# Masonry neutralizers necessary?



## ekk (Dec 11, 2013)

Hi,

My wife and I just bought a house, with no interior paint (I'm not from the US and the cheaper, unfinished houses are pretty common here). Now, it's painting practice here to always use a masonry neutralizer on concrete walls before painting. They say so that the paint will adhere better. But when I searched youtube and google for painting guides, I didn't find one that mention using a neutralizer. Most only recommend these steps:
1. clean surface
2. apply primer sealer
3. skim coat
4. paint finish

So, is it really necessary to use a neutralizer? It seems that it is only widely used here in the Philippines and not anywhere else. I wouldn't mind saving some money if it isn't necessary.


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

here is all you need, + a quality paint of course

http://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/products/catalog/loxon-concrete-masonry-primer/


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## ekk (Dec 11, 2013)

chrisn said:


> here is all you need, + a quality paint of course
> 
> http://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/products/catalog/loxon-concrete-masonry-primer/


So, all I need is a primer?


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## kkeith (Oct 4, 2011)

Cement interior walls are not common in the US. One of the big issues of painting new concrete is the alkalinity of new concrete, which can burn through paint. This usually neutralizes with curing after a couple months (before painting) depending on the type of concrete used. There are spray on ph testers available to see if the concrete has neutralized. That is why your local tradition is to use a neutralizing wash. The primer suggested by Chrisn is designed to deal with this issue. However I would also follow the practices common in your area as they have been developed through trial and error I would suspect.


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## ekk (Dec 11, 2013)

Thank you kkeith. That explains why. The walls on our house has been finished for, I think, a minimum of 3 months now so I'm guessing the concrete is already cured. But I'm gonna try using a ph tester just to be sure. 

A lot of construction here involves hollow concrete blocks and concrete finish and not all has the luxury of time to wait for the concrete to cure so I guess that explains why they always use neutralizers here. But in our case, it's been a couple of months already.

I just don't want to go through all the trouble of applying neutralizers if I didn't have to. I'm planning to paint the whole house by myself (with help from friends, maybe) and not get professionals so I want to keep it as efficient as possible.


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