4 Coats and still patchy

Hi Blueey.

4 coats is easily enough, and should cover just about anything!

Could the patchyness actually be caused by you going over the paint too much as you are applying it - ie: overlapping too much onto the stuff you've just applied as it's beginning to dry? This can cause the paint to look patchy 'cos it ends up with a slightly different texture and therefore reflects light differently.

(I painted a room with Crown 'Solo' using a brush (I prefer the finish). Never again! I just couldn't get it to look even - the paint just dragged. It was especially bad 'cos the window was just around the cormer and the light fell on the wall at a low angle. In the end I had to lightly sand the paint, and then apply a last, well-thinned, coat using a roller. This just about worked. I'll never touch Crown paint again...)

If you think the patchyness could be caused by this, then I suggest a last, quickly-applied coat of well-thinned paint.

As for eggshell, this is really designed for woodwork, mouldings, skirting, etc. Personally, I think that any sheen on a wall looks dreadful, but it's a matter of taste.

'Silk' emulsion is suitable for walls, and is generally more durable than 'matt', but again you need to like the finish it gives.

There are many really good quality matt emulsion paints out there which are very durable and washable - even Homebase's own range are pretty good.

Dulux is generally considered absolute tops.

 

As "Devil's Advocate" said, 4 coats should cover anything. Sounds like you have the wrong roller and aren't getting enough paint on the surface. Are you using a decent quality one, right for the job...i.e. a sheepskin or similar, have you a decent frame for the roller?
I personally don't think that thinning the paint will help at all...all it does is reduce the opacity of an already relativey low opacity paint (strong colours tend to be less opaque). It may even out the overall tone I suppose. Eggshell is not the answer per se. It is if you want a durable semi gloss finish but it will show any faults in the wall.
I would buy some more emulsion and invest in a good roller. Remember that paint is the cheapest thing you will put anywhere in your home on a per sq m comparison and decent tools, well looked after are an investment.
Cait

 

Hi paintycait.

My suggestion of applying a thinned coat was only intended as a possible solution to their problem if their problem was the same as the one I had previously with Crown paints.

Their 'Solo' paint was so thick and gloopy, and dried so quickly on the wall, that it left dreadful brush marks which looked very 'patchy' (it really looked like a sseries of different shades!) when the job was finished.

The only way to even out the finish was to very lightly sand the painted surface and then apply a well-thinned coat using a roller - it dried so finely that it didn't look like a rollered finish, but did the job of evening-out the 'shades'!

I'd be very interested in hearing how 'Blueey' got on.


Helloooooooo, Blueey! Are you there?

 

It would be interesting to know what surface it was applied top. ie old paint, fresh plaster, lining paper, paintable embossed paper ?





Mr. Handyandy - really

 

OK, I admit to never using Solo, I only buy from trade outlets unless I'm really stuck. But even still...4 coats and no coverage, I'd be taking any paint back, but then I would know that the problem wasn't down to user error with a straight forward paint like emulsion.
Solo is supposed to be a one coat paint...it also has a one coat guarentee or your money back...providing you use it as instructed. Why didn't you take the paint back???
Cait

 

I think you make a very good point but still think that after 4 coats it should have covered unless it was over something silly like gloss. If the tools were right and the application correct then the paint should have covered after 4 coats over most surfaces.
Cait

 

Sorry, that last post was in reply to Mr Handyman, I didn't realise that posts wouldn't follow in sequence to the way they were posted...if you get my jist.
Actually I forgot a bit from that last post...it also depends on preparation...if that isn't there...

 

Hi paintycait.

My use of 'solo' that time was simply due to the fact that it had the shade that I wanted. I certainly wouldn't recommend that type of paint to anyone!

However, it did coat my walls properly, completely obliterating the colour below (although I always apply two coats anyway!). The 'patchyness' was due to the way the ridiculous brush marks refelected the light afterwards; it wasn't due to it not covering properly.

In my posts above, I'm trying to see if this could be the case with Blueey's paint problem too; it seems unlikely to me that 4 coats (however badly applied) won't have covered the surface below.

 

Sorry DA...it was the phrase "it is still patchy it looks like it has only had one coat" in the original post that makes me think that it is not covering, as opposed to your problem.
Solo is a product developed for the absolute basic DIY market. I don't know but I reckon that if you were to phone Crown I think they would tell you that yes, it can be brushed but that they recommend rollering over large areas...because they are making it for the mass unskilled market that will want to use a roller.
If you are stuck for a colour again like that I would go to the relevant trade outlet (i.e.Crown/Dulux Decorator Centre) and tell them the colour you need and they can get the mix code from the manufacturer and produce it in any of the ranges.

<it seems unlikely to me that 4 coats (however badly applied) won't have covered the surface below.>
I agree, I think they should go back and ask for their money back...but let's say it was applied with a foam roller over anaglypta or gloss...like Mr Handyandy said...it could be anything...it's not specified. It could easily be user error..and quite an innocently made one.

Cait

 

Hi paintcait. No problem, and thanks for the sugggestion.

I suspect you are right about 'solo' type stuff being only suitable for rollering.

Never again, it's nasty, nasty, nasty...

 

I wish Blueey would come back and tell us all...!

 

I wish Blueey would come back and tell us all...!


So do I. Even if it is for our own extension of knowledge.


It was not made too clear whether it was meant that it had not covered well, or that although it was covered, it was patchy.

If it was the latter, then I would suspect that it was put onto a porous surface, and it was a rather thin mix, so it applied rather like stain.

Soaked in straight away, and each subsequent layer(even on the same coat) would make the previous brush stroke darker, thus never achieving an even colour. And if it applied like stain, then the porosity would stay, and so the next coat would be the same.



In this case, I would have suggested to lay on an undercoat of white, to seal the porous surface first first.



Mr. Handyandy - really

 

I hope Blueey is alright, maybe four coats of dark carrot was just too much for him and now he just sits and rocks....

I don't want to revive the subject cos i think that it has been dealt with admirably by all posters concerned, i'm just wondering... Dark colours often need an extra coat but even if the paint is sub-standard it would only hold translucence if it was two or more paints mixed together (by blueey, in his shed i.e. it wasn't a true palette colour). This could lead to a patchy effect. But it doesn't sound likely here, so i reckon the patchiness could be something like old glue on the walls. I've even seen it happen on new lining paper that has been sponged off with dirty (gluey) water.

Hope you are still with us,

 

When this happened to me with crown paint i ended coating the walls with 2 coats of a quality white emulsion,then applied the finish color. The main reason it happened was the new plaster was patchy.Every time since then if a customer has insisted on a dark shade of crown emulsion i have done the same with no problems. The other reason it happens is crown just aint that good in my opinion.