My dad told me to always prime raw wood before painting, and I learned the hard way he was right.

I was painting some new pine shelves for my garage last month and skipped the primer to save an hour. The paint looked fine at first, but after two days it started to peel off in sheets where the knots were. I had to strip all four shelves back down and start over, which took me a whole Saturday. Has anyone found a good primer that dries fast for small jobs like this?

3 comments

3 Comments

susan_allen11d ago

My uncle's old workbench had the same problem with the knot sap bleeding through. I use Zinsser BIN shellac primer for pine now, it dries in under an hour and really locks those knots down. That peeling feeling is the worst, isn't it? All that extra work for trying to cut one little corner.

victor_nelson11d ago

That peeling is the absolute worst. Been there with a cheap bookshelf, and the regret is instant. Susan's right about shellac primer being the only thing that really works.

victor_nelson11d ago

Wait, under an hour? Ngl, I've been letting that stuff sit overnight because it always felt tacky. You're telling me it's actually dry that fast? I might have been wasting a whole day between coats for no reason.