Do I have to Prime before I paint?

Do I need to Prime? Most likely the answer to that question is ...no actuality. Priming is needed for two main reasons. Adhesion and coverage. So if your painting project is a simple repaint of you bedroom walls and ceiling with out a strong color change Priming is not really needed.
The paint on the walls before you start is likely a flat, or and eggshell/satin finish. Sometime even a semi-gloss. Todays paints will bond to these finishes with out the time and additional expense of priming.

Coverage is the most likely problem you could have in an repaint. One hint that could help is that "the darker the color the better it covers " is NOT the case! As a matter of fact very dark colors often require additional coats. I will not bore you with the details but it's the way paint is tinted today.

One clue you can use to determine how well your color selection will cover is look at the "base" of the paint that is used to make your color selection, The "Base" is the paint before any tint is added to it to make your color selection. A "deep" or an "ultra deep" base paint will have coverage issues, regardless of what the final color you have selected is. In that case 2 or more coats could be needed.

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