Other types of paint 

There are other types of paint available for specific jobs. These include:

• Primer – These may be oil or water based and are used to seal unpainted surfaces to prevent covering coats of paint soaking in. The appropriate type of primer should be used for the surface being painted – wood, metal, plaster or tiles. There are some ‘all purpose primers’ available which are designed for two or more of these surfaces.
• Undercoat – Usually oil-based, undercoat is applied on top of the primer. The undercoat should be of the correct colour to provide the right colour base for the finishing coats.
• Anti-condensation – For use in humid conditions such as in kitchens and bathrooms, this paint is specially formulated to prevent the surface becoming cold to the touch and therefore less conducive to condensation. It is not a cure for condensation, only a way of reducing its effect on painted surfaces. They often include a fungicide. Normal emulsion paints may be satisfactory in these conditions providing that the level of condensation is not too high.
• Radiator paint – For use on central heating pipes and radiators, it will stand up to the high temperatures without discolouring as other paints are prone to do.
• Fire-retardant – These special paints contain an additive to provide a fire-resistant quality, they do not resist fire completely, but has a greater flame resistance than ordinary paint and will reduce their spread.
• Bituminous – Although often not considered as a paint, bitumen is used where a water proof coating is required. Bitumen does not dry in the normal sense used with paint, it can crack if stressed when frozen and will run (or at least become sticky to the touch) in hot weather. Thick and usually black, bitumen is for areas where high water resistance is needed and appearance is not important – such as on the insides of cast iron guttering and metal cold water tank.
  Bitumen is difficult to paint over with conventional paints as the underlying bitumen tends to bleed into the overlaying paint and will move with temperature changes while the covering paint may not be able to stand up to the movement. If there is a need to over paint bitumen, apply a coat of aluminum paint, this will seal the surface to prevent the bitumen bleeding.