Grey undercoat for whites????

[ikearns]

Went into a reputable store today (not DIY chain) and was talking about a large box bay window that I need to paint and I was told that grey undercoat is the way to go even though I am looking at a light / white top coat.

I thought grey undercoat was only for mid and dark colours.

Happy to go with a light grey if there is a good reason to do so.

 

[JohnD]

It hides the old colour and prevents it showing through the white.

What colour is it now?

 

[ikearns]

What colour is it now?

Decades of paint removed. Back to bare wood.

 

[opps]

I have no idea why they recommended grey.

As John suggests, if you had bits of black, red and green showing through, grey would cover them better but you haven't.

If I was presented with black woodwork that needed to be white I might consider a light grey undercoat followed by white undercoat, or I would just sand the black back to the previous grey undercoat.

 

[Nige F]

Maybe F+B make a special u/c colour called " slightly soiled linen " for these situations