My neighbor said he just slaps spackle on nail holes without primer

I was helping him patch some drywall in his garage in Akron and watched him skip the primer step entirely, which made me realize I've probably been doing it wrong for a decade. The patches looked fine that day, but a month later he called me over and they were all cracking and flaking off. For small fixes like that, is primer actually non-negotiable, or was it something else he did wrong?

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3 Comments

the_dylan7mo ago

Skipping primer? That's the drywall equivalent of a raw burger.

3

kim.charlie6mo ago

My uncle tried to skip primer on a bathroom patch and it peeled in six months. What do people think is actually saved by cutting that step, an hour of time? How does anyone expect the paint to stick properly?

8

tylerg305mo ago

Ugh yeah that's rough, primer is totally worth the little bit of extra time for sure.

2