Paint bleed-through? ? ?

[Luke]

Try several coats of a quality high-hiding primer, for example:

Benjamin Moore Fresh Start® All Purpose 100% Acrylic Primer 023

Or:

Benjamin Moore Fresh Start® QD-30® Stain Blocking Primer 202

You don't say what paint you're using, what application method, whether you're thinning it. You might need a better paint, better application, no thinning. Also very white paints are notorious for bleed-through.

[Duane Bozarth]

Not enough information to tell. Have you talked to the paint supplier or did you go to a Borg?

It may be an initial wall preparation problem. A very thin skim coat over it followed by a "new wall" primer may do the trick if it's wallboard that wasn't initially primed.

OTOH, from what you've said it may just be cheap paint and more coats will eventually get coverage but if there's a texture/absorption difference in some areas it will probably take another preparation step to correct.

[Ray]

I'm covering (interior) a pale-pink with bright-white, and now and then I get a bleed-through of the pink. It's not uniform, but in very specific spots. And it seems that no amount of primer and top-coat will prevent the bleed-through.

What causes this, and what can I do to prevent it?

[EXT]

This is an old problem, reds in particular tend to bleed through. Paint manufacturers make special bleed through blocker primers for this type of situation, and this is what you need to locate.