Latex Sandable Primer
The primer you apply to your moldings must be sandable. Not all of them are.
But this Sherwin Williams primer is sandable. It leaves a perfectly powdery coat when dry that is easily sandable to a smooth finish.
I’ve used this primer for many years, and recommend it when installing new bare wood moldings, pre-primed moldings or MDF board.
It is the only primer we are using during Our Molding Makeover.
- Unit Price $30.74, 1 gallon
- Vendor Sherwin Williams paint store
Do I Have to Prime Pre-Primed Moldings?
Yes.
If you want the best finish possible, that is.
Unifying Coat of Primer
Every single molding pattern — even if it’s made up entirely of pre-primed moldings — here on The Joy of Moldings has been primed after they were installed.
This is what I call the unifying coat of primer.
I do this to cover all of the spackling in the nail holes and gaps that have been filled. Otherwise that spackling will show through the finish coat of paint as a rough spot.
Related Posts
- How to Paint Moldings
- Two Coats of Paint? Really!?
- $72.00 for a Gallon Paint. What Were We Thinking?
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Do you thin your first coat of primer on unfinished wood?
Not with this brand of primer, Kelly. The material seems to soak it up well — even the smooth surface of mdf board — so there are rarely any visible brush strokes. But when there are, they are you can simply sand them away.
Ah so that means you’re not going to use a leveler/extender with this type of primer, eh?
By the way I stopped by my local SW store. It’s $40.00 per gallon up here in the Seattle area. 🙁
I’ve used paint levelers with other primers when I have a really vast expanse of bare mdf or wood to prime, but I’ve never needed to add it to this primer. It’s perfect as-is.
Perhaps the extra $10.00 is for some sort of algecide added to primer in the rainy Pacific Northwest 😉 (I lived in Olympia and Tacoma for a long time).
Hi Ken,
Great site & reading all the way around. Quick question about using latex based primer on MDF. Does the latex based primer cause any swelling at the edges of the mdf? Does it require an inordinate amount of coats to stop absorption? Also – in the posts that involving glueing up MDF pieces, are you glueing edges? Or only the adjoining surface areas? Thanks!
Hi Brian,
1. Yes, the mdf soaks up the primer and swells a bit. That’s what you want. When dry you can sand it pretty smooth. Repeat for even more smoothiness.
2. I glue both mitered surfaces. The first smear of glue generally soaks into the exposed mdf grain, the second stays on the surface and then can bond with it’s mating surface that is coated in glue the same way. You have to work quickly, but it can be done.
Thanks Ken!