# Has anyone ever heard of using lacquer as a primer??



## Dorman Painting (May 2, 2006)

I walked into my friends house today, it's a half million dollar home and his painter was there. I was going to paint it but the builder had his own people and wouldn't let me. Anyway, the house looked GREAT, I mean this paint job takes the cake. The trim is the best I've ever seen, it's high gloss too. I usually don't like high gloss on trim but it looks fantastic. 

Anyway, the painter was there and I asked him how they did their trimwork. He told me the only way to get the trim to look like glass, which this certainly did, was to prime with lacquer and then topcoat. Hell I always thought lacquer was a clear coat? Either this guy's jivin me or it's the best kept secret on the market. I'm telling you, I've painted for ten years and I'll put my work up against anybody, but this dude's work is untouchable. I told my friend that it's the best paint job i've seen and that was hard for me to say because I felt I should've been the painter. Lacquer as a primer? He told me hardly anyone even knows of this system. BTW, the topcoat is Porter's Glyptex High gloss oil. Oh he also said the lacquer was white?


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## DeanV (Feb 20, 2006)

I know some good painters that use a white lacquer primer for priming under waterborne paint. They mix 2 different kinds together to get the what they like. The real plus is it sand amazingly well. The downside is that it is lacquer (I spent two weeks straight spraying dye stains and lacquer last month and have vowed to never do it again).


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## Brushslingers (Jul 28, 2006)

Hes bullsheeting you, glyptex looks alot like glass by itself.


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## 4thGeneration (Nov 23, 2006)

Yes, I have heard of a few painters using laquer in higher end homes and it looked great. If you want a great primer why not try alcohol based primer. It sands up to a fine powder and finishes great with a waterborne. Use a fine tip to apply it however. A hvlp would be nice, but slower production. If you can explain the benefits to the ho and make them understand quality then maybe it is worth a shot.


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## Exroadog (Feb 11, 2005)

Shellac will give the same results but is probably more user friendly and after its dry, non toxic. Lac and shel used to be made by the same bug. Now, lacquer is made in different ways. A lot of guys here, by using BIN, are getting the same results as lacquer. Shellac is your friend!!


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## Workaholic (Feb 3, 2007)

Dorman Painting said:


> I walked into my friends house today, it's a half million dollar home and his painter was there. I was going to paint it but the builder had his own people and wouldn't let me. Anyway, the house looked GREAT, I mean this paint job takes the cake. The trim is the best I've ever seen, it's high gloss too. I usually don't like high gloss on trim but it looks fantastic.
> 
> Anyway, the painter was there and I asked him how they did their trimwork. He told me the only way to get the trim to look like glass, which this certainly did, was to prime with lacquer and then topcoat. Hell I always thought lacquer was a clear coat? Either this guy's jivin me or it's the best kept secret on the market. I'm telling you, I've painted for ten years and I'll put my work up against anybody, but this dude's work is untouchable. I told my friend that it's the best paint job i've seen and that was hard for me to say because I felt I should've been the painter. Lacquer as a primer? He told me hardly anyone even knows of this system. BTW, the topcoat is Porter's Glyptex High gloss oil. Oh he also said the lacquer was white?


The top coat would look like that anyways as long as he primed with a good oil primer. We used to use high gloss oil from ppg, ppl would come in while we were doing our final and think everything was wet even though everything got painted 2 months prior. 
Now i know a couple of painters that used a laquer primer, and their reason for doing so was that it dried so fast that you could spray your primer, and then have some helper sand it after about 20 minutes. Then you could turn right around and spray your finish coat. :thumbsup:


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## Dorman Painting (May 2, 2006)

he told me that lacquer flashes in less than one minute, basically it's dry VERY quickly. The trim still looks wet to me, it's a unbelievable finish. But two problems I see trying to go the high gloss/lacquer undercoat route are fairly obvious.

Number one you better have a stud trim carpenter or you're screwed with the high gloss showing bad nail holes, blow outs etc. Number two, I think spraying lacquer would be tough on my sprayer, but as good as it looks, it's worth trying IMO.


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## Brushslingers (Jul 28, 2006)

Dorman Painting said:


> he told me that lacquer flashes in less than one minute, basically it's dry VERY quickly. The trim still looks wet to me, it's a unbelievable finish. But two problems I see trying to go the high gloss/lacquer undercoat route are fairly obvious.
> 
> Number one you better have a stud trim carpenter or you're screwed with the high gloss showing bad nail holes, blow outs etc. Number two, I think spraying lacquer would be tough on my sprayer, but as good as it looks, it's worth trying IMO.


No, really.... any undercoat is fine, glyptex high gloss looks like that anyhow.


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## metomeya (Apr 20, 2006)

I still think that shellac is your best bet, still fast drying (not as fast lacquer) and like they've said it sands to a fine powder.


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## BobbyD (Oct 1, 2006)

I spray out doors, trim and paneling and it feels like glass. I use latex primer and 2 coats oil satin. I find when sanding oil primer too much comes off corners/edges that comprimises the finish. Just did a house in latex primer and latex pearl finish and the trim is gorgeous.


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## Workaholic (Feb 3, 2007)

Brushslingers said:


> No, really.... any undercoat is fine, glyptex high gloss looks like that anyhow.


Yes Benn is correct, your favorite oil primmer, bin, *Kilz lol. *It is the topcoat that looks like glass. We used that high gloss in new construction for years. Latex can't touch. The down side is paint thinner being 7 dollars a gallon and laquer being 13 a gallon. Well that explains why we switched .


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## Danahy (Oct 17, 2006)

Find me a good trim carpenter, and I'll show you a good trim paint job.


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## Exroadog (Feb 11, 2005)

A "half million dollar home".......Thats about a 3 bdrm, 2 bath here on the coast. No yard. And probably needs fixing up a little.


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## Dorman Painting (May 2, 2006)

Well I'm in Southern Indiana and this house on the coast would go for two to three million dollars if not more. It's got eight foot tall doors and jambs. There's lots of million dollar homes in his neighborhood that are 10-12 square foot homes. Why someone would need that big a house I have no clue, it's a status thing I guess.


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## quality app (Nov 11, 2006)

I love laquer as a primer I spray mostly with a two quart pressure pot set up. it is a littlemore expensive but worth it on solid wood doors and anything you can bench prime i would not spray it directly on sheetrock like door jams etc. it is a very brittle finish and has a tendacy to pop or flake.


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## Jonesey (Jul 7, 2006)

white lacquer undercoater is incredibly popular here, and sorry, but nothing sands quite as easily as lacquer. It burns up in about 45 minutes (sandable). The great thing about lacquer finishes is that you can come back years later if you have to and shoot lacquer over top it and it will burn into the old finish creating one smooth finish. 

Downside is that the topcoat doesn't build quicly (mill thickness compared to oil or latex is poor) so it's prone to cracking and failing in moist areas. Things like Precatalyzed lacquers, CAB Acrylic, etc are more moisture resistant but will still fail because they dry too hard and won't allow the wood to move. 

The only time I use a shellac undercoater is either under poly or when I have to fill the grain (I do it the old fashioned way with pumice and elbow grease). White lacquer undercoater rocks, buddy. And lacquer sanding sealers are tops, none better (SW Easy-Sand! Woop!) for a smooth finish.

My personal favorite is pre-cat, but man you've got to have full-face respirator for that stuff. It just about kills me even with one.


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## cwpainting (Mar 14, 2007)

Doing lots of high end new constuction trim paks. Simple system that looks great Blankit primmer high build sands easy low powder residue great coverage and wont kill you . I also swear by Glyptex but i know its shortening my career.


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## thehousepainter (Sep 30, 2009)

*lacquer undercoater is king!*



Jonesey said:


> white lacquer undercoater is incredibly popular here, and sorry, but nothing sands quite as easily as lacquer. It burns up in about 45 minutes (sandable). The great thing about lacquer finishes is that you can come back years later if you have to and shoot lacquer over top it and it will burn into the old finish creating one smooth finish.
> 
> Downside is that the topcoat doesn't build quicly (mill thickness compared to oil or latex is poor) so it's prone to cracking and failing in moist areas. Things like Precatalyzed lacquers, CAB Acrylic, etc are more moisture resistant but will still fail because they dry too hard and won't allow the wood to move.
> 
> ...


I couldn't have said better myself Steve! When I was just getting started in the painting industry ten years ago the guy who taught me used lacquer undercoater (one coat) and a waterborne high gloss white topcoat, also one coat on every single mill pack we did! They all looked like a million dollars. Oh yeah, we were painting one to five million dollar houses! I still use the same system today. All sprayed from a Titan 440i, 440ix, and 740ix. Woop! :thumbsup:


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## Dash808 (Jun 5, 2008)

Seems like using an HVLP would be a good way to go for this. How thick is your lacquer coat?


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