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is primer necessary? (Used paint instead of primer)

we decided to paint our wooden kitchen cabinets. Unfortunately, after applying two coats of undercoat (!!!) we found out what we had applied was actually paint rather than a primer. We used a spray gun to paint so the finish is good and consistent but I am worried that the paint might come off. I don’t know what we should now. Is the primer really much sticky than paint? Is it better to apply a coat of primer on the top of the paint and then paint again or we have to sand off all the paint and start fresh. Just to add that we sanded a little bit the cabinets before painting but we could not get to the bare wood.

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JDE

Far213 It really depends on what you painted over. My experience is that undercoat / primer served 3 purposes a) stopped as much paint being absorbed into fresh surfaces b) stopped leaching of colour from stained type surfaces c) helped stick paint to old surface etching and primer is really important especially if you have put acrylic paint over enamel. I once had to sand / scrap back a whole house we were renovating as previous owner had put acrylic paint over enamel without a prep coat. In this case running a key over the surface was enough to cause it to break away you will probably have to sand back and start again Im not a paint expert and one would need to know exactly what you painted over. Unless you have colour leaching through I personally wouldn't paint undercoat over a good finish. Id wait Mitchell will link you up with more informed people.

JDE

MitchellMc

Hi @far213,

It's great to see you have already received a helpful reply from @JDE.

In order for me to give some specific advice, I would need to know the product which you have used. You might find the paint sticks perfectly fine, but as @JDE has already mentioned the undercoat is generally much better at adhering to surfaces than the actual paint.

I don't think applying a primer over the paint now is going to serve any real purpose.

I would like to hear what paint you used before advising you to sand the coating off. Personally, I would wait until it is completely cured and see if it scratches off easily.

Please let me know if you need further information or had questions.

Mitchell

far213

Thanks for your reply. This is the paint i used.

MitchellMc

Hi @far213,

You've used a water-based enamel which is a hard-wearing coating that binds quite well to timber which has been sanded. It also looks like you have sanded back to raw timber in the picture which is great. From my experience, I believe the paint will bind to the raw timber very well. I've also made contact with a team member instore who is a paint expert and they agree that painting over raw timber is one of the only occasions where a primer might not be necessary. We both feel at this point you should wait and see how durable the surface is before acting.

As an example, I never use a primer when applying water-based enamels over raw timber and haven't personally seen any adverse effects. You might find if the cabinets receive impacts from hard objects then the coating could scratch. However, that would still be a possibility even if you used a primer.

Please keep us updated on the durability of the product and let us know if you have further questions.

Mitchell

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