painting interior of a new house

[jIM]

My wife and I close on a new construction house in about 30-45 days. We have plans to paint most rooms on first floor and master BR on second floor.

Any advice on:

1) how many coats for each room? 2) I have heard some colors needs a dark primer prior to putting on normal color. Below lists colors for each room.

there is gray carpet throughout house the walls will be builder-white (probably a good primer for light colors?)

in family room, 1 accent wall will be a blue- others will be gray in dining roon walls will be a darker gray, with chair rail being charcoal in living room two interior walls will be red/ canrberry, other walls will be gray in kitchen walls will be yellow in master BR walls will be brown/ deep tan

how would I know if all these colors could be put over the white, or if the color chosen will need a darker prime?

[phughes200]

Ask at a good paint store.

My guesses:

Blue: two coats Grey: Two coats? Red: Many coats. Use a tinted primer and buy quality paint. Definitely get advice from a paint store. The color chip will probably list the base coat recommended. Yellow: Probably 3-4 coats. Tan: Two coats Brown: Two coats.

[No]

jIM - First thing to consider. New construction will likely have nail pops over the course of the next year. They will be less likely if your house never got rained on while being built but you will still have some. In my new house, the builder repaired them at the 1 year anniversary but, as per our contract, only finished with the builders white. If we had painted we would then need to re-paint the repaired areas. Just a consideration.

Second - use a good quality paint. I have had good results with Pittsburgh Paint (Manor Hall), Benjamin Moore and MAB. I have had bad results from Sherwin Williams and VERY VERY bad results from home despots store brand Behr. The Behr in light lavender could not cover a very light yellow without THREE coats.

As for primer - Generally a primer is not needed. Its sometimes used when the color change is dramatic. You paint supplier, if they're good, will be able to tell you if you would want to use one or not. This will vary based upon the color used. Some colors are more likely to need a primer. Over white though, with a good paint, I probably wouldn't worry about it with any color.

As to your color choices. Wouldn't be my choices but its your house.

So - One coat for each room, no primer. Should be doable with best paint. Your darkest colors may require a second coat. Your Cranberry wall and black chair rail will be your likely candidates for 2 coats.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Congratulations. That has to be very excitring.

Plan on two. Event he best paints look better with two coats. I've been using Pittburgh Manor Hall. Avoic cheap paint. Go to a real paint store, not hte discounters.

It helps, but probably not needed if the walls now have paint.

Have you talked tot he builder? Some willd o your colors instead for an upcharge. May or may not be worht it.

[jIM]

we have looked at both home depot and sherwin williams. We have also looked at sears for paint. Any comments as to relative quality? I have not heard of Pitt Manor Hall brand before. We live in Cincinnati, Ohio.

We have discussed nail pops and are willing to paint over them.

it's much easier to paint before all the new furniture is moved in- our bedroom set, entertainment center and new couches will not be delivered until after we paint, and we won't moving our dining room set out of storage until after we paint.

our friend's bought the same house model from the same builder two streets down, and their nail pops at 9 months did not appear to be a big deal to me...

BTW what causes nail pops? house settling?

[Banty]

For many of these colors I would take advantage (OK, it's expensive, but the labor savings do count) of the samples that Ben Moore, and possibly other, manufacturers offer. Put up a good 2x2 foot patch of your intended color or a couple of choices. Look at it for a week. In the morning. In the evening. At noon. At night with the lights on.

Reds can be too dark or too pinkish, browns and tans can be muddy, yellows can be too bright or too orangey. Or, all of these can be great. But these really strong colors you like can be hard to live with if they don't work just right with the environs and lighting.

Banty

[jdk]

yes, you can get porter paint in cincy.

[Joseph Meehan]

You have been given some very good advice.

Nail pops have a number of causes, but settling, temperature and humidity changes are all part of it along with poor choice of materials and or workmanship. Screw them in an you will not need worry.

Getting quality paint and you may get by with just one coat, but I would plan on two in most cases. Dark or light is not important. The difference is important. So covering one dark color with another or one light color with another is usually not nearly the problem of covering dark with light or light with dark.

I can't offer any specific suggestions for paint brands and lines. They tend to change often. Every time I find one I really like, the next time I go to pant, it has changed. Consumer Reports does do testing and publishes the results, but remember any test done two years ago is not likely to represent the paint sold under that same brand today.

[No]

jiM - Thanks for being involved in your discussion!

Pittsburg paint has a website with a delaer locator.

Moore has one at store locater at I used shirwin willimas top of the line paint one time and it actually cracked! The walls were washed and preped properly, something weird was going on. I told you about the experience with behr already. I consider anything with a sears store brand (Easy Living) to be suspect and would not buy it. The Pittsburg Manor Hall and Benjamin Moore paints I have used have covered very well in one coat and I had good results. MAB is also good but my experience with it is second hand, I have helped on projects using it but never bought it so my experience is limited to only a couple of hours of painting with it but it looks good and went on well. MAB is not widely distributed. Given that I have no reason to change. I will never buy behr or sherwin williams again. Market forces at work!

Agreed about the timing of paint before furniture.

Nail pops are most often caused by the lumber moving in changes to humidity and tempature. Waiting 1 year (Full heating/cooling season) and then fixing them will be ideal. Usually the lumber is wet or got rained on during construction. When it dries it shrinks and causes the nails or screws to wiggle loose. This is the most common cause of nail pops. This is generally what 'settling' is. Everything sort of moves and shifts a bit has it dries, gets wet, gets compressed, etc.

[jIM]

other than your opinions on behr, sears and sherwin williams paints, can you refer me to something which states why the other paint is better?

it appears the retailers make the paint accessible, and the sherwin williams web site is quite easy to use to pick out colors, so explaining what is wrong with paint, or pointing me to an objective discussion is appreciated.

[Norminn]

Walls always start out white. Some deep colors, especially blues and reds, have pigment such that they need 3 coats to cover and this is stated on the prod. info in paint store (at least at BM). Your best bet is to visit the paint store, not the paint aisle at wally's, and speak with a knowledgeable salesperson. Choose your colors and paint types, and they will advise you about the primers and tools you need.

[Norminn]

Dark or light IS important, as pigments vary greatly in their ability to cover.

[Joseph Meehan]

Are you sure you read what I wrote? All of it. Out of context, where you broke it, my meaning is turned around without the next few lines.

[Norminn]

My two cents: lots of posts to this newsgroup praise the main paint brands Sher. Williams, Ben Moore, Pratt Lambert. When I tried Sears paint, years and years ago, it was disappointing. I found ratings in Consumer Reports, I believe, and tried Ben Moore because it was highly rated. After many paint jobs, and trying other brands a time or two, it remains my favorite. Price is a good guage, but not the only one by any means. Good paint goes on more easily and stands up to wear and tear. I used Ben Moore alkyd semi-gloss in my kitchen in 1980. No exhaust fan, lots of grease, many heavy duty cleanings, three kids and a few pets, and it looked good 15 years later. I generally use pretty neutral color paint for interior and put the color in furnishings and decor, so I don't repaint every couple of years.

My parents had Ben Moore on their new home in 1983, and repainted 10 years later, just for good measure. It looked like new, no peeling or mildew (Florida).

The paint companies, BM included, have lots of resources, including technical aspects of the best product for special applications, like new drywall, galvanized metal, problem surfaces, etc. Good place to read labels.

[Trekking Tom]

I would suggest to stick with Sherwin Williams paint their Super Paint or the Cashmere line for the bold colors. Not only do you have to be concerned with coverage you want to be able to wash and touch these paints up later. Darks make this very hard to do. Buy one gallon of each and try it before you commit for the whole order. If you tell them about your doing the whole house you may even get discount. For the best results also use the best tools. Use Lambskin roller covers they help the paint cover, good brushes too. Not those little 1" jobs get bigger brushes they help you paint straighter lines. You put the brush down and pull it down the line, bigger the brush the fewer stop and starts (not straight) Wash your tools frequently, get a good strong roller frame and extension pole. Since you are in Sherwin-W country you might as well stick with the local big boys. The most expensive part of the paint job is the labor, cheap paint causes you to have more labor. The best paint has the best resins and pigments.

Tom, painting for 30+ years

[m Ransley]

Use top line paint for the darker colors and paint to cover, how ever mny coats it needs, forget the primer its just more work for clean up, for similar colors one grade down will do

[jIM]

define bold color?