Customer Reviews for KILZ RESTORATION 5 Gal. White Interior Primer, Sealer, and Stain Blocker

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] We needed this for our garage as our former tenants broke their lease, rolled cheap cigarettes and smoked heavily inside the garage causing a strong odor and we agreed to use this just to see if we could reduce the unpleasant odor. It works, perfect with multiple layers. The odor has been eliminated by 80-85%. We paint almost every surface to reduce strong odors and block stains. Good thing it dries to a brilliant white and is a sealer in one. I am very impressed with this painting. I also used it for another room that had several pet urine stains and the entire house reeked of wet dog. After one coat of this paint, the pet smell was barely noticeable. I think one coat would be fine, but I'll apply two just in case. I highly recommend this product. It works great and exceeds all of my expectations, giving my home an incredible restoration so I can breathe a clean environment free of unpleasant odors…

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I'm painting some stained trim in my bathroom, and I decided to use this primer before I painted. It's doing a great job of hiding the stains, it has no smell, and it dries quickly. I don't think that you could get better primer than this brand. I just wish I'd had it when we had the water stains in our ceiling. It would have saved us a lot of trouble.

Covered years of nicotine stains. At first wasn't sure about this because I had seen a customer use it and not cover stains but can most likely say that was user error. I rolled on a heavy even coat and it cover the nicotine stains no problem without the toxic odors of oil or shellac. If applied correctly it works.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Restoration is truly amazing for getting rid of dog urine odor. I took in a foster dog that I didn't know wasn't completely house broken. I didn't realize she was going on the carpet behind the recliner until to late. So my hubby ripped out the carpet and then let the subfloor dry out from where the dog had made the mess. The plywood was damp with urine stains so we let it dry for several weeks before covering it with Restoration. We put two coats down and the subfloor looks great. But even better is that there's is no odor!! This product really does cover odors and stains. We plan on ripping up all of the carpet in the house and all of the subfloors will be treated with Restoration.

We inherited a mobile home whose owner had smoked heavily for twenty years with the doors and windows closed. The nicotine stained the walls and ceiling the color of tea. We were able to wash the walls prior to painting but the ceiling could not be washed without damaging it. Incredibly, Kilz Restoration covered the stained ceilings with a single coat, saving time and money. We also used it as a primer on the walls and were able to get away with one finish coat there using premium paint. We were able to sell the home promptly in order to settle the estate. Can't say enough about this product.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I use this for everything from furniture to unfinished boards. Always seals in one coat, and gives me a smooth finish on my final coatings.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] This has become my new "go-to" primer. It totally encapsulates stains, resins, and smells. Also produces a great substrate for my finish coats.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Thank you Kilz!! This is such a lifesaver, we had horrible cat urine odor and stains in our basement. Concrete is so porous and almost impossible to get rid of the odor! We tried every expensive product you can imagine, even vinegar and baking soda, nothing worked! Until I did research and ordered this right away, not only was it a piece of cake to apply, it dries fast and the odor is completely gone!! Miracle product!

As a regular primer this was fine, but I regret the higher price tag because it didn’t deliver on stain blocking. I’m painting over 30 year old walls in a ripped out closet with builder line marks everywhere. This was barely a skim coat and I used nearly the entire can in a small walk-in closet. Walls sucked up the primer and the marks are still visible.

Can reads that it has performance of an oil or shellac primer. Absolutely false advertising.

I bought 2 gallons, one was labeled different then the other. The lady told me they were the same but they went to a new label. It was the only 2 cans they had. The 1st can was great , worked as it should, the 2nd can was not covering like the 1st and as I got down to the last 1/3 of the can I found out why, it was as hard as a brick. This was a old can..Home Depot gave me a new can but I still had to go back over where I had already painted! It was a pain..maybe if I had Stirred the paint myself I would have noticed it, My grandson didn't realize it was no good when he stirred it. Both gallons for used on the same day we bought them. As far is how it worked we had terrible tobacco stains and odor so far it seems be taken care of that.

Purchased this product because it stated on the label "paint In 1 hour" as well as "topcoat with water based or oil base paint".....let dried over night and top coated the following day and paint started to crack. Now I have to strip 25+ cabinet doors!!!

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] This is good paint in need more so badly I have the whole house to color and can’t wait

Not a fan overall. Very drippy formula, scratches off easily, and doesn't block tannins. I am updating our 90s kitchen by painting the oak cabinets. I used another primer on the cabinet doors that was recommended by a paint department employee, and it didn't work out great for tannin blocking, so I was forced to use shellac on the doors. I went back to Home Depot looking for another option to use on the cabinet frames that didn't have a strong odor. The frames were in better shape than the doors were, but I knew that tannins could be an issue. The employee recommended Kilz Restoration since it is made to mimic shellac and oil primers in a water base formula, and has been advertised as an option for cabinets. It does have more of a smell compared to other primers, but not nearly as bad as oil or shellac. Sadly, this primer did not cover tannins at all...I have tannin bleed everywhere on my cabinet frames just like I did with the cabinet doors (curse this oak!). I'm sure it would be fine on walls, but it's not cutting it on the cabinets. I also found a drip that I sanded down with fine grit sand paper, and it literally took everything off! I did the fingernail scratch test, and it comes right off of my cleaned and prepped surface. Uggh.

Water based is great for clean up on airless sprayer. I did not thin it would cover as well as oil based on the nice art tenant left in rental, but I was surprised. Only one major problem - pain says not to use in temperature over 90 degrees F. This warning is CRITICAL. I sprayed ceilings on single story house on 75 degree day, but ceilings were not insulated and temperature rose above 90 degrees on high part of ceiling. Paint did not dry quickly and ran and dripped down. What a mess. see photo.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I’m painting the interior of a house for a customer before she moves in after her father and grandfather lived and smoked in the house for years. I’m applying KilzMax to all surfaces that are going to be white. Ceilings and all trim. I’ve seen reviews where people had success covering nicotine with just one coat, but I’m using two to be safe. Two coats of KillzMax, two coats of white paint, and everything looks great! Bright white! The neighbor came over and checked out my work and asked me to check out his house. He’s a heavy smoker as well, and my quote will include two coats of KillzMax on everything.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I bought this to prime a 70's bathroom redo and am happy with the results. Great coverage and sealer for my new brocade texture

Great coverage. Very little odor.

Covers great!! Had a mildew problem in a bathroom with no windows. Covered it and so far no mildew.

This product works great. We used old paint that after it dried it had a foul smell. We put two coats of Kilz max and smell is gone. Would recommend this product highly.

Outstanding product, covered entire area. You pay for what you get. Got rid of the very strong cat urine smell

It definitely does not block water stains.

We had this primer tinted to help the dark color of the paint. It dried as fast as it said it would and covered the greasy spots I was worried about. We had one big wall to cover and still have some left over for our next project. I would recommend this to everyone!

Goes on very easy but if you are looking for a one coat primer look elsewhere. It covered up the previous owners light paint very easily, but took 3 coats to cover up our test wall of various shads of beige. At this time I am not totally sold on this product and its premiun price tag.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Max is the bomb! I am a General Contractor specializing in remodel work and thru the years I have had to work with many different budgets. If you have slick walls like the old masonite paneling or formica walls even glass or ceramic and you cannot afford to rip it all out and rebuild, Kilz Max is the first place to start. We have used it on several jobs for a primmer that really sticks and provides a great base to create fabulous Faux painting techniques. I have used Kilz for years and this one is the best!

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] We had bought a house that had not been updated in 30 years. The walls were awful 70's colors and the smell in the house... Well let's just say we Kilz Maxed everything! Worked like a charm. New colors went on smooth.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I foster puppies and haveto dogs of my own so when I ripped up my flooring I knew I would need something tough!!! Kilz Max went on nice and smooth and even. I can already smell the difference or I should say not smell!!! As well as thegarage product there was very little smell from that while applying or when it was drying so that was also a huge plus!!!! My dogs even helped me apply it!!!! It's also very easy to clean up when you have messes :)

This primer was used to seal a ceiling which a portion had recently been repaired by a master drywall contractor plus nearby surfaces that needed priming before applying finish coats of paint. The one gallon purchased had been shaken at Home Depot. On the ceiling, although the primer seemed to be of a thin consistency, one coat provided adequate blocking, sufficient for over painting with ceiling paint. Adherence of the primer/sealer/stain blocker over varnished wood was poor.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I'm a firm believer in priming any surface prior to the final coat of paint. Be it metal, wood, or sheetrock, I prime it. Ten years ago I purchased a 60 year-old house in North Dakota that sat vacant 25 years. After remodeling the basement for a few years I started remodeling the upstairs rooms. Pink rooms, blue rooms, and green rooms. I purchased KILZ for the primer--as I always have--and primed each room. Only one coat was needed per room. The final coat of paint went on smooth and only one coat was also needed. I saved time and money applying KILZ primer because my projects are done right the first time.

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] Installed rollout shelves in my kitchen pantry. Kilz covered the 30 year old paint in one coat. No fume version washed up with soap and warm water. Good stuff.