I figure Kilz and Zinsser must be around the same in quality overall, but they each have way too many flavors for me to figure out.

I need to prep a wall that is partially painted, partially brand new drywall, and partially (not much, thank God) truly hideous wallpaper.

What do I want to prime with?

Thanks.

-Rob

Remove the wall paper , if at all possible. It can be a pain, but it’s the right way to do the job. For new or previously painted drywall, any primer is fine. The wallpapered section is where you need good stuff. If you remove the wallpaper, make sure you get ALL of the glue residue off the wall before priming.

If you can, use the oil or alkyd base primer, it will give you the best coating for sealing the wallpapered area-make sure you have adequate ventilation. Use the waterbased version if you have to, but I’ve never found them to be as good as the oil based primers.

Depending on your color that you want to paint, the store should be able to tint the primer close to your intended color, to provide for better coverage and color of your topcoat.

What Phred said.

If you do use a water based primer (I always use Kilz) use two coats on the new unpainted area...drywall sucks in primer/paint and it may look weird if you don’t get a good base down in the area w/o prior paint.

I would use Kilz. Just their basic primer. I know they now have ones that are supposed to do this and that but just the original will be fine.

You want the surfaces to be the same when you start to paint with the final color. Since you have some painted and some new drywall hit the entire wall with primer to get a uniform base before you start with the final color.

Kilz works, but I like Menjamin Moore Super Hide primer. 2 coats of that and you should be good.

Strip the wallpaper with hot water and a sponge. Unless it's ancient, it should break down pretty quick.
Prime with a coat of Zinsser 1-2-3. Excellent product and much easier on the applicator.
Oil-based is old school and nasty.

An added trick - have tint added to the Kilz, even if it is white.

if there is a lot of wall paper use the Kilx Low Odor Oil based (has higher solid content than the plain original)

if there is not a lot of wall paper then Kilz 3 Premium

Id just be careful of using a water based product that runs the risk of penetrating the wallpaper and reactivating the glue, causing lift and or bubbles. Oil is always my recommendation for these types of things to eliminate the "possibility" causing a bigger project

you need to get the wallpaper off. I promise you will regret it if you don't.

Please remove the wallpaper, no matter how hard it is.

PPG Gripper primer is what I have used for years. Costs more than regular PVA primer, but is worth it I think. Works indoor/outdoor, over latex or oil based paint and sticks good.