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I've had to construct a plain plywood box for a really utilitarian purpose (think storage). It doesn't need to be painted, but part of me would like to because a) it would just make it look a little better, and b) I've got a spare gallon of latex paint sitting around.
I'm on the fence about whether to paint it though, primarily because of priming. Namely, I really don't want to prime it. A quick paint job I could persuade myself to do, but having to prime first would just add an extra step to the job and make it that much more longer and annoying. Plus (and more importantly) I don't have any primer on hand, and I am certainly not going to spend money to paint something that doesn't need to be painted.
So I'm absolutely not going to prime, but I was wondering if I could get away with just painting it anyway? I mean, I'll do it if I can get away with it, but if the paint is just going to peel off in a short while and it will look worse in the end, then I won't. It's not fancy plywood, just plain old construction grade spf.
Any thoughts?
Thanks!
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Re: Painting Plywood: Do You Really Need To Prime?
I've had a number of basic plywood projects that I have painted with both latex and oil based paints without priming. Only downside is that if there are knots, they may bleed through the paint, same if there is sap/pitch.
For utilitarian stuff it has worked just fine for me at least to do just a paint job on the piece. One other thing I have done is for exterior pieces, used up some semi-transparent stain.
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Re: Painting Plywood: Do You Really Need To Prime?
Excellent, Thanks Scott!
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Re: Painting Plywood: Do You Really Need To Prime?
You'll end up using more paint not priming, and you also face potential bleed thru issues not priming. Especially if its just spf rough stuff surface, it is more apt to suck up paint, whereas primer, it doesn't matter that the coat remains a little transluscent after applying, as the primer will seal easier and more efficiently than trying to do such with multiple coats of paint.
I'm the opposite, I've painted enough over the years, that now I'm apprehensive of NOT priming because I don't feel like it. Priming acts as a glue, sealer, and blank base to bring out the true colour of the more expensive by volume of paint that you will be looking at for many years hopefully.
Kevin
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Re: Painting Plywood: Do You Really Need To Prime?
Originally posted by Lost in the Woods View Post
You'll end up using more paint not priming, and you also face potential bleed thru issues not priming. Especially if its just spf rough stuff surface, it is more apt to suck up paint, whereas primer, it doesn't matter that the coat remains a little transluscent after applying, as the primer will seal easier and more efficiently than trying to do such with multiple coats of paint.
I'm the opposite, I've painted enough over the years, that now I'm apprehensive of NOT priming because I don't feel like it. Priming acts as a glue, sealer, and blank base to bring out the true colour of the more expensive by volume of paint that you will be looking at for many years hopefully.
For almost anything else, I would totally agree with you. But this is just a utilitarian thing that will be in use for, at most, a year, year and a half tops. I just didn't want it to look too, too ugly for that time.
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Re: Painting Plywood: Do You Really Need To Prime?
Seeing as it's temporary, then just slap on whatever leftover paint might be kickin' around. The darker the better I would think.
Kevin
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Re: Painting Plywood: Do You Really Need To Prime?
I fully agree with priming almost everything that I want an 'excellent' finish on.
For deep coloured walls I always use a primer with a half-tint of the final colour.
New drywall/patches get hit with 2 coats of Killz before any other paint.
Zinnser B I N is my primer of choice for wood, be it raw, or clear coated.
But, for an 'ok' finish, then I will just paint away at it. Especially since I am usually just using up old paint that I have kicking around. On that note, I always have some 'battleship grey' paint around that I get from the recycling centre. Its free, and means I have no reason to not put a finish on.
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