How many coats of paint....

[milkmaid]

...in cream or a similar color would it take to cover up red walls?

Now that daylights savings time is limiting my outdoor activities after work, guess it's time to work on the inside of the house. :lol: Two coats? 4 coats? If it's a 10x14'-ish room (bedroom, painted red, seriously?) and I want to do at least 3 walls, might leave an accent wall.... how many buckets of paint should I plan on?

 

[Named'em Tamed'em]

Two coats probably, 3 gal.my guess. 200-300 sq. Ft per gallon .

 

[MudHog]

Straight paint will use more being a light color going over a dark color. I would suggest a coat of primer and then paint.

 

[D2Cat]

Need to get a sealer, or you'll be painting all winter! (and it still may bleed through)

 

[CottageFarm]

2 coats in a good quality (doesn't have to be the super expensive stuff, though) paint, eggshell finish. 2 gallons should be sufficient. How well a color covers a previous has more to do with the new color than the old color. White, black, yellow and green pigments cover well, they are very opaque. Red and blue do not cover well and require more coats to cover anything under them. Lower sheens also cover better than higher sheens.

 

[Alan]

When covering red, or other darker colors, with white it will bleed through and will start looking pink, even after a little time has passed. I agree primer first will help, one coat of primer and two coats of paint is my suggestion. As far as how much, I would start with one gallon of primer and one of paint. When you buy the paint or primer just make sure the store has several cans on the shelf. I learned it was easier and cheaper to buy a gallon to start and when that was gone I could estimate pretty close how much more was needed and it was waiting at the store for me.

 

[1982vett]

I'd say a coat of Kilz
http://www.kilz.com/products/?&gclid=CM ... aQodfIcJ5Q

and probably two of paint. Course being a white primer, you might be lucky and need one coat of paint if going with a cream color of paint.
I'd spend the money on good paint too. I'd hate to paint so two coats is better than three or four.

 

[Rafter S]

I agree with the others about buying good paint. I helped a friend paint years ago. He had bought cheap white paint, and had me painting in a blue bedroom. By the time I'd get one coat on it would already have started to dry, so I just kept going in circles in the room. I don't remember how many coats it took. I probably got dizzy and lost count.

 

[greybeard]

Red bedroom?
Makes one wonder what line of work some previous owner might have had in mind...Seal it, prime it, paint it.

 

[Alan]

Red bedroom?
Makes one wonder what line of work some previous owner might have had in mind...

:lol: :lol: Red would not be my first choice in any room. Soon after my first wife and I were married, in the early 80's, I learned she needed to change room colors about every 15 minutes. Being the good new husband I helped paint and paint and paint and.... Paint. Then when she informed me of her latest color plan I just smiled and said have fun.... I think she understood.

 

[Rafter S]

Red bedroom?
Makes one wonder what line of work some previous owner might have had in mind...

:lol: :lol: Red would not be my first choice in any room. Soon after my first wife and I were married, in the early 80's, I learned she needed to change room colors about every 15 minutes. Being the good new husband I helped paint and paint and paint and.... Paint. Then when she informed me of her latest color plan I just smiled and said have fun.... I think she understood.

When we re-modeled our house my wife wanted to paint our bedroom a sort of pink color (I think it was called Dusty Rose), and was concerned that I wouldn't go along with it. I told here I didn't care, since most of the time when I was in there it was dark and I had my eyes closed anyway.

 

[Bestoutwest]

:lol: :lol: Red would not be my first choice in any room. Soon after my first wife and I were married, in the early 80's, I learned she needed to change room colors about every 15 minutes. Being the good new husband I helped paint and paint and paint and.... Paint. Then when she informed me of her latest color plan I just smiled and said have fun.... I think she understood.

My wife loves to paint and change the colors of the walls. We've made an agreement that I get to choose the color out of the approximate 300 she's chosen and then she gets to paint. I'll help do the middle (read 'easy') parts but I'm not bending and stretching OR TAPING ever again! I hate that stuff.

 

[MistyMorning]

I'd say a coat of Kilz
http://www.kilz.com/products/?&gclid=CM ... aQodfIcJ5Q

and probably two of paint. Course being a white primer, you might be lucky and need one coat of paint if going with a cream color of paint.
I'd spend the money on good paint too. I'd hate to paint so two coats is better than three or four.

I would definitely go with this plan. Only thing to add is to let each coat dry really well in between applications.

 

[greybeard]

:lol: :lol: Red would not be my first choice in any room. Soon after my first wife and I were married, in the early 80's, I learned she needed to change room colors about every 15 minutes. Being the good new husband I helped paint and paint and paint and.... Paint. Then when she informed me of her latest color plan I just smiled and said have fun.... I think she understood.

An Oregon Ducks fan I presume.......different color scheme each week....

 

[milkmaid]

The red raised my eyebrows a little too... it's not the master bedroom, it's one of the guest rooms. It's not even well done, and the previous occupants apparently used the wall as a dart board, or else couldn't figure out where they wanted to tack their pictures. It's a little embarrassing to let friends stay there. It's like a mix between a badly painted kids room and 50 shades.... The other guest bedroom has alternating walls in pink and gray. Red gets redone first, then the room with the absurd pink/gray nonsense. The rest of the place is in teal and tan, which is actually really nice.

Funny story, fwiw... since this thread is leaning that way a little anyway, lol... so I moved to the area in June, just me and the dogs, and dedicated the absurd pink/gray room, which faces the street, to be the "puppy room." Meaning, I had a litter of fancy field trial Labrador pups in August and they spent the first couple weeks of life in a whelping box in that room. It's very important for pups under 3 weeks to be in a warm environment, say 90 degrees, since the fatal Canine Herpes Virus replicates at cooler body temperatures. Of course I had the pups under a heat lamp. All day... and all night. Don't forget heat lamps are red. So now I had a window in my house, facing the street, lit up with an odd red light, all night. I'm sure that had the neighborhood talking, LOL....

Laugh at yourself, quick, before anyone else can.... :lol:

I'll go paint shopping this week and see what I can find. I haven't painted in years but it can't be that complicated, right?

Appreciate the suggestions, thanks for the input.

 

[boondocks]

You've gotten real good advice here (I'm not a pro but have spent waaaaay too many hours painting the various houses and rentals I've owned, and grew up doing the same on grandparents' many rentals). Get Benjamin Moore or similar quality if you can. Sherwin Williams used to be the best (and Lowe's now carries some of the SW lines, at least here) but I think they slipped a wee bit in the last Consumer Reports poll. It's still good paint too though. Dover White is a nice SW color (I'd call it a light cream). You'll find a lot of the creams are very dark (more like a tan) once you get them on.

Definitely put a good white primer over it first; it'll likely be cheaper than the finish (cream) paint and cover better.

Only things I'd add: don't use a paint with a lower sheen over a higher sheen wall. For example, if the red is a higher gloss (gloss, or semigloss), you don't want to put a satin or eggshell finish direct over it; it won't adhere well. (You would need to chemically soften it first, or lightly sand it down). Semigloss white for the finish woodwork looks nice (baseboards, door trim, doors, assuming they are painted and not stained). I always like a satin or eggshell finish for the walls; looks classy. Don't use flat except on the ceiling, which gets ceiling white. (Well, some people get funkier but not me).

Good luck--sounds like a fun project. I always think painting etc makes a house feel like it's "yours" now.

 

[Nesikep]

I'm no master painter either, but from the little experience I've had, I have to say you MUST use a primer/sealer over that red.

I found a nice combo was a mocha/with gray accents if the room has adequate light and you don't want bright white.. Our house is dark and wood heated.. we went with bright white and it's turned pretty gray now anyhow!

 

[Jogeephus]

I agree about the primer and it's much cheaper. I don't this has been mentioned but you'll also need some wine. About a bottle to every gallon of paint used.

 

[CottageFarm]

Be advised that there are differences in primers. Most of the primers on the shelf are PVA primers intended for sealing new rock and texture, they are not stain blocker primers, and will be useless for this application. For stain blocking, your main choices will be the Zinzser Bullseye waterbased, (the shellac based is not intended for large surfaces) or Kilz, available in the original oil based and the waterbased formulas. Do not use the original formula if you want to live in your home for several days after application, or unless you have very specific stains that need to be addressed, such as would more typically be found in kitchens and baths.

Surface prep is the most important step. Wipe down the walls with a wet rag to remove dust. If any detergents are used, make sure any residue is removed. If there are any oily or waxy stains on the wall, spot prime with a spray shellac. This also works well for old water or mildew stains. Do not bother with tape, it will only cause heartache because you will get bleedthru somewhere. Use a smaller brush and go slow for cutting in if you're not real steady. Avoid excessive caffeine when cutting in. Keep a damp rag handy. Wet paint is pretty easy to wipe off you make a mistake. Paint ceiling and trim first (if you're painting them). Overlap those paints onto the wall. Cut walls into ceilings, crown, and casing. Cut the top edge of base into the wall. Your life will be easier if you do paint the ceiling when painting the walls, especially if either surface is textured. Bring the ceiling paint down the walls about and inch, then cut the walls into the ceiling, but don't try to take the wall paint all the way to that corner...paint a straight line that is about 1/16 to an 1/8 inch from the corner.

Disclaimer... I do not consider myself a professional painter, but it does account for about 30% of the work we do for clients.

 

[1982vett]

I agree about the primer and it's much cheaper. I don't this has been mentioned but you'll also need some wine. About a bottle to every gallon of paint used.

Jogee....that's just bad....even if it is mostly true. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: