{"id":298,"date":"2011-09-28T20:38:50","date_gmt":"2011-09-28T20:38:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bathursthandyman.ca\/?p=298"},"modified":"2011-09-28T20:38:50","modified_gmt":"2011-09-28T20:38:50","slug":"why-one-coat-top-tier-big-box-store-paint-sucks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buildingology.com\/?p=298","title":{"rendered":"Does the one coat solution of “top-tier” paint really work?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Big box store paints have appealing advantages to the average homeowner.\u00a0 Yes, it is convenient to have all the items you need in one store.\u00a0 At approximately $30-$40 per gallon for a supposedly top tier paint, the prices are competitive without question.\u00a0 But on closer inspection, this deal is probably not so great.\u00a0 I would like to point out at this time that many people, couldn\u2019t careless about the quality of paint on their walls.\u00a0\u00a0 I think this is the case for good reason….who is really going to notice it?\u00a0 It\u2019s a fair question.\u00a0 A better question is \u201cIs someone else going to notice it?\u201d.\u00a0 It is curious characteristic of human nature that we only notice how bad something is when someone else points it out to you.\u00a0 If you prefer your bliss, read another article.\u00a0 If you to take bite of fruit from the paint tree of knowledge, read on.\u00a0 Disclaimer:\u00a0 painted fruit tastes funny, and is harmful to your health. Don\u2019t bite it.\u00a0 They belong on fridges pained by your niece or art by Paul C\u00e9zanne.<\/p>\n

The one coat solution.\u00a0 Why paint twice when you can paint only once?<\/h2>\n

It is appealing for sure.\u00a0 Who in their right mind would choose to paint a room twice when you could do it once?\u00a0 Honestly those people are suckers.\u00a0 You could easily make fun of them for being out of touch with the latest paint technology.\u00a0 \u201cYou paint a room like my grandparents, with lead!\u201d.\u00a0 Our culture is fixated on performing tasks faster whatever they may be.\u00a0 The tag line goes something like “would you rather spend more quality time with your kids than painting?”.\u00a0 It’s a fair point.\u00a0 Can we really paint walls with only one coat, when we can paint it with two?.\u00a0 Somewhere the idea was lost that maybe painting a room with<\/em> your kids is better than for<\/em> your kids.\u00a0 Lets focus on the paint facts instead on what is ideally right.\u00a0 If one coat is better that’s fine.\u00a0 So let’s see if it is actually possible.<\/p>\n

Here is the truth, paint, such as it is and how it is applied on walls today, with rollers, brushing and spraying will never…ever…be able to be applied effectively<\/em> in one coat.\u00a0 This has nothing to do with the chemical composition of the paint formula at all.\u00a0 It has to do about the laws of physics, and the maximum thickness possible for one layer of paint before it gets too thick, and starts dripping off the wall.<\/p>\n

Texture<\/h2>\n

Every wall you are going to paint has a texture that is not smooth as enamel or paint on car.\u00a0 It is rough in texture, and has many crests and valleys.\u00a0 This is a normal texture for a wall.\u00a0 Below is a standard wall up close.\u00a0 You can see the texture, and notice when a light is pointed almost parallel to the wall, the contrast is increased and you can really see the crests and valleys.<\/p>\n

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A black picture frame is on the left. The wall is pitted with crests and valleys.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A flashlight was shined parallel to the same wall as in the previous picture. You can really see the crests and valleys<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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This texture is even created on new drywall when the first coat of primer is applied.\u00a0 Lets take a look at the existing conditions.\u00a0 The following pictures is what the paint looks like if we look at the thickness of the materials only.\u00a0 We will view a section through the wall in plan view (birds eye).\u00a0 Notice that the tan\/yellow coloured paint has crests and valleys like the previous picture.<\/p>\n

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Here is the tan \/ yellow coloured existing paint from the wall. The blue block represents the thickness of the drywall under the paint<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Painting Physics<\/h2>\n

It would\u00a0 make sense that when you apply new paint on top of existing, the paint the comes off your roller is going to be thicker in the valleys, than it would in the crests.\u00a0 It is like spreading butter or margarine into a piece of toast.\u00a0 The butter always gets “stuck” in the pits of the toast.\u00a0 When you scrape the toast with the knife to try to control the amount you want on the toast,\u00a0 you can thin out the butter at the crests, but never in the valleys.\u00a0 The same rules apply when you are painting<\/p>\n

When you press your roller on the wall, the crest is what touches the roller, and paint is forced into the valley like the butter on the toast.\u00a0\u00a0 There is only so much paint you can stick on the wall before the paint starts to become too thick, noticeably non-uniform, and difficult to control.\u00a0 This is a physical limitation when working with paint.\u00a0 Fine artists will paint a canvas in many layers because of the lack of control with thick paint.\u00a0\u00a0 Painting a wall is no different than fine art when regarding these rules.\u00a0 Lets show what one new layer of paint looks like on our existing wall.<\/p>\n

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The first coat of new green paint is applied.\u00a0\u00a0 The new coat of paint is usually thickest in the valleys of the previous coat. Part of the reason for the thicker section is that paint is sticky, so when you force the paint into the valleys and pull away, the new crest is formed as it tried to stick to the roller as you pull it (or roll it) away.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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If we are able to isolate that first layer of paint that you just installed from your \u201cone coater\u201d, you can see in the picture below, that the paint is thicker in some areas than in others due to the wall texture and roller texture.\u00a0\u00a0 Notice how the purple arrows have a thick layer of paint between it, but move only a few millimetres over to the right (red arrow), and the layer of paint is thin in that section.\u00a0 If you were to look at this new green paint after the first layer is dry, you would see your new colour, but the old colour\u00a0 still \u201cpops\u201d through in the sections that are thin.<\/p>\n

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The original tan\/yellow paint was removed to show the thickness of the new one coat paint.\u00a0 The purple arrow represents new paint that was forced into the valley of the old paint. The red arrow represents the crest.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A common misconception is when a wall is covered with paint, it completely blankets or covers the previous paint job underneath making it impermeable and opaque, so as long as ever square inch\/centimetre is covered with paint, the thickness should not matter. I often hear<\/p>\n

” just paint over it”<\/p>\n

Whatever “it” may be.\u00a0 Mildew? Dirt? It doesn’t matter, paint over it!. \u00a0 Lets take a real word example on why this simply does not work.\u00a0 I call this the “blanket solution”.<\/p>\n

My wife\u2019s professional artisan acrylic paint tubes made by a top-tier company called Golden.\u00a0 The company paints the exterior of the tubes in the factory, so the artist can see the final product before they buy the paint.\u00a0 When we buy a gallon of paint for our walls, you will see the paint clerk very often swabs some paint and marks the top of the can.\u00a0 You must remember, that when artists look at the exterior of their paint tubes,\u00a0 they are not looking only for colour, but other qualities including opaqueness, shine.\u00a0 This top-tier artisan\u2019s paint is definitely not completely opaque as you can see in the picture.\u00a0 The point is, if you were painting a bedroom, and you had to cover the walls in one coat, the paint must be 100% opaque for maximum coverage for the “blanket solution” to work.<\/p>\n

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Golden open acrylic artisan paints<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Notice the three printed lines under the strip of yellow paint can still be seen.\u00a0 Remember, this brand of paint is not some knock off.\u00a0 Golden is considered a top-tier quality paint, (along with Windsor & Newton, and others), and it is still not 100% opaque<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It can clearly be seen that the printed lines under the paint on the Golden acrylic tube can be seen through the paint even though it is completely covered.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Acrylic paints like these that come in a tube are very viscous.\u00a0 The paint will squeeze out of the tube in a “tube” shape because it is very thick, similar to toothpaste.\u00a0 House paint has a lot more fluidity.\u00a0\u00a0 So thickness of the paint does not necessary have to do with the ability for the paint to cover a wall.\u00a0 This term is called “coverage”.<\/p>\n

Items we often think of as opaque items that are not really opaque when we inspect them a little more closely.\u00a0 This effect can be seen by using a standard household black or green garbage bag.\u00a0 Open it up, and hold it 1 to 2 inches away from a compact florescent light bulb (13 w or more).\u00a0 Incandescent and halogens are too hot and will burn the plastic, don’t use those.\u00a0 Now look right at the light bulb through the plastic.\u00a0 You should be able to see the light coming through the plastic.\u00a0\u00a0 I always thought a garbage bag was as opaque as it gets, but it is not 100% opaque.\u00a0 This is the opaqueness factor, and unless this “one coater” paint was 100% opaque, you will see the coat underneath (where the red arrows are in the previous pictures).\u00a0\u00a0 There is nothing to debate now about coverage.\u00a0 It is very obvious that the ability for one coat paints to cover a wall has been proven to be implausible.<\/p>\n

Lets take a look at the thickness of two coats of paint looks like.<\/p>\n

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The second layer of green paint is pushed into the valleys of the previous layer.\u00a0 This shape is only possible if the first layer is dry to the touch, which takes a few hours.\u00a0 The dryness of successive layers is what gives the painter more control.\u00a0 The “Mona Lisa” was painted by using extremely thin layers for the same reason.\u00a0 Control.\u00a0 With no control there would be no “Mona Lisa”.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Notice that the valleys of the first layer (where paint likes to go) happens to be exactly where the first layer paint was at it’s thinnest.\u00a0 Of course it is the same area where the paint was see through.\u00a0 Now lets look at the thickness:<\/p>\n

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Though the paint still has a relatively rough texture, the thickness is relatively uniform throughout\u00a0 the wall, and that is how a uniform thickness and colour is achieved.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

With all other elements removed, we can see the thickness of our new colour of paint.\u00a0 Even though the first layer had a inconsistent thickness, the two layers combined produce a relatively uniform<\/em> thickness.\u00a0 There are no areas where we can see through.\u00a0 Good paint job, I say.<\/p>\n

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Final Thoughts<\/h1>\n

Spray guns<\/h2>\n

What about using air pressure to spray?\u00a0 You may say, \u201cthere is no pressure from the roller on the wall\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Though this is true, spraying comes with many another issues.\u00a0 Briefly I will say that it’s really messy and prep work is extremely time consuming.\u00a0 Enough time that it is not worth it unless you are spraying a whole house that is not occupied with no finished floors, surfaces or furniture in place.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This is not appropriate for the average homeowner (I don’t do it either including the professional painters I know).\u00a0 The paint has to be thinned out by adding extra water to latex, reducing the coverage and defeating the purpose of a one coat solution.\u00a0 Spray guns can be applied too thick as well, not giving it time to dry.<\/p>\n

Binders<\/h2>\n

Primer (which goes on before paint) has a lot of binders in them.\u00a0 In short it is basically the glue that sticks paint to the walls.\u00a0 One coat paint also has a lot of binders.\u00a0 It has to so a one coat solution will actually stick to the wall.\u00a0 Normally with a two coat system, the second layer of paint (that goes on top) has far less binders.\u00a0 So if your top layer has less, then it is not as sticky.\u00a0 My personal experience has taught me that one coat solutions are a little more susceptible to getting dirty than the standard two coat. Be prepared for the wall to get dirty very easily.\u00a0 Not all paints can be cleaned successfully, no matter what it says on the can.\u00a0 Stick to top-tier brands as only they can be cleaned without taking paint off the wall.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

Big box stores miss the mark when identifying coverage of any paint (with the one coat logic) is the issue with ignoring the application of that paint.\u00a0 I will give the benefit of the doubt that the chemistry of many big box stores top tier paint is top-notch (it’s not).\u00a0 But what about the physics?\u00a0 This is not addressed at all.\u00a0 For example, if we install paint that is too thick, we have less control, and the uniformity of the coat goes out the window and your wall looks noticeably awful.\u00a0 Thicker rollers do play a slight advantage on thicker application of paint on the wall, but not by that much before you lose too much control.\u00a0 The thick roller does not even come close to a proper thickness in one coat, as a thick roller is not meant to be used to cover the walls in one coat.\u00a0 They are for stucco ceilings, and if you are skilled, you could potentially paint the room quicker.\u00a0 Quicker, not thicker.\u00a0 The thin sections of paint at the valleys will occur, it is inevitable. \u00a0 I can tell you that from experience.\u00a0 Back to the physics… One coaters must be applied in the same manner as two coaters as we can’t change the thickness too much.\u00a0\u00a0 If that is the case, with an awesome paint chemistry (so they claim), these companies fail by not addressing to the public on how their paint really works from the time you pick it up at the store, to when you finish painting.\u00a0 They don’t address thickness when they sell it, because they have no solution on how one coaters work when they are applied.\u00a0 You may ask the clerk at the big box store, and they may say “it covers well” full well knowing what they are saying is utter bullshit.\u00a0 Don’t ask the clerk at the big box store unless you know that person to be really trustworthy.\u00a0 Unfortunately, though many of them are actually knowledgeable in this area, they have to tout the party line even if it makes them cringe inside.<\/p>\n

The rule of thumb for painting walls should be a minimum of two coats, with the second layer of paint filling in the thin spots from the first layer, again moving into the valleys of the previous coat.\u00a0\u00a0 It should also be said that painters wait until the paint is mostly dry before putting out the second coat.\u00a0 The first layer has to be solid enough to allow the \u201cpushing\u201d of the second layer of paint without ruining the first layer.<\/p>\n

We want to be lazy with one coat, but unfortunately we can’t be that lazy with paint until these corporations find a method to actually alter the properties of physics of our space time continuum with their products, or use a magic wand as an applicator.<\/p>\n

\"Buildingology<\/a><\/p>\n