Painting wood black - skip primer?

[motek]

I have heard arguments for both sides of this and would love to get some more authoritative answers.

I am looking at painting some platforms black and would like to skip priming. I would like to just use flat interior latex. The facing on these platforms is very smooth.

If you are painting wood or plywood black, can you skip priming it? What factors are involved in this decision?

 

[BrianWolfe]

We use Rosco's Tough Prime in black and it covers in one coat without priming. I love it. Saves on labor which is my major cost for any project.

Rosco US : Scenic : Tough Prime

 

[SHARYNF]

I have had success using Rustolium flat black on wood one coat. It used to be the old trick in building and painting Speaker cabinets

Sharyn

 

[Van]

The only times I have ever had issues painting sheetgoods black was if someone got the bright idea of trying to thin the paint. In that case the grain of the plywood tended to show through. For most decking and the like I use a Miller paint product called Acro-Lux. It's a local supplier and a relatively generic paint.

 

[NickVon]

Rosco Black Tough Prime

Pricey in comparison to perhaps other solutions, but it really is an excellent product, i always have a 5g bucket of it on hand for touch up/masking/and blacking out things.

 

[josh88]

we use a normal interior flat black for a lot of our needs off the top of my head I can't place who makes it, it may be behr, but straight out of the bucket it covers fine. so its certainly doable with regular interior paint.

 

[scenerymaker]

When I started, I primed with ordinary white primer, then top coated with black. It didn't cover well, so I ended up putting a total of 3 coats on. Then when somebody scratched it, the white showed through badly. Not good, all around. When I gave up the white primer, the black saoked into the wood, making scratched much less evident, and it covered in one coat too. Everybody but the paint salesman on commision was happy.

 

[ship]

Agreed with the not watering down of fresh wood in perhaps not needing a primer but I think perhaps needing a second coat in doing so. If pre-painted... sanding and primer no doubt would be needed.