When your commercial building needs a new coat of interior or exterior paint, proper prepwork is essential for both the longevity and protective capacity of the paint job. One of the most critical components of the prepwork process is primer, and even though it’s necessary, many building owners look to skip this step to save on time.
At DANCO Commercial Painters, we’re here to let you know that rushing a paint job comes with consequences. Primer is an essential step in any high-quality paint job and we explain why below.
Primer Helps Improve Paint Longevity, Performance, and Appearance
Can you build a high-quality house without a foundation? Nope. The same idea applies to your building’s paint job. If visually appealing, long-lasting, high-performance commercial paint is what you’re after, you won’t get that without primer.
Essentially, primer forms the foundation of the paint job while the paint is more like the house itself. Sure, the house is what you ultimately see, but the foundation is what holds everything together. No foundation, and the house will crumble. Without primer, your paint job will too.
Primer Seals and Preps Surfaces
One of the many ways in which primer improves the overall quality and longevity of commercial painting is by sealing and evening out unpainted surfaces. Primer creates a flat, smooth surface by filling in any abnormalities that could cause the paint to chip, flake, or fail to adhere properly.
Primer Improves Paint Longevity
If you’re investing in high-quality commercial painting, you want it to last, right? That’s where quality primer comes in. Because primer is packed full of binding agents, it helps paint and specialty coatings adhere to any surface better, especially those that don’t take paint well.
For example, concrete, tile, and steel surfaces don’t accept regular paints well. Applying pigmented paint to these surfaces will result in poor adhesion and rapid paint degradation. Ultimately, the paint will peel, flake, and break down, necessitating a new paint job.
That’s why specialty primers exist for each surface type. They’re specifically formulated to react with paint during the curing process, allowing it to properly adhere to the surface.
Primer Protects Surfaces From Moisture
For many budget commercial paints, moisture can cause serious performance issues. Again, that’s where quality primer comes in. In areas with high humidity, such as bathrooms and kitchens, primer is critical to prevent moisture staining and paint degradation. It also helps protect against mold and mildew development, which isn’t uncommon in warm areas with high humidity.
Primer Covers Stains and Old Paint
If the surfaces to be painted have any type of staining, those stains can bleed through many types of commercial paint. Primer effectively blocks contamination in the substrate (the surface being painted) and prevents it from showing through the upper layers of pigment.
When you’re changing a color scheme — for example, going from dark blue to yellow paint — primer is an excellent way to prep for that change. It reduces the number of paint coats necessary to achieve complete coverage by muting the previous paint color.
Ultimately, primer makes any paint job more cost effective since it extends the lifespan of commercial paint while improving its protective capacity and overall performance.
Contact DANCO for Premium-Quality Commercial Painting in the Twin Cities
If your commercial building needs a new coat of interior or exterior paint, get in touch with our team at DANCO Commercial Painters. Since 1988, we’ve proudly served the commercial painting needs of building owners and managers throughout the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro. We specialize in inspections, building restoration, agricultural painting, high-end finishes, paint maintenance, and more. Check out our work to see what we can do!
To get started or learn more about our services, feel free to call our Chaska, MN office at 612-598-3864 or schedule a free estimate. You can also send us a message with any questions, and we’ll be in touch.