How many coats of primer to apply? Followed by how many top coats?

This is for interior and exterior walls, should different paints be used?

Many thanks.

I can only help with exterior painting. On cement finished wall I first used one coat of sealant, then one coat of primer and finally one top coat, all good name exterior quality. It is still perfect after three years.

Ok, thanks.

If it was a new build how long did you wait after they finished rendering until you started painting?

Unless they used wire mesh with the rendering, I would wait a few months for the cracks to appear. Then, gut and fill (I like TOA filler - now they call it 'wall putty' or something like that). BTW: I have always gone with 1 coat primer (10% diluted) and 2 coats color - always with premium paint - and that has been good for me.

Unless they used wire mesh with the rendering, I would wait a few months for the cracks to appear. Then, gut and fill (I like TOA filler - now they call it 'wall putty' or something like that). BTW: I have always gone with 1 coat primer (10% diluted) and 2 coats color - always with premium paint - and that has been good for me.

Many thanks for your input.

Jailai,

In reality your asking "How long is a piece of string'. There are countless variables involved that dictate the procedure you have at hand. Every job is different. Basically, yes use different paint for exterior. In most cases, primers are not needed now day. So long as you use a very good quality paint. Don't skimp on paint. It's usually just a fraction of what the labour is anyhow so why skimp to save a few bucks. Not being there and visualizing your project makes it very difficult to assess and form a working procedure. You can find some useful painting tips on YouTube and you can take a look at my channel if you like. I have lots of useful tips:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnh1563LqDqf-o7qtG7sOvg

Good luck

Rickaroonie

I agree with rickaroo, no need for primers.

Primer paints are normally used as the first coat on wood or steel to act as a first undercoat.

Internally on new plaster and board and skim it is normal to seal the surface with a diluted emulsion called the mist coat....basically its the priming sealer coat.

Often you will see steel painted a red brown colour or grey, its the primer coat to protect against rusting and then usually glossed over.

The number of coats you need to apply generally depends on your ability to cover up the original colour, if it was a strong colour and you now wanted a light colour then it would be normal to use an obliteration paint, denser to negate the need for several coats

as its been mentioned wait for cracks to appear outside and inside,we have just done our house for the third time in 5yrs.if you have wooden windows they are hell to keep clean,we only used good quality paints,and inside this time we used dulux easy-care

best by far. for the cracks we used wall putty from home pro,[no good] sista roof sealant that's good,but this time we used

toa 302 acrylic sealant which is specially for cracks.for all the walls a good roller and a nylon brush and artist brushes for cutting in,don't go asking Thai's as they say one size brush does all.