Construction, pre-treatment of the surface for finishing, repair — these are the associations that come to mind when we hear the word «primer».
Primers are transparent, sometimes colored, water-polymer suspensions or suspensions based on organic resins, capable of leveling and strengthening the surface layers of primed surfaces. In other words, primers are needed for preliminary preparation of surfaces for decorative finishing. Thanks to priming, the quality of repairs, the time of operation of the product are improved, and money is saved.
Primer GF-021 is the most common and affordable material intended for pre-finishing surfaces for painting. It is used not only by knowledgeable people for the treatment of premises and facades, but also at industrial enterprises this composition has found application, in particular, as an anti-corrosion protection and for pre-treatment of electric motor housings.
In fact, the popularity of this primer is not accidental. In the article, we will deal in detail with what the GF-021 primer is, what are its advantages over other similar materials, in what cases it is worth buying and how to apply this coating correctly.
Primer Benefits
In order to understand what type of coatings the GF-021 primer belongs to, it is worth understanding the marking of paintwork products in accordance with GOST 9825 Paintwork materials. According to this document, our primer belongs to alkyd glyphthalic primers, which means it is a suspension of pigments, drying accelerators, and other fillers in glyphthalic varnish.
The specified composition determines the main technical characteristics of the primer GF-021, as well as its properties.
What properties of the primer GF-021 made it so popular among consumers?
- Versatility.
The big advantage of GF-021 over other soils is its versatility, wide range of applications. In particular, it is compatible with various types of paints. Various types of enamel (AS, MS, PF, GF, KO, AK, XV) and almost all other types of paints qualitatively fall on this primer. In addition, the primer goes well with any plaster, glue, putty.
Primer GF-021
Primer GF-021 is well suited for priming wooden surfaces and metal products. It can be used for outdoor and indoor work. Experienced builders use the GF-021 primer to treat surfaces made of plastic, brick, chipboard. However, such a primer does not cover surfaces that are pre-plastered, as well as from gypsum — they become fleecy. And it can also be convenient to use a primer as an independent finishing material.
- The ease of application of the coating and the handling of the material often have a big impact on the result of the job.
- Price-quality ratio. Some time ago, GF-021 became a worthy competitor to imported soils of well-known foreign brands due to its good price-quality ratio. As you know, very important in the choice of material is its cost. We all know that a miser pays twice, however, when buying a primer GF-021, you get a quality product at a very affordable price.
- anti-corrosion properties. Primer GF-021 has good anti-corrosion properties, unlike acrylic primers. Due to this, this material is suitable as a preparatory coating for painting with enamels that are not able to sufficiently resist corrosion.
- Coating strength. The strength of the coating formed by any paintwork material is associated with the concept of adhesion.
Adhesion — the reliability of adhesion of paintwork materials to the base. This is an indicator of the quality and stability of the coating along with some other technical characteristics. Subject to all recommendations for cleaning and degreasing, the primer GF-021 has a very high adhesion (at least 1) to the surface to be painted as well as to the material that is applied to it. The film formed on the surface during priming has sufficient resistance to the action of nitro enamels, mineral oils. GF-021 is resistant to temperature fluctuations in a wide range from -45 to +60 degrees, as well as to the influence of adverse weather conditions, which allows it to be used for indoor and outdoor work.
Technical characteristics of the primer GF-021
| Name of indicator | Norm |
| Film appearance | After drying, the film should be smooth, uniform, matte or semi-gloss |
| Drying time | 12 h |
| Film impact strength | Not less than 50 cm |
| Film hardness | 0.35 arb. units |
| Single layer thickness | 15-20 µm |
| Consumption rate per layer | 60-100 g/m2 |
| Film resistance to static effect of sodium chloride | 24 hours |
| Film resistance to static effect of mineral oil | 48 h |
| Film adhesion | No more than 1 point |
| Grinding degree | Not more than 40 microns |
Brief overview of manufacturers
There are a large number of factories that are engaged in the manufacture of coatings, including primers. The manufacture of primer GF-21 must be carried out in accordance with the requirements of GOST 25129-82. Information about this is usually indicated on the packaging (can, barrel, bucket). If there is no data on GOST, most likely, the primer is made in accordance with the internal specifications of the enterprise, which does not guarantee its quality. It is best to buy soil, however, like any other material, the manufacturer of which is ready to provide a product passport, a certificate of conformity and a hygiene certificate — a document that confirms the compliance of materials with safety requirements in accordance with GOST, technical specifications and other regulatory documents. After all, all finishing materials, one way or another, affect our health.
Let’s give a small overview of paint and varnish manufacturers working in the Russian Federation.
Khimprom-M LLC is a modern large enterprise that specializes in the production of paints and varnishes. It has branches in different cities of the Russian Federation. Price for 1 kg from 35 rubles. Quality certificates are available for all products of the enterprise, which are produced in accordance with the requirements of GOST. Color palette: gray and red-brown.
Sigma paints. Diversified enterprise. Produces primer GF-021 according to TU 2313-005-71555820-2006. The color palette is gray, red-brown, black. Price for 1 kg — from 52 rubles.
LLC «Lakra-sintez» The Lakra brand has been on the market for over 15 years. This company positions itself in the segment of budget paints and varnishes. Provides certificates of conformity for its products. Primer GF-21 is offered in three volumes: 2.5 kg, 1 kg, 20 kg. The price strongly depends on the volume — 20 kg are offered at a price of about 81 r / kg.
GF-021
Prestige holding. A modern manufacturer of paints and varnishes. The price depends on the volume of packaging and wholesale purchase. On average, it starts from 85 r / kg.
Practical advice for use
Before buying a primer GF-021, it is worth at least roughly calculating the required amount, based on the area that we will be priming. The calculation is simple: we calculate the total area of surfaces intended for processing. We multiply the resulting area by the possible consumption of soil (100 g / m2). We get the amount of soil we need in grams.
According to the manufacturers, the primer is guaranteed to keep well in unopened packaging for at least 6 months from the date of production. Although practice shows that coatings of this type can be stored for a year or more, when buying material, you should make sure that it is “fresh”.
Before processing with a primer, it is necessary to prepare the surface, namely, cleaning from dust and dirt, from rust and old coatings, as well as degreasing. It is most convenient to degrease the surface with white spirit. This solvent degreases well, in addition, it is a solvent for the soil itself and it is convenient for them to clean the tool after work.
Before starting work, the primer GF-021 is thoroughly mixed, if necessary, diluted with a solvent. The GF-021 primer is diluted with xylene, solvent or a mixture of any of them with white alcohol (1: 1). Since the primer is quite liquid, it is more convenient to use an airbrush for surface treatment, but it can also be primed with a simple brush or roller (in 2 layers). In addition, the primer is applied by dipping, as well as by airless spraying, spraying in an electric field and even by streaming. Work must be carried out at room temperature.
Before starting work in a closed room, all windows must be opened, since the GF-021 primer has a rather sharp and unpleasant odor. In addition, vapors of organic solvents accumulating in a confined space can cause poisoning and headache.
This soil is not the fastest drying. After application, the coating dries for about 12 hours, as indicated by the manufacturers. However, the drying time is at least 24 hours. Therefore, it is better not to rush and wait for the coating to dry completely so that the top paint lays down most smoothly and efficiently. Sometimes it is necessary to re-prime the surface, for example when priming porous surfaces such as wood. In this case, you can get a more even surface by processing it a second time.
Primer GF-021
In conclusion, a little about the shortcomings of our primer. There are very few of them, but it is also worth knowing about it.
- Many paints curl up when in contact with the not dried primer GF-021. It is easy to turn this disadvantage into an advantage — do not rush to apply a finishing coating, wait for the soil to dry completely.
- The soil does not penetrate deep into the treated surface. Therefore, the GF-021 primer is not used to fix loose and crumbling surfaces. For this, there are special purpose primers — penetrating primers.
So, we figured out the main operational properties and technical characteristics of the primer GF-021, as well as the methods of its application. Now it is clear that a primer is simply necessary for those who want to make high-quality, beautiful and permanent repairs, paint iron gates, doors, walls, or even just paste wallpaper. The quality and price of the domestically produced primer GF-021 allows it to successfully replace imported analogues, which makes this material very attractive to us, consumers.
User reviews.
Primer GF-021 has a lot of positive feedback. It is ideal for priming metal and wood surfaces and is used to prepare the surface before applying various types of enamels (GF, PF, FL, EF, etc.)
“We used the GF-021 primer to paint a fairly large section of pipe. This pipe was new and did not have to be sanded. After priming, we painted it. If we consider that the pipe is very often exposed to rain, then snow, then just frost, it looks great (there is no hint of corrosion).”
“We used red-brown GF-021 at industrial facilities — the characteristics are excellent. Both metal and wooden surfaces were treated (for fire safety purposes). After 5 years the primed paint is still holding up very well, no rust or peeling spots.”
“I will praise the primer GF-021 of red-brown color. Before painting the gas pipe, the husband primed its bends and joints with a primer — this is where rust can appear. At first I did not believe that the brown primer would not show through under the yellow paint. It turned out I was wrong. Just primed places had to be painted over twice.
Primer GF-021