Back into the hobby after 20 years electrifying HELP

[havanaholly]

Also you don't want to prime where you'll need to glue, since wood glue adheres bare wood to bare wood so much better than painted surfaces.

[Kate Grohe]

Holly. Thanks for your response.  I was aware where not to prime where glue would go.  Do I have to prime the ceiling or floor, which is flat Masonite if wiring is going over a small area?  I haven't decided if I am painting, papering or adding something else to finish the ceilings regardless if the walls are papered.  Also I plan to add all the molding prior to wallpapering but keeping things moving is a very slow process.

[havanaholly]

I haven't worked with masonite, but if it has a smooth surface I wouldn't think it would need primer; someone who has worked with it should chime in.

[Husband of Adobe Dollhouse]

On 8/16/2021 at 9:24 PM, havanaholly said:

I haven't worked with Masonite, but if it has a smooth surface I wouldn't think it would need primer; someone who has worked with it should chime in.

Masonite definitely should be primed. Smoothness is not the only criteria for using primer. Primer helps seal a surface and enables regular paint to stick to surfaces that are so smooth, they don't allow the paint to stick well. Nothing worse than a beautiful masonite (full size) house door that has fairly new paint peeling off because the paint didn't adhere well. I know from experience. The primer contains resins not found in most paints that enable it to stick well.

[havanaholly]

Thank you, John.  I didn't know any of that, never having worked with masonite.