Riverside Paint

Used the product on several jobs, learned:

one coat coverage, unless painting over same colors, is marketing hype, not reality. tried to get one coat coverage from five different colors, couldnt. came close. but two coats are still needed.

youre supposed to use 3/8" nap rollers to apply the stuff and everyone and their brother makes a roller specifically for aura paint. both benjamin moore and purdy's roller covers do an okay job, another called Microfibre (not sure who makes it) works best.

aura texture is unlike anything ive used. it sort of reminds me of pratt & lamberts semi-gloss, kinda thin. also reminds me of California paint, again, thin, but offers good coverage. aura is sold in three sheens: matte, satin and eggshell. imo, theres not a lot of differentiation between the sheens. one thing i read said something like the paint is designed to look wet even after its dry. it does, not sure if thats a good thing.

aura splatters like a mofo. takes some time getting used to. those 3/8" naps they say youre supposed to use dont seem to be able to hold the paint very well. next job im gonna go back to using a 1/2" nap, maybe it will help with splatter, and coverage.

aura dries WAY too fast. the concern isnt with paint drying fast on a wall, its that the stuff starts to coagulate inside the bucket and on the grid in less than two hours. on both of my the last two jobs i switched grids after rolling roughly a gallon of paint. to me this is the paint's biggest problem. i dont have time to strain paint/switch buckets/find clean grids/change roller covers all day.

touch ups are "iffy" at best. if you can catch a holiday with a roller, you might get lucky. with most paint, you can hit the misses with a brush stroke or two and they disappear. not with aura. touch a brush to a wall rolled with aura and things get ugly quick.

all in all, i am happy with the possibilities the paint offers. when it dries, it looks and feels nice. everyone comments on the no smell factor, which i also like. if they could just keep it wet inside my bucket a little longer, if they could eliminate whatever it is that causes all the splatters, it'd make some days a lot easier.

DeanV

That is too bad about the spatter. I was considering switching to BM Matte due to the much lower spatter over what I currently use and I was hoping when Aura makes it into my area, it would also be lower spatter.

lornmastro

Thanks for all the info...I know my local BM dealer will be carring it at some point in time...will have to give it a try.

painterofeveryt

Dean, are you getting a lot of spatter from grahams ? if so what nap do you normally use ? Thanks

DeanV

I do get quite a bit of spatter, more that most paint. I use a 1/2' pro-dooz. The 100% wool ones do not work for me, they do control the spatter better, but I like the lower stipple of the pro-dooz. I have had dark color walls that cannot be made even enough with a wool cover, even a 3/8 wool.

I recently did a stripe in a room with dark brown BM matte finish with very little spatter, with graham the tape is usually covered with a color like that.

I am a little worried that QC has slipped with Graham's, this summer I have had issues with Ceramathane and a batch of solid acrylic stain that dried almost satin.

Da Vinci

Thanks for the update with Aura. BM put a LOT of money marketing this product, I think a lot is hype. I have yet to paint where I needed only one coat with this product.

There is an advantage to fast dry because you can easily 2 coat in same day, however my guys complained that if you cut a room fast (or a wall) the paint has dried to a gel state, so when you roll it messes it up-kind of like painting a semi-gloss latex on a hot day.

You have to wait long enough for the cut to dry before you roll.

Updates on this product are valuable feedback for us! Thanks.

Bay Area PAinting Contractor

rosem06901

I'm a bit confused with some of the things that have been putting forth in this thread. First of all, if you find that the paint splatters, why in gods name would you switch to a THICKER nap. That means there is more paint to splatter. Second, the microfiber nap is the worst nap to use with aura, it literally falls apart when applying the paint. Third, BM never claimed one coat, they claim never more than two coats, and its the truth. Have you ever tried to cover black with a bright yellow, or a deep deep red over white, with normal paint, 4,5,6 coats and you can still see the base coat. Not so with aura, one coat color foundation, one coat finish, done. And you're right, it does set up fast, but the thing about touch ups is you have to LET it set up, maybe an hour then touch up, and its seamless. No wet edge like with other paint. I don't know where you guys go for your BM paint, but you may want to consider going to another one, because they aren't doing a very good job selling their top line paint

gideond

I want to know what kind of pigments Aura is using. Are they similar to standard pigments or more potent like an industrial pigment? If they are more like and industrial, then I could make any decent paint cover in two coats with an industrial pigment. There isn't anything special about that. Accolade will generally cover in two coats even with normal pigments especially with the red and yellow tint bases they use.

rosem06901

Aura uses a completely new colorant. Its waterbourne, so instead of a powder in a glycol vehicle, its more of a super concentrated paint, which means, instead of the pigment just going along for a ride in the paint, it molecularly bonds with the paint. So that brings me to another positive, there is no color rub off with Aura, unlike other paints in the dark ranges. So to answer your question, its neither universal, nor industrial, its a completely new technology.

Riverside Paint

Interesting.

Ive had the best luck using microfibre. Unfortunately they arent available in a 1/2" nap. I am back to using purdys. One thing I've noticed about using 3/8" nap with Aura is the shorter nap tends to produce a smearing effect which causes me to spend extra time backrolling. Maybe the switch to 3/8" is what was giving me trouble. I'm back to using 1/2" rollers, no complaints. We'll have to agree to disagree on the touch-up quality. And you are wrong about BM not claiming one coat coverage. They have reps holding seminars almost on a monthly basis. One of the first things they talk about is one coat coverage, they even demo the stuff showing how its supposed to work.

gideond

Interesting to know on the pigments.

As for one coat coverage, I've had several BM painters in my store lately and they too are saying the people at the BM store are touting it as a one coat product. I don't care how good the paint is, I'd never tell anyone it's a one coat product. It's like ever time someone looks at a can that says, "Super One Coat White" and their eyes light up.

rosem06901

The wording that I've come across at those seminars is "One coat over most things, never more than two." If you've heard otherwise than your rep is doing you an injustice by lying to you. And usually at those seminars they are showing you one coat with the finish over the color foundation. So I guess if you think of primer and finish as two seperate things that don't get counted together than yes, it is one coat. But I don't know anyone that thinks that way.

rosem06901

Oh, BTW, which brand microfibre roller are you using? Because the ones that BM are selling are 5/16" So Whichever brand you're using must be better, because the BM ones are junk. However, the BM Aura rollers are actually really nice, seen a lot of good things with them, they're a little expensive though...

sheldon_lee

i sell the aura paint in vancouver british columbia, but either than one or two customers, i have had nuthing but absoutley amazing feed back. the key is to let ur consumers know what they're using and how to apply it. contracters love it, especially with the drying time it helps them get in and out fast, and by doin less coats, there saving money in the long run.

paintprogal

Interesting.

Ive had the best luck using microfibre. Unfortunately they arent available in a 1/2" nap. I am back to using purdys. One thing I've noticed about using 3/8" nap with Aura is the shorter nap tends to produce a smearing effect which causes me to spend extra time backrolling. Maybe the switch to 3/8" is what was giving me trouble. I'm back to using 1/2" rollers, no complaints. We'll have to agree to disagree on the touch-up quality. And you are wrong about BM not claiming one coat coverage. They have reps holding seminars almost on a monthly basis. One of the first things they talk about is one coat coverage, they even demo the stuff showing how its supposed to work.

I had the same experience with rep selling it as a one coat deal ! I wonder if it is the same rep , first name Jeff , middle aged gentleman .
Had anyone else noticed that there was no white in the inventory during the rep show ?
I have had a terrible experience all the way with Aura paint .
Has anyone actually read the label where it says ( contents / partially unknown ).
I had two men in a garage and we couldnt open the door because the stuff was drying too quickly and the odor was horrific , almost a mineral spirit odor . I also noted that this product claims to control mildew , if so is there a mildewcide in it ?
After many gallons of paint and side effects , such as headache , sinus and just a general feeling that your eyes were going to pop out of their sockets , I am really wondering what is the deal with this paint . Below is a list of the problems I experienced with Aura Paints .

1. Dries too fast
2.Had to throw away good brushes : Bristles breaking off and bristles flaring out of control.
3.Rep not giving enough detail about product application .
4.Had to strain every gallon through a metal strainer to reduce the trash in it and had to restrain continously .
5. Used Aura covers and even after 2 coats still had sheen problems .
6.Banding problems with one color
7.Using satin on intricate trim work , the paint would bunch up the brushes so bad that there was no way to cut in a straight line so we had to cut walls back into the trim .
8.Roller trays had to be cleaned after nearly every wall .
We were using Aura Matte , Eggshell , and satin . The rep told my client that the semigloss wasn`t in production as of June 2008 .

boydsdodge

I really like Pittsburgh Manor Hall for interior walls, never had a problem. I really did not like the Aura.

WisePainter

This is the third thread about Aura in 1 month.
I have used it and cannot justify the price in a crap economy, BM didn't anticipate that when they launched a $60.00 gallon of paint eh?
It was not as amazing as I was told by my sales rep that it would be.

__________________
My advice: Hire a real painter to do it.

Workaholic

Actually this thread is almost 18 months old but the BM guys seem to love the stuff.

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Sean

hoya

As stated in another thread. We just started using the Aura. So far so good. It does take a little time to get used to it. cut the walls- let dry and roll. Make sure to use the correct roller. I've used both 3/8 and 1/2". Both worked good.
The other day one of my guys used a 1/2 Lambswool---major mistake. Paint looked horrible. You could see the texture of the roller and the color underneath- kinda made it looklike a bad hatband. (waste-o-50.00). Next day on another job--gave the guy the correct roller and wall looked perfect.
Good luck with touch ups so far. There is a issue with the paint drying in the pan and cut pots. I hate paint boogers. Had to strain the paint a few times. Cut-lunch-roll.
I agree that the price is HIGH, but it is what it is. (for now). Next time your at a ben moore store check out the aura tint machine.

Challange: the next time you have a deep or ultra deep color-try this product and post it on a new thread. See if you can save some time and labor.

davitk

Sorry, man, but like painter-wise-guy said earlier, you really sound like a salesman.