# best exterior latex primer?



## toddcla2002 (Apr 25, 2005)

I am looking for the best exterior latex primer that will keep cedar tannins from bleeding through. I have been using SW A100 oil and am not fond of the smell, cleaning, and then handling the paint thinner at the end of each summer in regards to disposal. It's a lot of extra work by the time I've accumulated gallons and gallons! What would you recommend for an extraordinarily solid exterior latex primer? Peel bond? THANKS!

~todd


----------



## DeanV (Feb 20, 2006)

*good luck*

I do not think such a product exists yet, there are some that are supposed to be pretty good, but they still are not close to oil's ability to lock in tannin.


----------



## Richard (May 21, 2006)

toddcla2002 said:


> I am looking for the best exterior latex primer that will keep cedar tannins from bleeding through. I have been using SW A100 oil and am not fond of the smell, cleaning, and then handling the paint thinner at the end of each summer in regards to disposal. It's a lot of extra work by the time I've accumulated gallons and gallons! What would you recommend for an extraordinarily solid exterior latex primer? Peel bond? THANKS!
> 
> ~todd


hmmm...there's nothing better, in my opinion, than oil primer for tannin and sealing. There are latex products that are decent, but not nearly as good. 

But...the best latex primers IMO for tannin and such are SW's "preprite"(problock) and BM's "fresh start" acrylic

Good luck


----------



## KellyPainting (May 30, 2006)

*Prime time.*

I always prefer oil primers.


----------



## AAPaint (Apr 18, 2005)

Latex primers aren't going to hold tannins back with any kind of certainty. The problem is latex is water...water soaks into wood, frees up the tannins, and they then become part of your paint before it dries. I always use an oil base in those situations, or go for the BIN.


----------



## Brushslingers (Jul 28, 2006)

Alchohol based. Isn't oil, isn't latex, but will seal your tannins.


----------



## Miniroller (Sep 19, 2006)

BIN 1-2-3 says it blocks tannin bleed if you let it cure for 24 hours. I used 1-2-3 on some cedar plank well over a month ago and painted it 2 coats acrylic on top. I haven't seen any bleed yet and it's been fairly rainy. I've also used two coats of X-I-M UMA primer on cedar and that has worked too. Still, it seems good oil primer or Cabot problem-solver is the best in my opinion.


----------



## Rich Wozny (Aug 18, 2005)

I would not go to crazy using an alcohol based primer on exterior work because it does'nt hold up to moisture very well...


----------



## DeanV (Feb 20, 2006)

Definetly agree with Woz on that one. Shellac acts as a vapor barrier so moisture moving through the siding from the inside will not be able to escape= bad news. It is okay for spot priming knots, but that is about all I would use it for outside. I would think it would be too brittle as well. I cringe when I see shellac mentioned as an exterior primer


----------



## AAPaint (Apr 18, 2005)

Amen....guess I could have stated it better. The first thing I go for is an oil/alkyd primer on just about any exterior surface. The BIN is for the tough stuff oil can't hold back like the knots you mentioned. I agree it's a bad idea as on overall exterior primer. Why would we all be using acylics if we wanted something brittle that doesn't breathe?

Anyway....latex isn't going to cut it on wood tannins any better than it would a water stain, lol!


----------



## Brushslingers (Jul 28, 2006)

Ehh, what on earth do you guys think oil primers do? Let moisture escape?  In the 20's they used kerosine to prime... see any 20s era houses with much rot?


----------



## Joewho (Sep 20, 2006)

Wheres kellypainting? He can tell you about linseed oil primers......

*&%%$##^%% knucklebusting *&^%%##@@$&


----------



## Richard (May 21, 2006)

"Best exterior latex primer"

Who has actually answered you?


----------



## Brushslingers (Jul 28, 2006)

Linseed oil... used it for years... why would you bring that up though? It was old style formulated oil. Changed about 8 years ago. Only time I've used it lately is to treat the bare wood handrails in the local hospital... which got ran over with poly. You can't buy linseed oil primer anymore.

Anyhoo, Paintguy is right, best LATEX primer I have used is problock, SW. Prolly won't hold off the tannins in cedar with one coat but, does pretty good as a latex tintable primer.


----------



## Danahy (Oct 17, 2006)

I got a call from a sign maker dude 3 years ago, had a rush job that I couldn't pass up. Wanted the bare posts painted with one coat tinted oil zinser cover stain. I drive by the sign all the time, and to this day it looks like a zillion bucks. No top coat, just the one coat of primer. 

Anyhow, today it's my primer of choice for everything I prime.


----------



## rws (Nov 26, 2004)

Best is Cabot or California trouble shooter primers.But the latex is not as effective for holding back tannin as the oil is.Cabot BM and California all make linseed oil primers and all linseed oil primers breath.If I was going to use a all acrylic system on bare cedar I would use Cabot wood brightner first to remove tannin,then 0ne coat of Ca. or Cabot acrylic primer brushed and then two acrylic finish coats.


----------



## toddcla2002 (Apr 25, 2005)

Thus far I like what miniroller said....I have looked into the BIN product and may give that a test next year. I will be the first to admit that I am lazy and would like a primer that doesn't require paint thinner to clean-up. Thank you all!

~todd


----------



## Brushslingers (Jul 28, 2006)

rws said:


> Cabot BM and California all make linseed oil primers and all linseed oil primers breath.


I'll be, your right. The formulation is still the newage junk but, i'd advise anyone trying to use linseed oil paint to be very, very careful. There is a reason most states/paint companies banned it. Material sheets all say you have to pre-prime tannin/nail rust before using it though... heh. The California one looks decent, 2.1 mils dry for primer.. not bad at all.


----------



## rws (Nov 26, 2004)

California and Cabot do make some nice products and are great to talk to on the phone if you have questions.They dont oversell the products and make outrageous claims like some of the bigger companys do.


----------

