Save Money on a Good Primer

When I have more priming to do in my job it is always dilemma, where to get a primer- in the closest paint store or in these big chain stores like Home depot or Menards. 

Today I will go thru the project where I had to put primer over the spots made by candle smoke. So it means that:

1) I had to consider which primer would block candle smoke spots better.

2) Other thing was- my client wanted to paint the ceiling and walls with one coat. It means primer should have strong pigment so that ceiling and walls after primer coat should be nicely white covered. 

I will be using white paint for the ceiling and one of white colors for the walls. That's how it looked ceiling and walls at the start

I started search for teh primer options. I have checked Home depot store and was considering Zinsser primer, but then I have found cheaper option Kilz primer below $10 price.

When I started priming  the first impression was good, pigment was strong and nicely covered smoke spots. Only unexpected thing was the color. At the start it had gray light tone, but in a drying process it turned to the white color.

After one coat of primer

And then after one coat of ceiling paint (I used Sherwin Williams extra white color flat finish paint- color was close to the primer color) and one coat of wall paint the result was very good!

I want you to know, that I am not advertising any of mentioned brands and stores. My goal is to share my experience with you. Next time I will probably consider this primer again, because of good price, coverage of smoke spots and strong pigment which made surface good enough to finish walls and ceiling with one coat of paint.