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Horrible painting

16K views 143 replies 27 participants last post by  avenge 
#1 ·
I want to start by saying that I take a lot of pride in my work and always strive to improve it. As a true handyman I am responsible for a lot of trades and I am a sponge for knowledge.

I recently cut a hole through a exterior wall to installed a new header and door.

I picked up some Valspar paint at Lowes to match existing interior trim.

When painting on first coat the paint seamed not to flow smoothly.


Come the second coat (four hours drying it was even dried on the interior corners of the raised panels) it was impossible. I was forced to put it on thicker to cover without leaving bear spots. When I came back it was horrible with runs and brush marks.

Could it be because the door was colder than the room being a exterior door?

The Paint was new.
I had a 3"brush
I am a quick painter

How could I avoid this in the future?
 
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#2 ·
I had that happen many many years ago. Painted my kitchen with Behr. When I came back a few hours late the paint had runs, drips, was still super tacky and it had even slide down the wall in a few places.

Problem that I have with your scenario is when you put on a second coat after you knew the first want right. You can top bad with bad and expect a good result.

You probably should scrape, sand, prime and repaint.
 
#5 ·
The first coat did not apply as smooth as I am used to but for first coat it wasn't bad enough to raise eyebrows.
You are right on having to strip sand and start again.

Door was fiberglass (new) with factory white prime.
Trim was wood, and factory white primed.
Top coat is SG, light beige color.
Room was, I am guessing, about 68 deg inside,outside temp was Mid forties.
All painting is interior with interior paint.
 
#6 ·
1) It's fiberglass - no moisture from the paint is going to move into it like it will on drywall and wood.

2) Room temp matters, but humidity and surface temp is also important. There's no way I can guess what this was.

Best guess is you needed to let the first coat dry longer, and put the second coat on thinner, even if you have to roll it out to get coverage.

I don't know about your specific paint, but a lot of paints now are a race between consolidation and drying. If it consolidates faster than it dries, it's going to be prone to running / sagging.
 
#35 ·
I guess I was confused what was meant by consolidation in davis's statement. Consolidating the primer and paint? What is meant by consolidation here?


1)
I don't know about your specific paint, but a lot of paints now are a race between consolidation and drying. If it consolidates faster than it dries, it's going to be prone to running / sagging.
 
#14 ·
I have had mixed results brushing doors. New fiberglass seems to need at least 5 coats or more if it isn't white. I prefer to brush old prepainted doors. I can usually brush one out as fast as I can roll, or I at least feel I am getting better coverage with a brush.

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#15 ·
have to agree brushes and modern paint don't mix on smooth surfaces.

I know an older lady (good friends) who wants new base trim.......she is picky and says NO BRUSH MARKS, I always tell her good luck with that. I know I'm not that good of a painter. we did a jaccuzi tub and I used a smooth roller and she didnt like the "texture" LoL
 
#16 ·
As stated it's nearly impossible to get a decent finish with a brush on a smooth door with most latex paints. The primer could have caused the paint to drag. And as I said the 1st coat wasn't dry enough to apply a 2nd coat, it would have applied much smoother if you allow it dry 24 hours.
 
#17 ·
If I am painting a door and for whatever reason I can't spray I use a foam roller. I can get a pretty good finish from this method, but it takes patience and a light hand.
 
#23 ·
I see three possible causes.

My solutions


  • Increase temp of door and room
  • Thin paint a tad w/water
  • Increase humidity with humidifier

Looking at the paint I noticed that the sales person slipped in paint with a primer included. (something i didn't want)


I have often painted doors with a brush. It is important to brush the stiles and rails in the appropriate direction. Doing this generally enhance the mock wood grain in the door and I've had no problems doing this in the past, provided the paint flows and levels well.

The pinkie rollers sound interesting. I will check them out.

Thanks for all your past painting observations.
 
#30 ·
If any of those 3 would have helped the "horrible" paint job it would have been #2. it's a fiberglass door not metal so it's not like it was too cold except for drying as I've said already. Why would you want warmer temps with an already quick to tack up latex? If I was brushing a smooth door I want lower temps not higher.

What's primer in paint have to with it? If you wanted a top quality job you should started with something other than Valspar.

And if anyone brushes a door in any other direction than the wood grain would run, put the lid back on the can and go do something else.
 
#33 ·
The purpose of the header and door is to give outside access to a bedroom so it can be listed on air b&b as a room with private entrance for rent. The entrance is through a already existing porch.
I also am adding a door in a hallway that would isolate this bedroom with its private bathroom from the rest of the house.
 
#44 · (Edited)
When painting on first coat the paint seamed not to flow smoothly.


Come the second coat (four hours drying it was even dried on the interior corners of the raised panels) it was impossible. I was forced to put it on thicker to cover without leaving bear spots. When I came back it was horrible with runs and brush marks.

Could it be because the door was colder than the room being a exterior door?

The Paint was new.
I had a 3"brush
I am a quick painter

How could I avoid this in the future?
If it does not "flow" as expected ... stop and figure out why.

Second coat didn't "flow better than first, see above comment. What you describe is painting over a surface that has not cured properly. What did the directions say, specifically about recoating? What was the recommended brush? What did the 'pros' at Lowes say? It's a home owner friendly product from a box store, what have you used in the more pro supply lines for comparison? Hell, did you stir the paint?

If everything thing you say is as it should have been done - Don't use that paint again. Either you did something wrong, very wrong or it's bad paint.

Being really proud of workmanship is one thing. Being so proud of yourself not to think that maybe 'Griz' beyond really knows his chit. And you have problems with an apply and let dry process. Is kind of funny to me.
 
#77 ·
For the record the paint can states " Allow 2 to 4 hour before recoating.

I stated "being proud of my workmanship" to show I am not a fly by nighter. I am a long way from being overly proud to where it affects my judgement.

I do though have a problem giving respect to a person when that person shows no respect towards me.
 
#46 ·
With all but the fastest drying paints, I like to roll and back brush them. Use a mini roller to apply the paint quickly, and stroke it out in the direction of the grain. With some practice this method can apply a thicker coat faster than brushing alone. And that seems to be the key to good flow. Works particularly well with Advance.

Some of the newer low/0 VOC acrylics are hard to get to flow out because of reduced open time. Speed of application and minimum tooling seem to be the trick. There is just no time to play around with them. If you brush over an area more than two or three times it starts to gum up. Put it on and leave it alone works best.

I know guys that do a fine job doing roll only. I just don't prefer the look myself with most paints.
 
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