Primer and Old Joists

[dkerfoot]

Is it OK to just paint a ceiling with primer and not put "regular" paint over it?

Here is the story:

I am semi-finishing part of my old basement (built in 1923) for a family room. Floor to joists is just 82 inches, so I am painting the joists and calling that the ceiling.

It is a maze of wiring and pipes, and the joists are VERY rough textured compared to today's lumber, so the only option for painting is to spray it. I knew it would be a nightmare, but it has exceeded my expectations in that regard.

I used oil-based primer first. It sprayed OK but nearly killed me because there is just one small window in the room. I am pretty sure I lost 20% of my brain cells in the 30 minutes I was able to stand it.

So, I switched to latex primer. After much anguish I finally came to the conclusion you can spray latex from the Wagner Power Painter's attached cup, but not from the can like I did with the oil-based - even after thinning the latex to the point of uselessness.

Spraying out of the cup works fine with the unthinned latex, but I am getting some bleed-through from the ancient wood. Where I used the oil-based, there is no bleed-through.

I am hoping that one more coat of primer will seal it and stop the bleed-through. I can't tell you how tired I am of spraying. I planned to have the ceiling bright white anyway, so the idea of doing one more coat of primer and leaving it like that is growing on me.

So - is that a problem? Is there anything inherent to primer that requires it be top-coated?

[jziegler]

I don't know about leaving just the primer. Don't know why not though.

Here's an idea for primer for you:

http://www.zinsser.com/product_detail.asp?ProductID=10

It's shellac based, so it should seal really well. I've never used it, but heard great things. Also, Kilz makes a good latex primer, better than many other brands.

Jim

[Tequila]

Most of my plaster ceilings are painted white using only Kilz primer. It's held up just fine.

[dkerfoot]

I had looked at the BIN primer in the store but wasn't certain how it would be for fumes. After the Kilz oil base just about did (killed me that is) I wanted to stick to latex. But, looking over the MSDS, BIN may actually be just what I need.

Has anyone ever sprayed it?

[jziegler]

I haven't sprayed it, or used it, but I want to add that since BIN is a shellac base, the fumes will be alcohol. If it smells like shellac, the fume will be strong (and possibly intoxicating). It will smell like a nasty bar, or something along those lines.

Since they show it in a spray can, I would guess that it should be possible to spray it.

Jim

[dkerfoot]

I've decided to go with one more coat of Zinsser 123 (the latex primer I most recently used) and call it good The bleed-through isn't as bad as I first feared. I think one more coat will contain it.

That BIN stuff does look interesting though and if I were starting over I might have gone with that instead. I am just concerned about mixing too many different kinds (oil, latex and shellac) all on one ceiling. I think that might be pressing my luck and I want no more surprises on this project.

I've been staring at the blank walls, drooling over how easy and fun it will be to roll them compared to spraying this ceiling!

[crokett]

dkerfoot,

I'd put a fan in the window and open the basement door to pull air through the basement as best you can. I'd also get a good mask. HD and Lowes sell the cartridge masks that are rated for chemicals.

[cgallery]

I've decided to go with one more coat of Zinsser 123 (the latex primer I most recently used) and call it good The bleed-through isn't as bad as I first feared. I think one more coat will contain it.

The bleed-through should be isolated to areas of the wood with a high sap content, right? And I don't think any amount of water-based will conceal it permanently. If the bleed-through bothers you, couldn't you just spot-treat the bad areas with shellac-based (with a brush even) and then hit the entire ceiling with one more coat of water-based via spray?

[Jan]

BIN will seal the wood quite well but if you spray you'll be in cloud of alcohol. One spark and it's finisher flambe. The BIN also dries to an old ivory color not the whites of the other products. Stick to the Zinsser 123, wear a good mask and get some fans going. I'd put some paint on it but it's your house.

Good Luck

[dkerfoot]

The bleed-through should be isolated to areas of the wood with a high sap content, right?

No, it is a more general yellow/brownish coming through fairly evenly. After 90 years, I think any sap is pretty much turned to dust or solid amber. I am not sure what the joists are made of but the subfloor (ceiling) is cedar. I think it is tannin coming through. I did use an air compressor and shop vac to blow/suck the dust and whatnot first, but the house used to have a coal furnace, so it may even be ancient soot from that.

It really isn't as bad as it looked while it was still wet, so I am pretty confident one more coat of 123 will do it. After that, I'll see if I can bring myself to consider applying a topcoat over the primer. If I was confident I could get it evenly applied in one coat I would, but I just don't know how much more of this I can stand.

I do plan to use a fan, but with just one window it will be of limited helpfulness.