On Fri, 18 Jan 2013 08:42:25 -0500, "dadiOH"
wrote:

wrote:
I've been trying to help my grandmother out with fixing up her house.
It's in dire need of being repainted. She wants the color to be blue
and I am praying that there is some neighborhood law that will make
her change her mind. haha! Anyway, there is A LOT of work that needs
to be done before we can do any painting, but I've been reading tons
of information (as this is my first time having to do something like
this) on how to go about this and what products to use. I have
narrowed my choices down to a few different types of paint and
primers and thought that I would just see what you guys have
used/suggestions. Right now, the one that I am leaning mostly towards
is Mad Dog. Supposedly it is flexible and can withstand weather
extremes (she lives in Minnesota) and it's non toxic (she has a
little dog and her young great grandkids come to visit-not my
children haha!). So, if anyone has used Mad Dog specifically and
could let me know what you think of it, or if you know of any other
products that have the same qualities, I'd appreciate any info you
have! I'm looking for non-toxic/eco-friendly, long lasting (I really
don't want to have to paint this dang house again anytime soon!), can
handle weather extremes, and something that I don't have to spend a
TON of time cleaning up. Being able to spray it, of course would be
important too! haha! Thanks in advance!

I've never heard of Mad Dog, DAGS, all they claim would also be done by any
decent primer. I'm not a pro painter but I use - and have specified
elsewhere - Zinsser 1-2-3.

Regardless of what primer you wind up with, the place will need surface
prep. Power washing will remove dirt and grime, most of any chalking and at
least loose paint (you may still need to sand/scrape bad areas). You also
need to caulk.

Once those things are done, a primer will adhere well even if there is still
some chalking.

If you have the primer tinted *CLOSE TO* the final top coat color, the top
coat will hide better. I wouldn't tint it exactly as the top coat, makes it
too hard to see missed areas.
Personaly, I would tint the primer to closely match the ORIGINAL
colour of the house so primed spots do not stand out through the new
finish coat if the finish coat does not hide terribly well.

We still don't know what you are painting. Are you painting siding, or
just trim. Is the siding wood,, or something else, like Johns Manville
asbestos tile, hardboard, or ?

When we know this, we can be of a lot more help.