Wooster PRO CLASSIC Covers

This cover is unique, but its performance is nothing special.

When I first purchased one of these PRO CLASSIC 1/2" covers I didn’t see any difference between these and Wooster Super Fab covers besides the color. I wrote a nice review about the PRO CLASSIC covers awhile back and how similar they were to a Super Fab. Well it seems as with all good things they come to an end and this is no exception. Recently I purchased a 2 pak of these covers and I was shocked at the difference in quality from when I first used them years ago. I was able to reuse them over and over for months before but with the recently purchased covers I am lucky to get past the first job. No joke! The older ones used to be full and thick but these new ones are more like a 1/4" covers in comparison.

I guess I’m amazed when products change they don’t call them something different because with this product, the cover is nothing even close to what it used to be. Thumbs down on this one Wooster! I wrote about how manufacturers do this all the time. It’s not right. I liked them when they first came out but the covers are no longer what they used to be. You can clearly see from the photo these covers are skinny for 1/2". What a shame. On a side-note: shedding is minimal and the wash easy.

For Oil-Based Stains

It is probably no argument that white china bristle is more common for applying oil-based penetrating stains so I am not going to try to tell you different. One thing to point out with the Purdy 100% Natural Black China Bristle vs. White China is how fast white china bristles wear and lose shape. What is most common with White China is the bristles as a whole become puckered out or fattened where the Black China tends to keep its shape much better and takes longer to wear.

There is no question white china bristle can carry a load of stain better than black china but if you are caught with 20+ solid wood doors to stain you might want to grab a black china brush and a wool applicator pad. Also the black china brush might work out better for you when you have a ton of intricate work.

Dialing in HVLP

Some guys struggle with the HVLP. I think if more guys felt more comfortable about how they work, more guys would use them. For the purpose of this article I will be using the ICI Sanding Sealer only because I happen to be shooting it this week.

On the HVLP (top photo) you see two dials, one is the air flow (how much air goes through the gun) and the other is material flow aka fluid knob (how much paint goes through). The arrow on the upper knob (air flow) is set at about the 7 o’clock mark. Max air flow is at 12 o’clock. The knob only works from the 12 o’clock to 6 o’clock mark but you can turn it either way. So if we turn the knob to the right to 5 o’clock, it is the same as turning the knob to the left at 7 o’clock. Hope that makes sense.

The second photo shows how thin the material is. You know how when you pour a thick paint in a bucket the paint sort of accumulates on the surface before it levels out? We can’t have that happen with an HVLP. The paint when poured into itself should dissipate immediately into itself. I have my sanding sealer a bit on the thin side but not by much and only because I was shooting a light dusting coat of tinted sealer.

Once the paint is mixed up and in the cup, turn the fluid knob all the way in and then back it out 2 full turns. Start by shooting with the air flow at the 6 o’clock which should be ‘OFF’. Then while squeezing the trigger, start by turning the air flow to the 9 o’clock mark. It should produce paint at least air through the gun at this point. If not, turn the fluid knob another full turn out. If still nothing, your material may be too thick. You can at this point open the air control knob all the way to 12 o’clock to confirm. If still no material, the gun is blocked up or material is too heavy.

If all goes well, you should be able to shoot materials through the gun with the material flow open slightly and air flow set at 7 or 8 o’clock. I NEVER shoot anything at 12 o’clock, that’s when I eat lunch, no seriously 12 o’clock is over kill and does nothing but cloud up the room.

Assuming you have paint through the gun, turn the air off again and very slightly turn air pressure up a hair or until the paint is coming out like a fine spray. If you cut off the air flow the gun should spit the paint out. Dial-in where the minimum air is needed to shoot a fine spray from the tip of the gun. The knob is very sensitive, use very small increments for adjustment.

Once you get the hang of that, you can adjust the fluid knob more to move materials quicker.

See also: HVLP Maintenance and HVLP Transfer Efficiency

Rolling Techniques

How to roll walls I’ve seen many rolling techniques in my day. Home shows generally show people rolling a W pattern without an extension pole. I’ve seen the X pattern etc., also there is some silly Z pattern floating around on YouTube for people who roll without poles and want to be sore for days. That reminds me, mental note: make post of 101 silly things homeowners do when painting.

As far as I’m concerned, there is only one way to roll. This technique is certainly not anything new but it is simple and very effective for achieving consistent finishes but there is one exception to this technique. If you are rolling a 16’ high wall, I strongly suggest you roll this pattern on the lower 8’ and then do the same pattern on the upper 8’ with your last stoke from ceiling to floor. Be sure to put plenty of stuff in your way too as seen in the photos.

The photos are pretty much straight forward. Start in the middle of the wall; roll down then up passed the middle to the ceiling and finally finish the last pass from ceiling to floor.

See also: Rolling Duration Home for more info. Head on over to YouTube.com and search ‘rolling walls’ for video demonstrations.

Corrective Finishes

Wood Finishing Using Toner

You may come across a homeowner who might ask you to magically blend all their wood to look exactly the same. Well, magic is exactly what you will need for that. But, if you manage to compromise with the homeowner after the 60 minute lecture on wood, you might come to the following conclusion.

Let’s make the center plywood look more like the real solid wood around it. We are going to do this by applying several, (as many as necessary) toner coats over the plywood. You will notice the fireplace is otherwise finished except for the center 3 pieces.

We will be masking off everything but the plywood and using the HVLP, we are going to mix the stain directly into the clear finish and apply dusting coats of toner until the homeowner is happy.

This TIP is also useful for adjusting blotchy stained pieces or areas such as you see in the photo. Also a toner coat adds depth to the wood.

If you have a deep red mahogany color on poplar, you can  adjust color depth utilizing toner coats. Also effective on poplar when you want more solid uniform color cast like you see on furniture and kitchen cabinets. Toner coats work great for kitchen cabinet refinishing too!

Wooster Polar Bear

Wooster Polar Bear #R236

I hear mixed reactions to Wooster’s Polar Bear covers. The white plush fabric has decent paint pick up and release. This cover may be best used on non-smooth walls but the Polar Bear leaves a unique finish on smooth drywall especially when spreading eggshell paints. There is a disadvantage to this cover and that is, touching up a smooth wall that was rolled with the Polar Bear may not blend well. It is difficult to replicate the initial finish.

There is a bit of a learning curve to using the Polar Bear. It is best to apply paint as you would and work an area wet. When your cover runs dry, slightly roll the cover down the wall with little pressure to fluff the cover up. Once the cover is fluffed up, go back to the starting point and run the cover very lightly and swiftly down the wall to finish it off. If the cover goes limp or flat, you’re not doing it right. It’s likely you may be pressing too hard or ran the cover too dry.

Added time to the job may be required to work the finish to a nice faint stipple.

When touchups go bad

Many complaints about paint touchups not matching are not necessarily paint related, imagine that. There are three main factors to consider when touchups go bad or paint does not match.

1. Was the touchup made in the same manner in which it was initially painted? Meaning, did you touch up with a brush over an area that was previously rolled? It is also just as important to use the same roller cover to touch up from the initial roll.

2. Is the touched up area shinier than the area around the touchup? If so, the main area is not at full sheen. Read this on how to achieve full sheen.

3. Does the touch up appear to be a different color? If so, it is likely the paint was not stirred adequately. It is especially important to stir dark colors frequently and stir the bottom of the can. Also important is proper boxing of the paint across multiple gallons.

The most common scenario: Don’t expect much as far as touchups go using one coat of wall primer and one coat of finish, you’re simply not done painting yet.

Other possible paint touch up failures can be attributed to temperature and the time taken to spread the paint. Do not expect nice touch ups if your paint sits out to (evaporate) for too long. Paint sitting in an open cutting can or bucket dries out quickly.

There are some paints out that suggest adding a certain amount of water to the paint for touch ups. Check the label for specific instructions. I found that some paints perform better and touch up nicer when initially thinned slightly with clean water, typically any thick paints. This thinning is especially useful for rolling 16′ walls. Do not thin if you need thickness for coverage.

See also: Rolling Eggshell Paints for TIPS on rolling techniques.
Color Shown: Shewin Williams Totally Tan mixed in ICI Dulux Velvet Sheen

Factory primer fails brickmold

Here is a very popular issue with new construction homes. The factory primer on brick molding and door jambs comes off regularly. There is no failsafe work around for this issue aside from stripping the lousy factory primer off.

Here are a few tips to help this troublesome problem along. Let’s face it; until enough builders complain about this issue, it won’t change. You can run a palm sander or orbital sander vigorously on all areas possible. These jambs are finger jointed and it is important to smooth up those joints and seal them better. Take some 150 grit sandpaper and knock off any sharp edges everywhere else. The paint will fail if you were to paint over these sharp edges.

Now, mix up some Zinsser Cover Stain at this formula. 32 oz. of Cover Stain to 12 oz. of NAPTHA and apply to the entire jamb. This diluted mixture will do three things 1) penetrate the finger-joints 2) soften factory primer and 3) penetrate factory primer to give some added bite. When dry, apply two heavy coats of your favorite acrylic finish.

See also: Sandpaper Time Savers

Full Sheen Ahead

Most everyone seems to appreciate higher sheen or gloss finishes when it comes to trim and molding, the shinier the easier to clean. Personally, I prefer a true semi-gloss to semi-satin finish and I have been known to mix 50/50, equal parts to achieve the sheen I like. Sometimes I like high-gloss on stained stair systems then other times I like true satin finishes.

Regardless of your preference, this topic covers how to achieve a full sheen that holds gloss levels true to its formulation. There is no known paint to me that holds gloss regardless of 1 coat, 2 coats or 3 coats. Typically you’ll experience this, the second coat is shinier than the first coat and the 3rd coat is shinier than the second coat. So when does the sheen stop getting shinier and become true to its formulation?

The answer depends on what is under the finish paint. For example, if we paint a PVC casing with semi-gloss, the dried finish is going to be shiner than if you painted a piece of primed wood. The PVC will not absorb sheen but the primer coat will. Not all primers absorb sheen the same. Some primers if not sanded will not absorb any sheen and the same primer sanded will. I’ve been known to do one coat of an oil primer on bare wood and one coat of an acrylic primer prior to two coats of finish. Again, not all primers and finishes are equal. Generally primers dry flat, I know of one primer that dries like an eggshell and that is ICI Gripper. Because Grippers sheen is eggshell, you are already one step ahead over a flat primer to achieve a full sheen.

Regardless of which primer you choose, the absolute best finish will come from one coat of primer sanded smooth and a second coat of primer not sanded, and then apply 2 coats of semi-gloss. I know, four coats of paint is not realistic and many homeowners do not want to pay for it, but it looks great!

See also: Iridescent White Trim as seen in above photo along with SW Totally Tan.

About MDF Trim

Who cares how MDF is made – let’s just skip to how to paint it. Think of MDF trim as a super stiff smooth sponge. If you place a piece of MDF trim in water it will pucker up to the point you may not recognize it, no joke. Let’s say you put MDF in your bathroom and the water from the shower drips onto the floor with a puddle near the baseboard. MDF if not properly primed and painted will absorb that water and the baseboard will be destroyed. It’s really as simple as that.

Another scenario, let’s say your basement floods and your baseboard and trim gets wet, your MDF trim is ruined. It’s as simple as that.

So, if you know your MDF will come in contact with water (melting snow from boots) or (spill something in the kitchen), your MDF MUST have an oil based primer applied to ALL edges, front, back, top, bottom, the saw cuts, everything or you leave yourself open for damage to your investment. It’s as simple as that.

If your trim or molding is already installed, well then you learned a valuable lesson just now, if it’s not installed, take the time to dry cut your pieces and prime the pieces entirely with an oil-based primer. Do this for any area you feel might come in contact with water even 1 table spoon of water will destroy MDF. DO NOT think for a second putting oil-based primer on the face of your MDF will prevent any damage from water, it won’t.

The theory of MDF is to save the consumer or builders money but in fact, finishing MDF costs more than if you simply bought pine trim which is a hell of a lot more durable than MDF. Pine trim while still not the preferred trim of choice at least won’t chip apart when you whack it accidentally with the sweeper or pull the cord hard for that matter. Dogs love MDF too!

About the photo: Water damage on MDF from the carpet cleaner who dripped a little water on the floor. Sure he wiped up the spill but the water was underneath the baseboard and this is in an area where no water was expected.

See also: Painting MDF and issues with filling nail holes on MDF

43 Things Tags: Painting MDF