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I've decided to paint. What I had originally thought was a gaudy awful eggshell white flat paint on the the walls of the ENTIRE house was ACTUALLY PRIMER. I've painted (priming first of course) the main living areas. I'm now on to the bathrooms.

My conundrum is this: Do I / SHOULD I use a latex primer or mildew killing primer? This is the spare bathroom so it doesn't get a lot of shower usage per say. It doesn't have mildew that see; however I know Kilz has a mildew killing primer and wondered if "an ounce of prevention..." would be fitting. The primer in there now seems to have held up rather well. However, I don't want to put really nice paint (for bathrooms of course) on the walls only to have it begin to deteriorate in a few months or worse - when my first guest showers and water splashes somewhere.

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I wouldn't worry about mildew resistance primer. Since the walls are already primed, what I would do is buy a semi-gloss latex paint. The semi-gloss will resist the water penetrating it and you shouldn't have to worry about mildew.

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    I don’t think the “sheen” has anything to do with the “perm rating”. I think the sheen has to do with appearance and durability (scrub-ability). Paint manufacturers are adding mildew resistant additives to their paints/primers, which could help if there is minimal venting.
    – Lee Sam
    Commented Aug 26, 2018 at 19:59
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    @LeeSam Glidden website - Satin and semi-gloss paints have a higher sheen value, meaning it provides a harder finish that proves more moisture resistant. Along with the benefits of moisture resistance, satin and semi-gloss finishes are also very washable and scrubbable.
    – Machavity
    Commented Aug 26, 2018 at 20:03
  • You say use semi-gloss, “and you shouldn’t have to worry about mildew.” Actually, semi-gloss is just more resistant to mildew than paints with less sheen...they are not impermeable. Mildew resistant chemicals keeps mildew from spreading. See here from Consumer Reports: consumerreports.org/interior-paints/…
    – Lee Sam
    Commented Aug 26, 2018 at 20:50

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