My neighbor Lou convinced me to skip primer on my garage walls

Lou from two doors down said primer was a waste of money and that two coats of paint would do the same job. I figured he'd painted plenty of garages so I went along with it. Fast forward six months and every spot where I leaned a ladder left a black tire mark and the drywall soaked up the paint unevenly. Now I have to sand everything down and start over which is going to cost me about $80 in primer and a whole weekend. Has anyone else been burned by bad advice from a neighbor who seemed like they knew what they were talking about?

2 comments

2 Comments

xenar1417d ago

Lou actually said primer was a waste of money? Man, I just... I don't even know where to start with that. Primer is like the whole reason paint sticks to drywall in the first place, especially in a garage where you've got dust and tire marks and who knows what else. I had a buddy who skipped primer once and his garage looked like a zebra with all the patchy spots from different drywall repairs. You got hosed by the worst possible advice, that's rough.

the_skyler17d ago

Yeah @xenar14 is right, that zebra look is exactly what I got on my first garage job too. I tried to skip primer because Lou down the street said the same thing, thought I was saving money. Ended up with these weird shiny patches where the drywall mud soaked up the paint way faster than the rest. Had to go back with a coat of Zinsser, which is like $15 a gallon, and it fixed everything in one pass. Now I primer every wall even if it's already painted, because that $15 saves you from wasting a whole weekend sanding like you are now.