A well-primed (and well-prepped) surface is the secret behind a long-lasting paint job. A primer serves as a preparatory coating that ensures better paint adhesion and durability. We apply it on bare surfaces to help seal the substrate and help the topcoat to adhere better.
Some primers are formulated to help cover the surface well to make the color coat or topcoat more vibrant when it’s applied on your walls. They also provide additional protection to a specific type of surface. For example, Boysen Rust-Off has a rust-inhibiting feature to protect metal surfaces from corrosion. Boysen WoodPrime, on the other hand, is a water-based primer that’s designed to resist tannin on interior wooden surfaces.
Sometimes, you can skip the primer application if you’re using a self-priming paint, or if you’re repainting and the old paint is still in good condition. However, if you want to repaint your dark walls with a lighter color, we recommend that you apply a white primer or a light-colored primer to help hide your old dark-colored walls.
Remember: Before you could apply the primer, you have to thoroughly prep the surface. We compiled our previous articles about surface preparation so you could go over them first.
Which Boysen Primer Should You Use?
It’s important that you choose a primer that is suited to the topcoat that you’re going to use and the surface that you’re working on. To help you look for the right primer, we made this simple guide:
Here’s a rundown of the different kinds of Boysen Primers with their recommended painting schedules. You don’t have to read every detail about all the primers listed here. Just look for your preferred primer to check if it’s suited for your painting needs.
Boysen Water-based Primers
Boysen Chalk Blocker B-7304
Boysen Chalk Blocker is an acrylic water-based masonry surface conditioner that is designed to treat chalky water-based or solvent-based paint. If you re-read our article about prepping previously painted surfaces, we deem Chalk Blocker as an essential product in repainting interior and exterior concrete chalking walls.
Recommended painting schedule:
- Primer: Boysen Chalk Blocker
- Topcoat: Boysen Permacoat Latex (interior-exterior), Boysen Acrytex (interior-exterior), Boysen Wallguard (exterior)
Here’s an article about chalking and how you could use Boysen Chalk Blocker to treat the surface:
Boysen EcoPrimer B-105
Boysen EcoPrimer is an eco-friendly acrylic water-based primer used for concrete and drywall. It has a low-VOC, which makes it an ideal primer to use with our water-based, low-VOC premium paints like Boysen Healthy Home, Virtuoso Silk Touch, and Boysen KNOxOUT. This primer can be applied to concrete, stucco, bricks, and drywall surfaces.
Recommended painting schedule:
- Primer: Boysen EcoPrimer
- Putty: Boysen Masonry Putty B-7311 (interior), Boysen Acrytex Cast B-1711 (exterior)
- Topcoat: Boysen Healthy Home (interior), Virtuoso Silk Touch (interior), Boysen BUG OFF (interior-exterior), Boysen KNOxOUT Air Cleaning Paint B8701 Acrylic (interior), Boysen KNOxOUT Air Cleaning Paint B-8702 Silicone (exterior)
You can use Boysen Eco-Primer with Boysen BUG OFF, an anti-insect paint to help you kill household disease-carrying pests. Click the post below to learn more.
Boysen Permacoat Flat Latex B-701
Boysen Permacoat Flat Latex is a 100% acrylic paint with excellent hiding and durability. Use this primer for interior and exterior surfaces like concrete, bricks, plaster, and drywall. It’s compatible with most water-based topcoats.
Recommended painting schedule:
- Primer: Boysen Permacoat Flat Latex
- Putty: Boysen Masonry Putty B-7311 (interior), Boysen Acrytex Cast B-1711 (exterior)
- Topcoat: Boysen Permacoat B-701 Flat, B-715 Semi-Gloss, B-710 Gloss (interior-exterior); Boysen BUG OFF (interior-exterior); Boysen Healthy Home (interior); Virtuoso Silk Touch (interior); Boysen Permatex (interior); Boysen DECORe Classic (interior); Boysen DECORe Perlescente (interior)
Know more about Boysen Permacoat here:
Boysen Primeguard
Boysen Primeguard is a water-based acrylic primer formulated to have excellent adhesion and metal passivation on galvanized iron, stainless steel, aluminum, and other hard-to-adhere metal surfaces. This primer dries in an hour compared to its solvent-based counterpart, which takes eight hours to dry. With its rapid drying feature, you’ll finish your paint job quicker and you’ll save on labor cost.
Recommended painting schedule:
- Primer: Boysen Primeguard
- Topcoat: Boysen Roofgard (roof), BOYSEN Cool Shades (roof), Boysen Acqua Epoxy (interior-exterior)
Here’s a more comprehensive article about Boysen Primeguard:
Boysen WoodPrime B-180
Boysen WoodPrime is an acrylic water-based primer designed to have good tannin resistance and excellent adhesion on properly prepped interior wooden surfaces. You can apply Boysen water-based topcoats on wood if you use this primer.
Note: Our paint experts recommend that you avoid using Boysen WoodPrime in high-friction areas or high-touch surfaces. These include fixtures (kitchen cabinets, cupboards, shelves, and built-in wardrobes), furniture, and floors. Use this primer on trims and moldings.
Recommended painting schedule:
- Primer: Boysen WoodPrime
- Putty: Boysen Masonry Putty B-7311 (interior)
- Topcoat: Boysen Permacoat (interior-exterior), Boysen BUG OFF (interior-exterior), Boysen Healthy Home (interior), Virtuoso Silk Touch (interior)
Read this detailed post about Boysen Woodprime:
Boysen Solvent-based Primers
Boysen Acrytex Primer B-1705
Boysen Acrytex Primer is an acrylic solvent-based paint that forms a non-porous, seamless, watertight film that serves as a moisture sealant for concrete and a stain inhibitor for wood. It’s perfect for bare interior and exterior masonry and wooden surfaces.
Recommended painting schedule:
- Primer: Boysen Acrytex Primer
- Putty: Boysen Acrytex Cast B-1711 (interior-exterior)
- Topcoat: Boysen Acrytex Topcoat (interior-exterior)
Learn more about Boysen Acrytex here:
Boysen Flatwall Enamel B-800
Boysen Flatwall Enamel is a flat, alkyd-type paint formulated to have superior hiding properties, which makes it an ideal primer to use with enamel coatings. It’s also fast-drying compared to other enamel primers. It can be used on interior and exterior wooden surfaces.
Recommended painting schedule:
- Primer: Boysen Flatwall Enamel
- Putty: Boysen Plasolux Glazing Putty B-311
- Topcoat: Boysen Flatwall Enamel B-800, Boysen Semi-Gloss Enamel B-200, Boysen Quick Drying Enamel
Visit this post about Boysen Quick Drying Enamel to know how you can use it with Boysen Flatwall Enamel.
Boysen Plasolux Primer Surfacer B-307
Boysen Plasolux Primer Surfacer is an alkyd-type paint that gives depth build for final coats of Boysen Quick Drying Enamel. It can be used as a primer for interior and exterior wooden surfaces.
Recommended painting schedule:
- Primer: Boysen Plasolux Primer Surfacer
- Putty: Boysen Plasolux Glazing Putty B-311
- Topcoat: Boysen Quick Drying Enamel
Boysen Lacquer Primer Surfacer B-305
Boysen Lacquer Primer Surfacer is a nitrocellulose type sealer that provides interior wooden surfaces a good foundation for lacquer topcoats.
Recommended painting schedule:
- Primer: Boysen Lacquer Primer Surfacer
- Putty: Boysen Lacquer Spot Putty B-306
- Topcoat: Boysen Automotive Lacquer B-1300, Boysen Gloss Lacquer Enamel B-1200
Prime your kitchen shelves and cabinets with Boysen Lacquer Primer Surfacer to get them ready for the lustrous duco finish. Click the post below to learn how to achieve this beautiful finish.
Boysen Epoxy Primer
Boysen Epoxy Primer is a high quality, two-component, epoxy-polyamide system that has exceptional adhesion to practically any surface. It’s designed to have excellent corrosion resistance and sealing properties for metal and concrete substrates. It’s also is highly alkali-resistant so you don’t have to neutralize new concrete surfaces.
You can also use this with the topcoat Boysen Automotive Lacquer on interior metal surfaces to achieve the duco finish.
Epoxy primer is paired with epoxy coatings like Boysen Acqua Epoxy and Epoxy Enamel. This pairing requires a specific and thorough painting schedule. We wrote about them in-depth in these articles:
For interior and exterior concrete floors and metal surfaces:
For interior concrete floors and metal surfaces:
Boysen Red Oxide Metal Primer B-310
Boysen Red Oxide Metal Primer is an alkyd-based, rust-inhibiting primer for exterior and interior steel and iron surfaces.
Recommended painting schedule:
- Primer: Boysen Red Oxide Metal Primer
- Topcoat: Boysen Cool Shades, Boysen Roofgard, Boysen Quick Drying Enamel
Boysen Rust-Off Gray Alkyd Metal Primer B-330
Boysen Rust-Off is a lead-free and chromate-free metal primer. Like the Boysen Red Oxide Metal primer, it has rust-inhibiting properties that protect interior and exterior steel and iron surfaces from corrosion.
Recommended painting schedule:
- Primer: Boysen Rust-Off Gray Alkyd Metal Primer
- Topcoat: Boysen Roofgard, Boysen Cool Shades, Boysen Acqua Epoxy, Boysen Quick Drying Enamel
Read more about the topcoat options that you can use with Boysen Red Oxide Metal Primer or Boysen Rust-Off:
What’s next after the primer application?
Recall the recommended standard painting system—it’s PPT or Primer, Putty, Topcoat. A pro-tip from our meticulous and seasoned painters is to spot prime puttied areas to get a uniform color and sheen.
Find the right putty and topcoat for your painting project. Read these Boysen product highlight articles to learn more.
If you have questions about Boysen primers or other paint products, you can write an email to ask@myboysen.com or drop a comment below. Our lines are also open to your immediate painting concerns, just call our Technical team at (02) 8363-9738 local 417 to 418 during office hours.
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2 Comments
Is it ok if I use water based acrylic paint top coat with solvent based acrytex primer for interior and exterior masonry, and drywall(hardiflex)
For interior and exterior concrete walls, you may use BOYSEN Acrytex Primer as the first coat. And then for topcoat, you may use BOYSEN Acrytex Topcoat or any water-based topcoat, like BOYSEN Permacoat Latex. However, if a water-based topcoat was used, only water-based paints, like latex, can be used when repainting.
For drywalls, we do not recommend using BOYSEN Acrytex Primer as the first coat. Instead, we suggest using a complete or purely water-based system. For example:
Primer: BOYSEN Permacoat Flat Latex B-701 White
Topcoat: BOYSEN Permacoat Latex, any color and/or sheen (at least two coats)
Gentle reminder: To ensure paint compatibility, it is best to consult with the manufacturer of the drywall.