# Painting over green interior walls - hard to cover



## epson (Jul 28, 2010)

Use a primer and tint it grey and you should be good to go…


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## marliz (Dec 11, 2010)

Wow, thanks for the fast reply. I was hoping to be told the primer wasn't necessary but if it is, that's better than not being happy with my new paint!


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## spraygunn (Nov 14, 2010)

Hey marliz,
If you're going to apply a finish coat of a light yellow, I would use a white primer rather than gray. Yellow is a very difficult color to make cover and the lighter the base coat underneath, the easier it will be for your finish yellow coat to cover.

Steve
www.handpaintedbysteve.com


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## Faron79 (Jul 16, 2008)

If your green is an intense "Mountain Dew"/lime kinda green, then I'd consider a white primer.

However....if you're doing a light yellow, it's gonna be in a WHITE tint-base. Meaning...this base is very opaque. A little bit of Yellow colorant ISN'T gonna affect the opacity AT ALL.

If you still see green thru 2 coats of a white-base...your yellow is going on WAY TOO THIN.
Simple as that.

Faron


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## ratherbefishin' (Jun 16, 2007)

marliz, I would think two coats would cover, but because I can't see it from here I can't be sure....so I'll give you my rule of thumb: When in doubt, even a little bit, prime it! 
BM makes a zero voc primer in the Natura line. Since your topcoat is a light yellow, I agree with Steve, use white. :thumbsup:



Yep, what Faron said, too!


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## marliz (Dec 11, 2010)

Thank you for all the suggestions. Would it make a difference to add a tint of light yellow to a white primer?


I'm also wondering about the new Royal paint at Ace hardware. It's closer to where we live (we already made two trips to an Ace that carried Aura and Natura since our local one does not. They say Royal is low odor. I tried a search on the forums without result. Maybe it's too new?

Has anyone had experience with Royal for coverage, odor and washability?

I woke early thinking "paint." It seems like the Natura line tends more to earthy yellows rather the soft "real" yellow, I'm looking for. I started out with too many people giving advice trying to help me match the blah gray carpet. Talk about confusion. 

We chose a bathroom tile with some gray and warmer taupes and earthy colors but no yellow so I kept trying to find something I liked that would blend with the carpet and tile. Finally decided that, since yellow is my favorite and cheers me up and I never get tired of it, I'm at the point that i don't care if it matches the carpet.
When we bought this house a couple of months ago I thought gray was a neutral and would be easy to match. Big mistake. And the whole house is gray!


Rant ended. Thank you.


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## Matthewt1970 (Sep 16, 2008)

If you still have unpainted walls then of course the yellow will look green. Yellow can be tough. A primer "may" help but if you need two coats over the primer when all you needed to cover th green was 2 coats, then you are just adding work.


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## marliz (Dec 11, 2010)

Matthew, the walls have a limish green latex paint which was put on over the original grey paint that the builder (who lived there two years) used to paint every wall in the house. The carpet is also gray. I can use deep red accents to liven up the living area, but since the people we bought the house from painted the master bedroom this lime green (not my taste at all) I want to have at least one room in light yellow (my favorite color.) Problem seems to be that green tends to affect overlays of yellow paint even with two quality paint layers.

Thanks for responding!


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## DIYHelper (Feb 28, 2007)

marliz said:


> Thank you for all the suggestions. Would it make a difference to add a tint of light yellow to a white primer?
> 
> 
> I'm also wondering about the new Royal paint at Ace hardware. It's closer to where we live (we already made two trips to an Ace that carried Aura and Natura since our local one does not. They say Royal is low odor. I tried a search on the forums without result. Maybe it's too new?
> ...


If your concerns stem from odors and overall VOC, then you should probably stick with Natura. That paint is zero VOC to start, and Benjamin Moore uses a water based colorant system which means no VOC gets added when they tint it. Royal, interestingly enough, I can't easily find their technical data online, but more often than not it will have some VOC in the Paint and the colorant.

As for the color, paint and color are separate decisions. You can get any color in Natura - it will not be "earthy". And that goes for any paint really as well. As long as you have a color chip, most commercial paints will be able to achieve that color.


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## marliz (Dec 11, 2010)

We ended up playing it safe and used a low VOC primer then two coats of Natura giving us a perfect shade of yellow. 

While my daughter was painting my son-in-law was doing some remodeling in our small master bath, tearing out an oversized whirlpool tub that made the room seem all tub, putting in a new ceramic tile floor and cabinets for needed storage where the tub was. They both did an awesome job in just a few days and headed home tonight. 

We still need to have a countertop installed over the new cabinets and replace the top over the existing vanity. And I need to decide if I want to be boldlly daring and paint the walls deep blue, adding yellow accents and blue accents in the bedroom to tie it together. Or play it safe and choose a neutral paint that will blend with the yellow bedroom. 

I'm not daring by nature but since the room is small and we could repaint if we hated it, I'm really tempted to have fun with "daring!" 

Thank you for the advice!


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## housepaintingny (Jul 25, 2009)

You shouldn't need a primer if your using a quality paint. I've painted over greens, blues, and reds with light colors, whites, antique white countless times and 2 coats of a quality paint has always covered. If it was reversed where you where painting the green over yellow then you would need a primer as the yellow would actually bleed through the green. Lighter colors are harder to cover with deep base colors. But as far as covering green with yellow you shouldn't need a primer.


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## jsheridan (Jan 30, 2011)

If the yellow you are using is a pastel, then you have to prime over green. In fact, pastel color numbers have an asterisk that states a primer may be required over certain colors. What you need is a high hide primer. I know MAB makes a great primer, Super Bond, it has incredible hide. One coat over bare drywall looks like finish. Tell the paint store you need a high hide primer and have them tint it toward your finish color, three coats and your done.


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## Jay 78 (Mar 2, 2011)

EmilyBark said:


> Hey I feel you should go in for a environment frien dly colr those like Green, it really adds much glow to your house, else just tryu it out...


Why bump a three month old thread just to suggest a paint color? The OP had already chosen a color....and already finished the project. 

Thankfully, this is a thread that the OP had the courtesy to follow up on. Some people will ask for help then never be heard from again, and those "cliffhanger" threads aren't necessarily going to be helpful to those who search the forum. 

This thread isn't one of them.


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## jsheridan (Jan 30, 2011)

Jay and Tom, I just noticed this thread is a couple of months old. However, it will still have some value. In the future, these threads will be searched by others who will find all posts relative to this topic.


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