Basements, Attics and Crawl Spaces - Drywall painted without primer

Cutting out sections of the wall to repair a plumbing leak revealed that the painter skipped the primer step when finishing our basement and ground floor hallway about a year ago. He put on only one coat of Benjamin Moore latex flat paint directly onto the standard 1/4" drywall. We suspect, but don't know, that he may have done the same for the ceiling.

Since it's mostly underground, how bad is this and should we do anything about it, both in terms of painting or trying to get a refund?

We noticed that the coverage wasn't great, but other than the water damage from the leak, we haven't had any problems that we know of, yet.

If it covered the wall it does not matter if a primer was used.

Basically the paint acted as a primer that might have covered a little better since it would have had more pigment in it.The biggest issue is appearance,if it doesn't look like what you want you could coat over it with more top coat and that should improve the looks otherwise it isn't going to effect paint performance etc all that much.

The water staining is another matter as the paint will have a lesser ability to block bleed through than a stain blocking primer or a primer of any type would.So if the leak caused staining and you just paint over it there's a good chance it will bleed through.You need to use a stain blocking primer to stop that and a primed point followed by top coat may not match up to a single coat of paint on drywall.

Also if you paid for primer and paint and only got the paint he owes you money.

The truth is - if there was no primer, the paint usually doesn't stick.

Since there is no real way to get the old paint off - other then to remove all the drywall and start all over.

My advice is to buy a universal primer such as Kilz and repaint the walls.

If the paint bonded with the paper, all is well and good, if it decides to peel, them the Kilz will probably cover over it and seal it and make it more impervious to water stains and moisture getting into the paint and causing it to peel.

If you are going to cover the paint with a primer which you may have to do to block staining or have a blended finish over the entire area that looks good at least use a better quality product than Kilz.Zinsser and most well known paint lines have better quality products than Kilz.

Kilz has high name recognition but is produced at a promotional product quality level.

I know a lot of builders who do there painting inhouse often skip the primer. I've never known this to be a big issue as far as adhesion but it does hurt the looks, touch up ability and sometimes the washability and wear of the paint job. As long as the drywall was clean [no dust or other foriegn matter] the paint should adhere fine.

Most primers won't magically suck thru the existing paint and lock it down. Water stains require a solvent based primer to seal the stain so it won't bleed thru the paint. While some latex primers will hold back the stain for a short while, in the long run they usually fail :eek:

While 1/4" drywall is stanard in mobile homes, 1/2" is the norm for conventionally built houses.

btw - welcome to the forums Karena!

Primer Latex finish paint can often be used as its own primer however; it is recommended that you use a quality latex drywall primer or primer-sealer for best results. This primer will penetrate somewhat into the surface for a good bond and creates a barrier for the finish coat to bond to for a more uniform appearance. It is probably best to stay away from the cheaper wallboard primers, as they have no surface properties and would not leave a suitable base for some finishes. There are oil-based primers that may be used for this purpose, but for the most part stick with the latex. From: Interior Paint (http://paintingyourhouse.info/interior_paint.htm)

You lose your drywall warranty:
19.11 A good quality drywall primer shall be applied prior to
decoration. (See A.2.3 and A.4.3.1.) From: http://www.gypsum.org/pdf/GA-216-07.pdf
Be safe, Gary