Painting - Paint Help

We just bought our first house and are going to start painting in Feb/March before we move in. The people currently living there(until Feb) are smokers(I don't know how heavy they smoke or in which rooms, am assuming the whole house). When we go in I plan on using Zissner primer and then painting with Benjamin Moore paint. Will BM paint go over the Zissner? I haven't been in the paint store yet but am trying to get prepared.

Also I was watching some home improvement show and instead of taping the small area that was being painted, the girl was using a paint shield type thing to make her line and catch drips. It almost looked like a dust pan. Will I be able to get that at a paint store or Home Depot easily or is that something I am going to have to hunt for? I have never seen one before, but then again never had to look for one. Thanks!

You can put any paint over the zinsser primers.

I've never seen the paint shield you describe. Best just to buy top quality tools and do it free hand. The technique has been descibed here many times.

MK what you described is a flat paint edger. They do sell them at Home Depot etc. They can be anywhere from 12 to 18 inches long. But like Bob said ,Try "cutting in" your line along the ceiling or where have you. Use a good 2 inch brush, this website has a good section on how to.

Will I be ok not washing the walls if they aren't heavy smokers? I am on a real time crunch and don't know if I will have time to do it. If I just go in and do the Zissner and the paint will the smoke bleed thru? Thanks.

If the stains don't show evidence of running down the wall, priming with Zinsser alone should be enough.

Technically washing the walls is the proper prep.....however I can't count the times I've splashed either kilz or zinsser over nicotine stained walls. I've had no problems thus far with any bleeds. I will say using the oil based kilz or the alcohol based zinsser is the key......not their latex products. Downfall of using either of these is you will need ventilation.........stuff will really get ya sick without clean air intake. Some cases with this I'll use a respirator and I'll have to keep changing my filters. As for your edges a brush is the way to fly....takes a little practice but easy to do......loading the brush properly is key. Paint shields have their places.....only place I use them is around screens...their big downfall is they slow you down.....can't hold a paint can with a sheild in one hand and a brush in the other. You also have to wipe the edge after each cut otherwise that sheild that you think is effective turns out to be a big mess. Another thing you can do is mask the ceiling edge(providing it's smooth textured)with 3/4" 3m blue tape then cut your walls.....this will give you a clean line. Masking is time consuming but if your inexperienced it's the way to go.