'm again faced with coverage concerns. In the past I've really liked BIN white shellac on doors, particle board, or anything I want a smooth hard white finish. Well that stuff is now up to $42/gal! So...I bought a can of Killz Complete interior/exterior oil-based primer. According to the label it might also be a good choice for my steel entry door (inside & out).
Any feedback on that?

 

Kilz oil based is fine, just don't use the latex stuff as it has known adhesion issues.

 

It depends on the door and it's location/color. Many steel doors built today have a thin sheet of steel that will expand/contract with temperature changes. Because of this a lot of steel door manufactures specify that latex only be used. Latex paints are a little bit flexible while oil base coatings are not. I've seen metal doors peel down to the bare galvanized metal because an oil base paint was used. I do believe it is more of an issue with the top coat than with a primer so you might be ok using oil base Kilz primer. But do you really need a primer on the door?? They come with a factory primer and normally a primer isn't needed for repaints.

Oil base Kilz will work fine over the poly/varnish wood doors.

 

Good point on the redundant primer--guess I got carried away with the coverage problems!

Last night I noticed paint packaged & labeled specifically for exterior doors (Rustoleum in this case) was a traditional oil-based enamel, so I had a quart mixed up for me. Would that be a stretchy film--or certain disaster?

 

Not sure, I'd go with latex on a steel door. See what Mark things before using it.

 

It depends on the door. For the most part all oil base enamels are the same so I'd be a little leery about using it unless I knew more about the door. The doors with heavier/thicker stiffer steel can be painted with oil base enamel but many of the doors use such a thin skin of metal that it's difficult for oil base to last. The color used and location of the door can also play a part as dark colors will heat up more and the amount of sun exposure also plays a part.

Back in the early 80's I worked for an outfit that was involved in a class action suit concerning peeling steel doors. We were accused of using cheap paint [true] but it wasn't our paint peeling by itself as it was taking the factory primer with it. The experts on our side were able to prove that the primer was peeling not our paint. They also concluded that when the door heated up it caused the primer to peel because the oil base paint wouldn't flex with the temp changes. Long story short, the door manufacture had to pay us to go back, strip, prime and paint over a 1000 doors. Afterwards that manufacture along with many others stated use of oil base paint would void the warranty. This issue almost exclusively affected only the exterior side of the doors.

In conclusion, the rustoleum oil base enamel might be ok but I can't recommend it as there is no guarantee it will do ok. Do you know what type of paint is currently on the door?

 

The door I'm referring to is factory painted barn red exterior and white interior.

I just want a tough surface that will survive my dog like the factory paint has.

The quart of oil-based enamel I just bought can be used to paint the interior side of the fiberglass door I just installed that leads to the garage (different thread here regarding "staining" fiberglass doors).