Is it ok to mix paint manufacturers on a job? Specifically, I'm painting some cabinets and have plenty of Sherwin Williams oil-based primer. Am planning on using Fine Paints of Europe for the oil paint. Would it be ok to prime with SW and paint with FPE? I asked FPE and all they would say is that they do not do any cross-mfgr testing, so no guarantees. I'm thinking that "primer is primer"...but not sure. Am I asking for trouble?

I doubt it'll be a problem cstrombe. As long as you're matching oil to oil, latex, to laxtex etc. Now if you were using ECO, I'd tell you to use their ECO primer because that is a unique forumla I think only they make.

Having said that, my husband advised me to match the primer to the brand of paint, and I did that pretty much everywhere, except at the very end when I ran out of F&B primer and used C2's instead for one place. Big deal. It turned out fine. We'll see how it does long term, but I'm sure it'll be just fine. The guy in the paint store told me just to use a good primer and not worry about matching brands. My husband felt that since the paint is adhering to the primer, it's best to match. But honestly primer is made to be adhered to, so I think you'll be fine. Hopefully the pro's will chime in (and no making fun of DH please, we all have our foibles).

Ivette

I had the exact same question. I am using Muralo, which is expensive and getting it is difficult. So I am priming with a primer made for waterborne paint. I think you will be fine with whatever you choose and as Pirula says just keep oil to oil and latex to latex. Or oil to latex but never latex to oil.

Actually, you can prime with acrylic primer and paint over it with oil (alkyd) paint.

But, what you're doing is fine. The SW primer is suitable under all architectural coatings.

Someday we're going to have a class on this..hehe

Michael

Micahel, you're on. I even have a classroom all ready to go and just waiting for you to show up. ;-)

I've actually used FPE paint over a different primer and I must tell you I found a huge difference when I switched to the FPE primer. The application was smoother and easier.

Interesting rococogurl. What FPE paint were you using? Oil or ECO or something else?

The primer, if high quality primer will perform the same under the FPE paint.

Not everyone here takes the same prep steps, therefore you'll have differing results.

I'm confident that I can get the same luxurious finish whether I use FPE primer, Zinsser primer, BM or SW primers.

Michael

Michael, you're a pro so you probably can. I was just painting some screen doors. The carpenter had fit and primed them with old-base primer.

I figured, ok, they're primed and perfectly done so why do it twice. I was using the FPE Dutchlac brillant white door paint, which is oil base.

That first side of the first door was not easy to paint. There was a lot of drag on the brush and I was really fighting it. I had sanded after the primer and cleaned off the sanded material with a tack cloth. The surface felt smooth when I began.

When I finished the first side of the first door, I decided to try the primer because that first side was a PITA. It made a HUGE difference. The primer went on easily and the paint itself just went over that primer like glass with no resistance. It made me feel like Rembrandt.

I don't know which primer had been used or what else can happen so I cannot speak to those issues, just my own experience.

Believe me, if I could have just gone with the paint over the existing primer I would have done so. It came out to a coat of primer on each side of each of two doors then 2 coats of the Dutchlac over that. Each door had a frame, plus another frame with the turned fan and spindles that goes on each door, plus a third frame with the screen. It was both sides of each piece. Then I had to do the contrast paint on the spindles on the fan parts -- both sides.

Based on this one experience I'd say to use their primer if you're using their paint. I must say the doors are drop dead and people ask me what's on those doors. It's one of those "I've never seen paint like that" reactions.

A caution -- at one point I wasn't so good about the ventilation and I inhaled too many paint fumes. I spilled a lot of the blue. I didn't feel so well for 2 days afterwards. Be very careful. After that I was sure to have an open window (I was working in the basement) and I bought a small fan.

I'm planning to paint my front door and whole front porch and the window trim on my house with the FPE. I'll probably get a fatal disease but it looks so bad after 2 years with the water base paint, I don't care. I simply haven't seen anything that compares to the quality of that dutchlac surface.

Just hoping my painter will agree to use the oil base as he doesn't like to. I did second story windows years ago but I'm just not feeling much like it these days.