# PVA primer vs. Tinted primer?



## 1910NE (Sep 5, 2010)

i prefer tinted primer, but that may be more of a personal choice. i would take it back, and then head over to Sherwin Williams for your paint needs. 

for sure don't buy any "1 coat" paint.


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## HandyBrad (Dec 22, 2010)

what advantages does the tinted primer have over the PVA primer? Or is it strictly just a personal preference?


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## Paintexas (Dec 22, 2010)

You are fine with pva primer. I would just take it back and have it tinted. Tinted primer helps with coverage. I Have to agree with 191 about getting your material from an actual paint store. You will get better products and much better advice.


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## ccarlisle (Jul 2, 2008)

Someone please explain what a 'pva' primer and a 'tinted' primer are, and what is the difference.
:huh:


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## 1910NE (Sep 5, 2010)

tinted primer is any primer that you have tinted (color added) to come close to, or match your finish coat. PVA primer is billed as a "high hide" primer that will do a good job sealing new drywall.

my opinion is that any good quality primer will do the same thing.....but thats just one opinion.


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

you are painting you're walls with semi gloss??


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## Faron79 (Jul 16, 2008)

Echoing what Chrisn said!!

Why are ya using S/G on the walls?!
I could understand it in Bathrooms...maybe a kitchen, but the whole house?!?
Usually S/G is just for doors, trim, cabinets, furniture, etc.

For a "correct" answer on PVA primer...
Poly-Vinyl-Acetate "PVA".
* It's a very basic type of primer, especially in a "Contractor's-grade"!
* The PVA is basically what Elmers Glue is!
* Every budget is different, but I'd AT LEAST get a top-notch PVA primer.
* Better yet...consider a MUCH better all-purpose primer like Zinsser's 123 Latex, C2-One Latex, ACE-Royal's Enamel-Undercoater, etc.
* This class of better primers has MUCH better "Enamel holdout", meaning they're a much better barrier than PVA-class primers.
* One FULL coat of these kinda primers are = to THREE coats of a cheap PVA-Class primer. I'm DEAD serious there...
* For weird analogy:
1) Bare drywall is like painting over a thirsty swamp. Most of your paint obviously gets sucked into the muck.
2) PVA primers help decently...IF a full enough coat is applied. This is sorta equivalent to a tossing a canvas tarp over the swamp. Still somewhat porous.
3) Top-end primers (NOT PVA primers!) are kinda like a sheet of plexiglass! MUCH MORE sealed-off from the thirsty sheetrock/joint compound.

>>> The better the primer...the better the topcoats sheen-eveness, durability, and adhesion.

The "tinted-primer for coverage" argument:
(this is often a word-definitions issue)
* If coverage means "more sq. ft. covered per gallon" from the PAINT...NO. Background color (tinted primer) makes no difference in sq.-footage covered from the paint.
* To some people "coverage" means "Opacity" of the topcoats. Some deep/vivid colors need a colored background to show the actual paint color better.
* If your paint color is ANY light, medium, or medium-deep color, tinted primer does nothing. White primer will do perfectly fine, assuming your topcoats aren't being pushed too thin!!
* What DOES matter is how good the primer ITSELF is!!

Faron


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## ccarlisle (Jul 2, 2008)

No, no you silly man, he's not painting the walls with 'semi-gloss'...he's using "PRIMER'. So - he isn't for at least two reasons that even I can see from way over here: he hasn't got the right roller cover, hasn't even asked which one he should be using, seeing this is winter - nor does he have the blue shirt to say nothing of not being to "code". 

See semi-gloss has nothing to do with PVA and much less with tintable paints. He hasn't been to a real paint store, so he may be confused over all these terms that painters use, like "latex", "sealer", "cut -in", and that odd one "acrylac" or something like that. I heard someone talking about "lakkers" and 'flat bases'. sheesh...might as well have been greek.

Nope. He's asking about that new technology where you can make a finished coat look just like the sample they gave you by adding different 'tints'; it's called 'PVA - "Post-Verifiable Additions" - but I think it's only for oil-based latexes. Am I wrong or what? 

:laughing:


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

ccarlisle said:


> No, no you silly man, he's not painting the walls with 'semi-gloss'...he's using "PRIMER'. So - he isn't for at least two reasons that even I can see from way over here: he hasn't got the right roller cover, hasn't even asked which one he should be using, seeing this is winter - nor does he have the blue shirt to say nothing of not being to "code".
> 
> See semi-gloss has nothing to do with PVA and much less with tintable paints. He hasn't been to a real paint store, so he may be confused over all these terms that painters use, like "latex", "sealer", "cut -in", and that odd one "acrylac" or something like that. I heard someone talking about "lakkers" and 'flat bases'. sheesh...might as well have been greek.
> 
> ...


Read the original post, slowley:yes::whistling2:


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## ccarlisle (Jul 2, 2008)

:laughing::laughing::laughing:

No, I caught that chrisn...but the nonsense of this whole thread got the best of me. Happy Holidays, my friend.


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

I understand and the same to you:thumbsup:


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## HandyBrad (Dec 22, 2010)

ccarlisle said:


> No, no you silly man, he's not painting the walls with 'semi-gloss'...he's using "PRIMER'. So - he isn't for at least two reasons that even I can see from way over here: he hasn't got the right roller cover, hasn't even asked which one he should be using, seeing this is winter - nor does he have the blue shirt to say nothing of not being to "code".
> 
> See semi-gloss has nothing to do with PVA and much less with tintable paints. He hasn't been to a real paint store, so he may be confused over all these terms that painters use, like "latex", "sealer", "cut -in", and that odd one "acrylac" or something like that. I heard someone talking about "lakkers" and 'flat bases'. sheesh...might as well have been greek.
> 
> ...






Thanks Faron for answering the question. :thumbsup:


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## Matthewt1970 (Sep 16, 2008)

PVA prime is garbage. It is really hard to tell you even put anything on the walls after you use it which leads to more coats of paint. You first coat of paint after that still soaks way into the walls which does not give you the kind of surface a real primer will. 

Merry Christmas Everyone.


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## ccarlisle (Jul 2, 2008)

Oh! I missed some fun on this thread....well Christmas will do that to the best of them - but in this case of a nonsense thread, the Christmas break was probably a blessing.

See, only 'faron' came remotely close to giving a correct answer to the (still) nonsense question: "PVA primer vs tinted primer"?

That question is almost impossible to answer because it is the same thing as asking: an apple or an orange? 

PVA primer is a primer made with a polyvinyl acetate binder resin, the way paints were made in the beginning some 40 years ago. They are the cheaper grades of primer as PVA resin like the ones I used to sell are plentiful and therefore cheap.

Acrylic paints are usually made with 100% acrylic binder resins, but these are more expensive to buy. Only the top lines of every manufacturer have 100% acrylic resins in them but they are often worth the added $.

You can tint either of them...that's why the OP question made no sense. He might as well have asked: "a Ford - or a green car?" Neither is mutually exclusive of the other therefore a choice between the two is meaningless. 

You can tint any primer or paint you want within limits; however you have less control over the binder resin inside the can, apart from going to say a BenjaminMoore or a SherwinWilliams and getting their best.

This point was lost on all but faron and chrisn, so these two alone deserve to know this. 

The rest can use Behr LOL


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

ccarlisle said:


> Oh! I missed some fun on this thread....well Christmas will do that to the best of them - but in this case of a nonsense thread, the Christmas break was probably a blessing.
> 
> See, only 'faron' came remotely close to giving a correct answer to the (still) nonsense question: "PVA primer vs tinted primer"?
> 
> ...


:yes::laughing:

Thanks:thumbsup:


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## Faron79 (Jul 16, 2008)

Thanks CCA, Chrisn, and the OP/HandyBrad!

I was kinda wondering what "twilight-zone" thread I had gotten myself into!:huh:

I thought I had gotten too geeky :nerd:there for my own good!

CCA...watch out...New Years parties are comin' up......maybe you should stay away from forums......:laughing::laughing::drink:

Faron


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## HandyBrad (Dec 22, 2010)

I used Sherwin Williams primer...not tinted.


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