Please recommend a primer for painting

[dreamingofnature]

Hello

I am doing some painting to a communal hallway which has been badly neglected for a very long time. Really, it probably all needs replastering, however this isn't an option right now.

I need to paint over:

-Painted walls (they are matt), will repaint with silk so they can be wiped down
-A wall which had a leak and the paint is half coming off down to the plaster
-Painted wood skirts, door frame etc
-Varnished old wood - not in the best of states

I will prep as best as I can. I think I need a primer for this - but is there one primer I can use for it all? There are so many available, I'd like to avoid buying more than one if possible.

Any recommendations?

Thanks

Look up the Zinesser range like peel stop for example.

These seal the surface a bit like a layer of light glue that you can paint over. They are good for sealing peeling paint and allowing you to paint on top, but you may have to skim over afterwards with some filler if you are looking for a smooth finish.

I think you're going to struggle to get one primer to do everything tbh.

I would strongly caution against using silk paint because it is an absolute nightmare to paint over in future with anything other than silk. You can get scrubbable matt which should do the trick. Trade paints are only a bit more expensive and will give better coverage and finish.

The wall that has paint coming off will need as much of the flaking paint scraping off as possible, sand the edges back and then I would seal the rest of the paint with zinsser peel stop. It goes a long way so you probably won't need much. The edges will show under paint because you'll have a different number of layers, so I would use something like this https://www.wickes.co.uk/Polycell-Ready-Mixed-Finishing-Skim---2-5L/p/173171 to even it out.

I would use zinsser BIN over the varnish and then a trade primer over that and the rest of the woodwork. Make sure you sand all the woodwork down first for good adhesion and then lightly between coats of primer and top coat for a good finish.

Dulux professional primer and undercoat is really beautiful thick stuff. It will do the woodwork that has been painted but not sure about painting over varnish as I haven't done it before. The wall you could line with lining paper if you want to make them a bit smoother? If not then hand sand gently around where the water damage is,paint with a thin layer of gloss and this will stop the water mark coming through the top paint layer.

You prime wood, you don't need to prime plaster. Plaster you 'mist coat' if it hasn't got a coat of paint on- a thinned coat of matt emulsion. The paint pot or manufacturer's website should tell you how much water to use to thin it for mist coating- can be 10% or 5%, but you need to check. For newly put up gypsum plaster there are specific paints or you can mist as described.

I wouldn't use vinyl silk on ceilings except in steamy areas like bathroom/kitchen, and for walls even in those places there are other options if you use trade paints like Dulux. Silk shows every imperfection on surfaces as if under a searchlight and is a pain to cover if you want to change to matt later. Trade paint ranges also often include special easy-wash-down matt paints for high-wear walls like staircases.
Gloss, satinwood and the like belong on woodwork only.
Prepping bare wood- a wood primer, then an undercoat, or an all-in-one primer undercoat. Stick to acrylic if you're inexperienced- spirit based paints are better for wood but you need good skills and to know what you're doing, they smell more, and take a lot longer to dry.
On old gloss paint or varnish, sand it to get a 'key' (it just needs to feel a bit rough, you don't need to sand all the paint/varnish off unless it's a real mess) and then undercoat it before the gloss/satinwood coat.

Homebase basecoat is good, fairly cheap and it’s water based.

I’ve just painted over silk painted walls from the 90’s ( they were under old wallpaper). I did use Zinsser mould resistant paint around the windows though.
I simply washed down with sugar soap, used caulk on any rough patches/holes and put on two coats of the basecoat - it is VERY fast drying so you need to be quick.
My new ultra matt paint has gone on beautifully.