painting white over blue trim

[astraeas]

Hello! I recently purchased a home where the previous owner painted all the trim a medium blue. I'm in the process of painting the trim white. However, I'm having major problems covering the blue paint. I'm first painting on a coat of latex primer (tried Behr primer and Kiltz) before painting with white Behr latex semi-gloss enamel. I've also experimented using oil based but the coverage is not much better so not worth the hassle of using oil based paint. I believe its going to take about 5 to 6 coats to get it covered. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to get better coverage? Thank you, Holly

[giddonah]

in order to avoid a lot of coats to cover, I think you'll have to scrape and sand. Getting down to the wood would give you the best coverage with the fewest coats. If someone else has something in mind, I'd like to hear it. Ceiling paint is supposed to cover pretty good...

[astraeas]

I forgot to mention that I have tried ceiling paint and it didn't work any better. I'll try sanding it but this trim has a lot of grooves in it. Thank you for the advice, Holly

[giddonah]

if it's really that difficult to cover, you might consider taking it off and puttin up new trim. That's more expensive, but I also know what it's like trying to sand difficult trim profiles. I just rip it out and put in new, the time isn't worth it to me. See how it goes though, if you find it takes too long to scrape, just replace it. It also might be easier to sand if you take it off and put it back up after you paint it.

[plunkinberry]

6 coats! That's crazy. I've painted a LOT of stuff and have never had to do more than 2 or 3 coats on anything - even covering very dark paint with very light paint.

Try using a better brush and not taking so many strokes. If you haven't applied paint to a particular area, try scuffing the surface prior to application.

[ODDJOB]

Get the new trim thats already painted white. You can get it in builder packs. It's not fancy, but it's not too expensive either. :)

[astraeas]

Thank you for all of the advice. I would have never thought a medium blue would be this difficult to cover. I will try out sanding and scuffing the surface. I'm determined to paint this trim instead of replacing because it is the original trim. I've been using a 1 1/2 inch brush which cost around $7.00 at Home Depot. I'll see if they have a higher quality brush available. Thanks! Holly