A review about as interesting as watching paint dry (Zinsser Bin Primer)

Member Name: freediveheaven

Product:	Zinsser Bin Primer
Date:	13/09/08 (517 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Dries flat and covers stains

Disadvantages: Cleaning the brushes

One of my projects for this summer was to paint a number of doors in the house to lighten them up as they were a very dark wood colour and as such no longer matched the new colour scheme for the hall and upstairs landing. These doors were not the best made and I was loath to remove them to do the work as I was not sure they would hang correctly again so I needed a good quality wood primer to prepare the wood before I applied the main colour otherwise it would require a number of costly applications before the dark colour would be covered up.. I took some advice from a decorator and his recommendation was Zinsser wood primer.

Now you will not find this wood primer in places like Homebase, Wilkes or B&Q as I soon found out, even looking in the yellow pages did not yield any results so it was off to the internet and I ended up buying online through decoratingdirect.co.uk. Now this is not a cheap product to buy, it costs £37.48 for 3.75 litres and £9.98 for a smaller 0.473 litre can. Also there are a number of variations of Zinsser Wood Primer for different jobs; I used the Zinsser BIN Primer Sealer and Stain Killer.

This primer is ideal for all interior wood surfaces and is only available in white. It can also be used on metal pipes and radiators as well. To steal some of the technical jargon from the back of the can it is a "shellac based white pigmented primer sealer stain killer" not entirely sure what the first bit means but what I do know is that it certainly does the job.

Before starting the surface should be clean, dust free and dry, it is important to remove any flaking paint and if the paint is in good condition it can be painted over directly, if not it ill need to be removed first. I tend to apply some tape to the surface and then rip it off to see how good the paint is.

When you open the tin it is a very runny primer so when applying the primer you do have to watch for drips, it is important to lay lots of ground sheets, I also used newspaper to slide under the doors to prevent drips running along the underside of the door, certainly when using the paint you do not want to over load the paint brush and to allow it to run off back into the can before applying. You can also use a roller or spray as well with this paint however I stuck with a brush.

The paint has good coverage when you apply it, you can almost see it permeating the wood as it stains it a grainy white colour, what I like is the fact that it dries flat so there are no brush marks left on the wood and also if you are careful with the application there are no drip marks left either. This makes applying the top coat so much easier and you get a better quality finish. I had used some old primer from B&Q on one of the doors and the difference in finish is noticeable and I wish that I had not been such a tight wad and thrown the old primer away rather than using it. The paint has good adherence as some of the surfaces were very smooth and it stuck well to the doors.

One of the things I really liked about this paint was how quick it dried. It was dry to the touch within about fifteen minutes and you are able to apply a second coat or the top coat if only one covering is needed after forty five minutes. Due to the darkness of my doors I felt a second coat was prudent and tended to wait an hour before applying it.

This wood primer is also designed to cover and lock in any stains to prevent them coming through after you have finished painting. Whether it actually works is not something I can comment on as I have no stains to cover however when I use it on some pipes in the downstairs toilet I may be able to assess this as there is a recurring stain in that room.

I have found that the coverage was really good and offsets the premium price that I paid. I completed most of the work I wanted to do and still have more than enough paint to finish the job and use it on a couple of other decorating jobs lined up for the next holiday period which is only five weeks away. There should be no need to thin the paint unless it begins to thicken if the lid is not sealed properly after use.

I did find it a bit of a pain to get the brushes clean after using it which is a nuisance; I would be tempted not to use a high quality brush with this unless you are very patient over cleaning after use. Water and turpentine are recommended to clean it off the brush. I had thought I read that it was odourless but that certainly was not my experience so maybe I was wrong.

If you are careful when applying this it is an excellent product, you have to watch out for drips but it dries really flat and has really good coverage. It made applying the top coat a lot easier and the fact that you use fewer coats offsets some of the extra cost.

Decoratingdirect delivered my product within about three days of the order being submitted, there was a postage charge however orders over £50 are free.

Thanks for reading and rating my review.

Summary: Wood primer paint