SELF PRIMING PAINTS
The self-priming paints have been around for a while. For many years you had to read the back of a paint tin to see if a particular paint had self priming characteristics. Now self priming is promoted as the paint’s main selling point.
The older school of thought is that there was a layer of undercoat as a primer, and at least one coat of colour paint on top. We can depart from this with a paint that does both jobs, but we are not really getting that far ahead.
GENERAL HOUSE PAINTING
Painting will require more than a single coat, at least if we want a result that we can be happy with; a third coat is always a good option in my opinion. If you use a primer this counts as the first coat, and prepares the surface well for the colour coat. Two coats of colour, applied with some experience and skill, will yield good results here. This is the basic way many have painted.
The problem with self-priming paints is that they are expensive; and if you apply two or more coats the expense increases accordingly. A good primer doesn’t cost that much, nor does the final colour. As such, it is cheaper to apply a good primer and two layers of final colour than it is to apply a couple of layers of self-priming paint. And as the self-priming paints give slightly compromised results (acceptable, but not outstanding) we are actually paying more for an inferior job. We are not really saving any time either.
THE BOTTOM LINE
A good primer with two coats of final colour works out cheaper than several coats of self-priming paint. The result is notably better with the dedicated primer and final colour, and there is no real time difference between the two approaches.
House painting services in Sydney that are just concerned with internal drywalls need not worry here. But House Painters in Sydney who look after external painting or internal fixtures such as railings and bannisters will find they are better off stocking good quality primers and then providing colours options that suit the client. Sydney painters will find that self-priming Paints will not be available in every colour, do not save any time, and provide slightly inferior results. They will have some uses in other applications, but general house painting will not use them.