Rambling On About Benjamin Moore And Aura

frankcanpaint

I attended a BM Aura exterior product demo with catered snacks and even alcohol at my local BM dealer. I got the free t-shirt , Aura binder with promo info and estimate book etc.
It came off like a hard sale for aura and I thought the whole thing insulting. Moving on....Presently I am painting a new 4000 sq ft house all BM ulti matte and lots of different colours. I have really gotten to like the ulti matte. One of the new boy's rooms is being painted the new Vancouver Canuck's hockey jersey colours of a dark blue, white and green. I am basically painting the room walls blue and transferring the placement of the green stripe sandwiched between the 2 white stripes from the jersey to the walls.
First of all the builder specified he wanted be to roll the job only -not spray (except for the doors) and to use a i0 ml roller cause he didn't want to see any nap marks or orange peel. OK.. I like those standards however it sure slows down the process when you are a one man show and throws a wrench into pricing. I did prime + 2 coats of flat on ceilings and 1 coat of ulti matte followed by brushing oil on trim and a final coat of ulti matte on the walls. When I got to the boy's room i did a 10 0z. black in a flat acrylic followed by a coat ot ulti matte in the blue. I figured it was going to take another 4 coats to cover so I next got the blue in the aura (flat sheen). It took altogether 2 coats of Aura to cover.
The rep told me that if I had used the blue undercoat it would have taken just one coat of Aura. I am not convinced but at the same time it did save me from doing multiple coats of ulti matte and so it Aura for dark colours does have its place and I would use it in the future.
Exteriors: I use mostly stains on my west coast exteriors but paint on my doors and with Aura drying in 15 minutes on a hot summer day I can't see fracking with Aura even though it has an additive/extender for its exterior product. line.
Doors:The rep actually said that if i wiped my factory pre-primed metal doors with a solvent and gave em a light scuff, 2 coats of exterior Aura would do the job.
I asked about their other acrylic DTM paint they were previously recommending for metal doors -exterior soft gloss. and got the same advice : wash with solvent, scuff and 2 coats of soft gloss acrylic.
The next day I received a handout from the store recommending I re-prime previously factory primed doors and trims(which I DO anyway) before using any BM product. I guess that means that the Aura is not self-priming???

MakDeco

I have had good success so far with it. It does dry fast, so no doors in the sun for me. I believe Aura was self priming... Have to check to see what the can said. factory primer on those metal doors is usually crap anyway. I think time will tell on Aura, for now I will use when I feel its the best product for the given situation.

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tcleve4911

Our painters are using Aura on the current job we're on. They like the coverage,
self priming factors & low VOC.
I like the product so far.

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frankcanpaint

So Mak or tcleve...are you guys using the exterior aura on exterior pre-primed wood or metal doors without re-priming
frank

tcleve4911

No prepriming on exterior. All of our exterior trim is preprimed so we get the backside protected. Sanded or milled exposed edges can be just painted over with Aura instead of having to touch up raw edges & surfaces.

Doors the same

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tcreek0022

And they have the reps in the field to help you with your projects!

frankcanpaint

Yeah my area is basically Ben Moore or Cloverdale. S. Williams is not available nor even Ben Moore's Waterborne Satin Impervo. iT is only sold in the USA. I have gone back to using oil when brushing trim because i CAN'T FIND a waterbourne product that will give me the finish i want.

MakDeco

I have only used it on repaints so everything was coated all ready. I have spot prime some cedar with oil prior to painting it to protect from tannin bleed.

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frankcanpaint

Quote:
Originally Posted by MAK Deco

I have only used it on repaints so everything was coated all ready. I have spot primed some cedar with oil prior to painting it to protect from tannin bleed.
Mac Deco
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Yeah Mac I used it on an inside casing that was already coated. It definately has its place for painting dark and deep colours. With a price over $55.00 even with a discount i will probably only use it for that.
I am back to brushing my trims with oil impervo cut with some penetrol and it is a thing of beauty. I will tolerate the smell for now.
cheers
frank

VAinteriors

Based on everything I've heard from people, and my own experience, I haven't heard one person who used them side by side, that didn't prefer the Aura Exterior.

hockeyman001

Agreed. Duration is one of the better paints I've worked with. A lot of "help it's peeling!" calls I got were Benjamin Moore products. While BM tends to looks good when it goes on, can't say the same for staying on or after a few years of wear and tear. Just my experiences though...

frankcanpaint

Quote:
Originally Posted by hockeyman001
"A lot of "help it's peeling!" calls I got were Benjamin Moore products. While BM tends to looks good when it goes on, can't say the same for staying on or after a few years of wear and tear. Just my experiences though..."

I don't know of any pro painter who does the necessary prep work that has had a problem with Benjamin Moore paints peeling or a problem with the paint breaking down after a few years. However in the last while Ben Moore did pass out a flyer in my area advising painters to sand/clean pre- primed trim and doors cause of complaints of silicone residue and that their might be a peeling problem cause of this.
I have been using Ben Moore for years and it continues to be a top line paint. Yes, I have my beefs:
it is pricey but then again the clients willing to use this paint are usually willing to pay me my working prce,
I wish Ben Moore would sell their Waterborne Satin Impervo here in western Canada cause I haven't found another alternative for brushing miles of trim.
Aura has its place for painting deep base colours but IMO the price is ridiculous and the one coat coverage is misleading.
Thanks for the feedback.
Frank

kent-paints

Definitly misleading that Aura covers in one coat. For a B- job maybe, but not to my standards. Plus Aura's one hour dry time is pretty useless. How often is it critical to recoat in an hour? That is not a feature on my list of requirments. Benjamin Moore should reformulate it. Slow the dry times down so the higher sheens brush out better.

THINKPAINTING

Just finished 3 rooms all AURA, 1 coat color--dried basil---its 2 base color, covered in 1 with microfiber nap.

Had to patch walls with easy sand 20, we rolled right over patched areas without priming, no flash from patches once AURA dried.

AURA is a great product and I agree its a waste of $$$ if you are not using mid or deep base colors.

I would rather pay extra for material than labor, and climb a 40 ft ladder once instead of twice anyday.

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NJPainter

I also used a quick-setting compound and had no issues rolling over it with Aura. One question though, why does it seem that B-M paints have a cut to roll differential? The cuts look darker than the roll in a strongly lit area. For 50$ a gallon I'm not impressed but I've only used Aura once.

I can only give B-M an edge on the pigmentation- it seems that they have a more nuanced coloring system.

THINKPAINTING

Could be the way the light is hitting the wall, do you cut and roll as you paint?

Some paints flash no matter what ya do, but Aura will get you results if you need dark color coverage, other thatn that use Behr ...lol

As for colorant in paint, Aura is a whole different animal, I use it when I need it, super spec line cant be beat for price and coverage.

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Sportioli

Just did a yellow over red with Aura.... It took 3 coats, I only bid it at 2 and learned a lesson. Lucky for me it was only about a 100 foot accent wall so the lesson wasn't an expensive one.

Beware!

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