Did you run into the issue of paint peeling off your home exterior, and now you’re unsure how to solve it? Are you searching for the best primers to apply before giving your home the makeover it deserves? Then you’ve come to the right place!
Current times have influenced many homeowners to carry out projects without hiring, and painting your home’s exterior is no exception. Paint can transform your peeling exterior into the home of your dreams, but first, make sure to take these essential steps.
Keep reading this article to find out the inside scoop on the best exterior primers available on the market. Also, learn why a professional painter like me highly recommends these exterior primer and bonding sealer brands.
The Basics: Best Exterior Primer for Peeling Paint
When choosing the best exterior primer for peeling paint, it’s essential to realize what qualities and performance you need in a primer. In addition to peeling paint, exterior primers are great tools to cover other problem areas, disaster repairs, or even outdoor stains.
Professional Advice: How to Seal Peeling Exterior Paint
As a professional painter, I’d like to share a few of my secrets regarding finding the best exterior primer for peeling paint. Peeling paint can be such a hassle, and sometimes it’s not as easy as sanding areas down bare and beginning again.
What if I told you there are great primers you can use directly over peeling paint? It’s true!
First, start by identifying what is causing your paint to peel. Of course, the underlying cause can be a variety of things. Still, in most cases, you’ll be able to seal over peeling paint and stop the process while it’s ahead. Applying a good quality primer or binding sealer also helps prevent paint from peeling in the future.
When you’re sealing your exterior home areas, allow the primer to dry, then go back in with two coats of fresh paint, and you’ll be amazed at the long-term fix and overall results. Primers are golden when used correctly, and without them, you’ll have to go back to redo your project too early.
Here’s a list of the best exterior primers for peeling paint currently on the market:
Best Exterior Primer for Peeling Paint: Recommendations
I’ve learned a lot about primers in over twenty years of professional painting experience. Below are my “tried and true” top choices.
1. Zinsser Peel Stop Triple Thick Binding Primer
This one is a winner, and there’s nothing wrong I can even say about it. Peel Stop Binding Primer has helped me tremendously in my journey as a professional painter. It is one I always go back and choose.
Zinsser came out with this water-based Peel Stop Triple Thick Binding Primer, and it’s incredible. You can use this product on multiple exterior surfaces, such as but not limited to metal, wood, and even concrete. This high-bodied primer is one for the books; I just can’t recommend Zinsser Peel Stop Triple Thick Binding Primer enough.
Peel Stop Triple Thick is guaranteed to “get the job done” and perform at the utmost quality to seal your peeling exterior paint and prep it perfectly. You’ll appreciate the long-lasting results after applying a couple of topcoats of paint.
Visit your local Home Depot store to pick up a gallon of Zinsser Peel Stop Triple Thick Exterior High Build Binding Primer. Watch this magic unfold before your very eyes!
2. XIM Peel Bond
Here’s my personal runner’s up recommendation for the best exterior premier for peeling paint. XIM Peel Bond is such a great bonding agent and one of the best exterior primers for peeling paint on the market. In addition, I love that Peel Bond is water-based and creates the perfect seal on any exterior materials you need to correct.
During the life of this paint, it will seal and hold that bond for ages while helping to prevent future cracking and peeling paint irritations. Overall, an excellent bonding primer will save you so much time correcting the issue. In addition, Peel Bond will allow you to get back to patching and painting over your problem areas quickly.
If you go to Rust-oleum’s website, you can find a description of XIM Peel Bond. Then if you choose, type in your zip code, and Rust-oleum will guide you in finding stores in your area that carry this primer!
3. Rust-Oleum Zinsser Peel Stop: Clear Binding Sealer
I really like the Peel Stop blends of exterior primers. Rust-Oleum Zinsser made a clear binding sealer that’s a great candidate for best exterior primer for peeling paint, and I feel you’ll love it too. Peel Stop clear binding sealer also helps prevent future peeling and cracking on your outdoor exteriors.
It’s always a bonus to have a good quality primer made in the U.S. I always search for natural or low VOC, low odor paints, and primers just for the health aspect, and this best exterior primer for peeling paint checks those boxes!
Rust-Oleum Zinsser Peel Stop Clear Binding Sealer will cost around one hundred and twelve dollars for a five gallon bucket at your local Home Depot.
Best Exterior Primer for Peeling Paint That Dries Quickly
4. INSL-X Aqua Lock Plus 100% Acrylic Water-Based Exterior Sealer Primer
First off, as mentioned earlier, water-based primers and sealers are great because you’ll never have to deal with oil and paint not being compatible with each other. Whenever I’m at the store and can’t decide between the two, I’ll go for a water-based product. What makes this product a best exterior primer for peeling paint is the featured, multi-purpose qualities. INSL-X Aqua Lock Plus will allow you to use it for other various home improvement tasks.
I’m also pleased with the quick-drying feature this primer has to offer. Faster drying speeds mean quicker home improvement completions. With this primer, you’ll be able to coat about three to four hundred square feet per gallon, so plan accordingly.
INSL-X Aqua Lock Plus is available for purchase on Amazon, making it easy! You can have all your painting and project materials delivered straight to your door!
Additional Suggestions for the Best Exterior Primer for Peeling Paint
5. BEHR Exterior Bonding Primer
I love a great BEHR product, especially when it comes to choosing the best exterior primer for peeling paint. BEHR Exterior Bonding Primer is an excellent choice for all of those challenging home projects. You’ll find that this modified acrylic primer with a water base helps paint stick to all types of challenging surfaces throughout your home.
In addition to these remarkable qualities, it also allows your topcoats to stick more evenly and longer over time. I’d recommend allowing up to an hour for this best exterior primer for peeling paint to dry before applying any topcoat paint applications. BEHR Exterior Bonding Primer is user-friendly, and the company put a promise in the form of a lifetime guarantee on all their primers. Now have peace of mind and try this bonding primer without any worry.
You can purchase BEHR Exterior Bonding Primer at Home Depot for about fifty-two dollars a gallon.
6. PPG Timeless Exterior Paint and Primer
PPG Timeless Exterior all-in-one primer is advanced beyond its years and a best exterior primer for peeling paint. PPG Timeless is great to use outdoors and hides imperfections and stains without fading by just using one coat of primer.
I’m also pleased with the quality of this sealant. It’s stellar the way this primer protects your exterior from extreme weather conditions such as, but not limited to, mold, mildew, excessive moisture, and algae. Use Timeless to help hide imperfections and safeguard against future chipping, flaking, and paint cracks.
PGG Timeless is available at Home Depot for fifty-six dollars a gallon and is worth every penny.
7. KILZ Adhesion Exterior Primer
In regards to your exterior areas that are tough to deal with, KILZ Adhesion Exterior Primer would be an excellent option the best exterior primer for peeling paint mentions for challenging exterior spaces. In addition, this exterior primer will not require sanding. If needed, KILZ Adhesion bonds to other surfaces such as glass, laminate, fiberglass, metal, PVC, vinyl siding, plastic, etc.
KILZ Adhesion will work with water-based and oil-based paint applications and many different surfaces. If you have any primer leftovers at the end of the day, make sure to save them and properly store them for use on other future home improvement projects.
You can purchase KILZ Adhesion Exterior Primer on Amazon for forty-six dollars a gallon.
Best Exterior Primer for Peeling Paint on a Budget
8. KILZ Premium Exterior Primer
Do you need a quick fix that won’t break the bank? Is your budget tight, or needing to go toward more extensive home improvements? KILZ makes the best exterior primer for peeling paint, KILZ Premium, that I invite you to look into further. You’ll find excellent quality, superior overall coverage, and quick drying times in this primer.
I like that KILZ has worked hard to lower the odor and VOC levels in this exterior primer. The mildew resistance found in KILZ Premium is perfect for exterior projects. In addition, it helps seal damages caused by peeling paint where the materials underneath were most likely exposed to the elements.
You can purchase KILZ Premium at Home Depot for thirty-one dollars a gallon and around forty dollars a gallon on Amazon.
9. Prestige Exterior Semi-Gloss Paint and Primer In One
Suppose you want a great “all hands on deck” option that saves you time and money? You’ll like these qualities found in Prestige Exterior Semi-Gloss Paint and Primer. This paint and primer start working overtime from the beginning, making another candidate for best exterior primer for peeling paint and primer in one. Primer and paint combinations give you the best value; you only have to buy one product over buying primer and paint.
You’ll like that Prestige made their Exterior Paint and Primer out of 100% acrylic latex. Acrylic latex helps protect your exterior areas previously exposed to weather and gives them a good future seal from high humidity and moisture. In addition, its semi-gloss finish will give your home a fresh gleaming look without being overly shiny like high gloss paints or dull like matte, eggshell, or flat paints.
You can find and purchase Prestige Exterior Semi-Gloss Paint and Primer at Amazon for around thirty-eight dollars a gallon.
Eco-Friendly Choices For The Best Exterior Primer for Peeling Paint
10. ECO Paint Exterior/Interior Universal Primer
Put your health first when choosing the best exterior primer for peeling paint and other challenging imperfections on your home’s exterior. I like ECO Paint’s Universal Primer as an environmental and healthier option long-term. You’ll receive excellent coverage and not deal with fumes, odors, VOC, and more.
This best exterior primer for peeling paint comes highly rated, and other painters agree this is an excellent choice for an eco-friendly exterior primer. I also love a good water-based primer with a smooth, clean finish that will give you long-lasting results.
Visit the ECO Paint website to find out more and order ECO Exterior/Interior Universal Primer for about ninety-three dollars a gallon.
More Information About The Best Exterior Primer for Peeling Paint
In addition to this one, there are a few other articles I invite you to check out on my site as you gather your research.
This article talks about “The Best Exterior Primer For Your Home” and covers the best and more general exterior primers. In addition, this article is another excellent article to check out if you need a quality primer for your brick exterior titled “The Best Paints For Exterior Brick.”
When to Hire a Professional Exterior Painter
Even the best DIY painters realize when home projects are too big for one person to handle. So, if this specific type of home project becomes overwhelming and not something you’ll want to take on the more you look into it, it’s okay.
I’ve written another helpful article on our sister site talking through the steps of “How To Hire An Exterior House Painter.” If I’m not available in your area, these steps will help lead you in the right direction.
Wrapping Up the Best Exterior Primer for Peeling Paint
After using our guide to choose the best exterior primer for peeling paint with ultimate coverage, I can’t wait for you to see the transformation of all your problem areas. You’re one step closer by using these steps to soften and remove old peeling paint that, in turn, gives you a ready-to-go fresh canvas!
Check out our Exterior Painting page for even more information on exterior painting, paints, and products.
I started painting in 2001 and have seen just about everything in my painting career. I started in production and commercial painting, then moved over to new construction and remodeling during the boom of the early 2000s. Post 2010, I niched down into residential painting where I have done everything from exteriors, decks, interiors, furniture and more. Over the last few years, I’ve had a focus on kitchen cabinets.
I started the DIY Painting Tips blog in 2015 to start sharing everything I’ve learned over the years and help all the people who’d rather tackle their painting projects themselves.
You can follow my Youtube Channel where I show you everything that you read about on this site: https://www.youtube.com/@diypainting
You can also hire me directly from DIYPaintingTips.com here: https://diypaintingtips.com/free-painting-quote/
Contact me at: [email protected]