What is PVA Primer and What is it Used For?

If you spend much time performing home renovations, you probably already know what PVA primer is. However, what if you’re just starting to remodel your home and you’ve been hearing about this type of primer, yet you don’t really know what it is? As it turns out, it’s something that might be able to help you do a better job when it comes to painting the interior of your home. It can also save you a lot of hassle in the process.

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What Is It?

PVA primer is a special type of primer that gets your walls ready to receive paint and so much more. It’s used in specific cases, such as in the presence of drywall. The idea is to create a soft surface that will allow a paint to adhere effectively. When you use drywall in your home, the end result is a hard, relatively slick surface that doesn’t receive paint very well.

As such, painting it without an effective primer can be next to impossible. Using a primer makes the job go much more quickly, because you’re not having to apply as many coats of paint in order to get the same results. However, it’s important that you don’t apply just any primer.

They are definitely not all created equally. In the case of drywall, it is preferable to use PVA primer because of its ability to soften the surface once it dries. This makes the paint itself adhere much more effectively, thereby eliminating the problem of slick surfaces that is often caused by using drywall.

Reducing Time

In fact, using it can dramatically reduce the amount of time that you spend trying to paint the walls inside your home. Initially, you might believe that using this primer will only make the job take longer, as it adds an extra step.

However, you’ll be doing yourself a huge favor to simply use it as opposed to trying to go straight to the painting step. Skipping the PVA primer will only force you to apply several coats of paint. It takes longer and more than likely, you won’t be happy with the finished results.

Benefits of Using PVA Primer

When you’re talking about using primer over drywall before painting, there are a number of benefits associated with using PVA primer. First and foremost, it is designed specifically for surfaces such as drywall. As such, it allows you to paint the drywall and get a uniform color.

Without its use, the paint doesn’t adhere well to the drywall, as previously mentioned. The end result is a sloppy looking job, with paint that appears darker in places and lighter in others. The fact that the drywall doesn’t receive paint well makes it virtually impossible to get a uniform appearance.

The use of PVA primer remedies that problem in its entirety. As such, it allows even inexperienced people to do a job that looks good. It’s even possible to purchase PVA primer that is already tinted in a color similar to the final color of paint that will be used. The primer makes the paint itself stick to the walls better.

The fact that you can choose a primer that’s already tinted with a similar color as your paint means that you’ll be using fewer coats of paint to get the desired results. The truth is, most people who use PVA primer once end up swearing by it from that point forward. It really is one of the best products out there for painting your home.

An Economic Solution

Another benefit of using PVA primer is that it doesn’t cost a lot of money, especially when compared to more expensive oil based primers. That’s definitely a plus for anyone who has just applied new drywall to their home and is now faced with painting everything.

There’s nothing that’s particularly cheap about painting, but the use of PVA primer won’t add a lot of money to the overall bill. In addition, it doesn’t take as long as the oil based primers to dry. In most cases, it’s completely dry in roughly two hours, meaning that you might be able to apply primer and paint in the same day.

Since it’s designed specifically for drywall, it prevents the paint from soaking into the natural pores of the drywall, making it easier to paint and allowing your paint to go further at the same time.

After you use the primer, it typically doesn’t take nearly as much paint to get the desired results as it would if you tried to paint the drywall without primer. As previously mentioned, skipping the primer isn’t advisable because you’re not going to end up with professional looking results, regardless of how many coats of paint you use.

The Time Frame

In order to get the best results, it’s imperative that you follow the directions on the primer. While it is designed specifically for drywall, it’s important that you don’t leave it on the drywall for a long period of time before painting.

Typically, you have roughly two days from the time that you apply the primer until you need to apply the paint. Otherwise, you might find yourself in a situation where the primer is no longer effective, thereby forcing you to apply a second coat of primer before you can paint.

Since it dries so quickly, you may be able to do the primer application and the painting in the same day, as previously discussed. If that isn’t possible due to time constraints, there is nothing wrong with priming the surface one day and painting it the next.

However, it isn’t advisable that you push the limits too far beyond that or you may find yourself having to reapply the primer all over again. Now that you know what PVA primer is and how effective it can be, you have something that you can use to make your next remodeling job easier. In reality, it is likely to save you both time and money, all while making your finished work look its best.

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