On Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:59:52 +0100, Peter Johnson
wrote:

Paint manufacture is changing to comply with EU requirements but it
used to be that most undercoat was oil based and took time to dry.
Primer is water based and dries quickly. Pimer/undercoat is water
based and is usually used by contractors working on new timber -
starting in the morning, it is dry enough for the gloss to go on the
same day.

I used two coats of primer because I had run out of undercoat, and yes
it was for beneath white gloss.

I had to go past a shed today so I popped in to get some undercoat for
next time. The u/coat is half the price of primer, so I think that's
one good reason to use a coat of each rather than two coats of primer.
What about the other way round? Could you use undercoat to prime and
use two coats of that?

The tins of combined primer and u/coat said you needed two coats which
IMHO defeats the object of having a combined product. If you are going
to apply two coats, you may as well use two tins!

I think u/coat tends to be thicker, whereas primer seems quite
"watery" so I wonder whether this is another advantage of doing it
properly that the undercoat will cover everything underneath.

Has anyone used Toolstation undercoats and gloss paints? Are they any
good?

Thanks.