Choosing the right paint for your project isn’t just about choosing your desired colors. When selecting paints, it is vital to consider their coverage, hide, flow, sheen, and durability. Your paint choice differentiates between a successful project and a messy attempt. It is, therefore, crucial to carefully choose what paint you’ll be using - and the first step is knowing when and what primer to use.

Unless you use self-priming paint, primers will be the first layer of any painting project. They cover old paint and seal cracks to ensure a smooth surface for your next coats, making them especially useful when painting previously unpainted surfaces, painting over a darker color or painting over different paints (i.e., layering latex paint over an oil-based one). Primers help you finish your project faster while ensuring a silky-smooth topcoat. At The Color Store, we have several interior and exterior primers that put your painting project in the right direction.

Every excellent project starts with a good bucket of paint, and at The Color Store, we offer our customers nothing less. As a Benjamin Moore® dealer, The Color Store offers over 20 primers and first coats that cover various residential and commercial painting projects. Popular primers include:

Fresh Start® acrylic and alkyd interior primers are specially formulated for internal performance.

• The All-Purpose Primer and High-Hiding All-Purpose Primer protects most surfaces, excellently sealing and blocking out unattractive stains.
• The Fresh Start® Undercoater and Primer/Sealer boasts exceptional enamel holdout for a more vibrant, long-lasting topcoat.
  

Fresh Start® exterior primers include the All-Purpose and High-Hiding All-Purpose Primers and a more job-specific Deck and Siding Primer. This exterior primer suppresses tannin staining and penetrates deep into new and old exterior wood, creating a durable first layer for hard-wearing paint jobs.

The three Benjamin Moore® Professional Primers dry fast to allow professionals to continue to make portfolio-worthy progress.

• The Multi-Purpose Primer is versatile and dries quickly into a mildew-resistant coating on interior and exterior surfaces.
• The Fast-Sanding Primer dries into a sandable surface in as little as one hour, garnering supremely smooth results.
• Lastly, the Drywall Primer seals and hides imperfections in all drywall surfaces.
  

INSL-X® Primers are ideal for painter-specific needs. While the Prime All® Multi-Surface Latex Primer Sealer and Aqua Lock® Plus Primer/Sealer cover interior and exterior surfaces equally easily and evenly, the other INSL-X® primers are engineered for superior adhesion to specific surfaces.

• Prime Lock Plus consistently covers plaster, wood, and drywall and performs exceptionally well on tricky glossy surfaces.
• Stix® Waterborne Bonding Primer also adheres well to notoriously hard-to-coat surfaces like PVC, vinyl, glass, glaze, and more.
• Block Out® Exterior Tannin Blocking Primer is a latex primer powerful enough to coat the entire outside of your home.
• The Reduced Odor Oil-Based Primer blocks stains as effectively as the rest of the INSL-X® primers without giving off as much odor.
• The High Build Peel Bonding Primer seals chipped, weathered, and otherwise uneven wood, metal, and masonry.
• Finally, the High Build Latex Primer is a professional-quality sandable primer ideal for new construction surfaces.
  

Besides our Benjamin Moore® Paints, our high-quality selection is completed by Axalta™, TriTech, ARBORCOAT®, Ready Seal®, and AkzoNobel products. Call or contact us today for more expert painting advice. We have three convenient Midwest locations in Omaha, Nebraska; Des Moines, Iowa; and Waukee, Iowa (coming soon). We offer our expertise to these communities and their surrounding areas.