It is summer in San Francisco. The street cars are clanging, the tourists are freezing, and the fog horns are blowing. Another sure sign of summer in San Francisco is surfactant staining on exterior paint projects. The weather conditions in San Francisco represent a laboratory like setting for surfactant staining to occur. Surfactants are soap like ingredients intentionally formulated into latex (water-based) paints. These surfactants act as coalescing agents, and generally help keep what is essentially an emulsion, in suspension. We forget that acrylic resin is a petrochemical byproduct and as such does not mix with water easily.

The presence of surfactants in latex paints normally poses no problem at all. Gradually these surfactants are released by the coating and disappear into the air without anybody noticing. What happens under adverse weather conditions is that a large amount of the surfactants are drawn to the surface rapidly giving the appearance of a sticky Coca-Cola like substance. Surfactants are drawn to moisture (that is their job) and are as such “hydrophilic.” Since these surfactants would have left the coating eventually anyway, their rapid appearance here does not indicate a paint failure in any way, other than in appearance. The remedy when this happens is to simply leave it alone and let it weather off naturally from the rain, or give it a slight rinse with a garden hose, (you will see the surfactants bubble up like soap suds). The worst thing you can do in this situation is to apply more paint which only results in more surfactants being applied to the already surfactant laden surface. Patience is required. I have seen many of these situations through the years and with only a few exeptions they have all resolved themselves with time. In rare cases the staining left from the surfactants eventually had to be reprimed and repainted.

To prevent the problem in the first place it is best to paint early in the day, so as to give the paint film adequate time to form before it is re-introduced to heavy dew or moisture. The unpredictablitity of fog in San Francisco (other than that we know it will surely come sooner or later) makes a painter’s life hell. The only truly safe bet is to paint on days when the fog is non-existent and not expected back soon. This makes for a short painting season!

The same type of problem can be observed in bathrooms painted with latex paint. Here sometimes the only remedy is to paint with oil based paints which by definition have no surfactants in them.

All in all this is a sticky subject that leaves a lot of painters and homeowners puzzled. The one thing I hear over and over again is, “I’ve been painting in San Francisco for 25 years and I have never had this problem before.” To that I can only answer, you have been exceedingly lucky, have you bought a lottery ticket lately?

The sky is the limit, or in this case the ceiling is. I have been experiencing a rash of problems from painters lately who are frustrated when it comes to painting ceilings. There are some basic principles that apply here that can help painters and their clients to have some realistic expectations.

The ceiling in any room is one of the most difficult surfaces to paint well. The problems most associated with badly painted ceilings are poor substrate quality (badly hung and taped drywall, or badly repaired plaster), and poorly applied paints that may not be suitable for ceilings. Ceilings are uniquely difficult as a result of the manner in which light reflects across them. Imperfections you might not even see on a vertical wall are highlighted on a ceiling by this phenomenon. It is therefore extremely important that certain measures be taken up front to avoid an unsatisfactory result.

Just because you love the look of eggshell paint on the walls doesn’t mean you are going to be able to have it on a ceiling (here me out designers one and all). The best finish for a ceiling is as dead a flat as you can get. C2 has a LoVo product Non-Reflective flat, that works well on ceilings when applied properly. Almost all manufacturers sell some type of ceiling flat. Bathrooms and kitchens generally do require ceilings painted in some sort of a sheen for moisture protection and stain removal. These rooms by and large tend to be smaller in scope and represent less of a challenge than large living rooms, dining rooms, and other common areas.

“I put four coats on and I can still see imperfections and roller marks, what’s wrong with this paint?” I can’t tell you how many times I hear this from painters. The truth is that once things start to go wrong they only get worse the more coats of paint you apply. The objective when painting a ceiling is to do it as fast as possible so that the paint remains wet long enough to even out and not show roller tracks. Surprisingly few painters use larger rollers for ceilings than they would for a normal sized wall. 18″ roller covers are the answer when doing large ceilings. They will allow you to get the job done exponentially faster than with a conventional 9″ cover.

Another common misunderstanding is which direction to roll the paint. You ALWAYS roll the paint in the direction perpendicular to the main source of light entering the room. If you have two sources of light pick the one that you see as you enter the room and paint perpendicular to it. This will allow the light rays to be scattered and diffused across the widths of the roller pattern rather than being telegraphed down the lengths of them.

One technique that works well on very large ceilings is to spray the paint on with an airless sprayer followed by a very light back rolling to even out the paint. The slight roller texture also aids in scattering the light rays. It is essential if you are going to spray the ceiling that you back roll as well. If you do not back roll you are likely to get uneven paint build up resulting in unwanted sheen even when using the flattest of paints.

So what can you do if you have gone too far and the ceiling now looks horrible. I have found the best solution to be priming it again with an OIL-BASED primer (latex doesn’t work), and then applying one finish coat of a suitably flat ceiling paint. The oil-based primer seals all the mistake coats completely and allows you to begin anew. It also prevents the finish coat from being absorbed by the substrate.  Remember as I have said before there is no such thing as touch up, and on ceilings this is doubly true. Keep that electrician away from the newly painted ceiling unless he has white gloves on, I am not kidding!

So a little pre-planning by designers and painters can make everybody’s life (including mine) a little easier. With that said, don’t be afraid to put a little color up there while you’re at it. My favorite is PPC-BL7 Agua Verte. Use it full strength with rich colors or cut it by half for lighter value walls. It will make your ceilings feel like the sky above.

We never seem to lose our taste for red. Regardless of the current trends we always see designers and customers alike striving for that “perfect” dining room red, or a lively red to add an accent to a child’s playroom. Unfortunately red’s can also bring with them a difficulty in application that can take some of the passion out of this color choice. I want to cover some of the basics here and give you some idea what to expect if you haven’t already had your own red disaster.

Not all paint pigments are created equal, so not surprisingly some of them have better opacity than others. On a molecular level these pigments have different shapes, sizes, and weights contributing to the difference in how they absorb/reflect light waves. The inorganic pigments such as oxide yellow and red oxide have much greater opacity than the organic bright reds and yellows. In fact it can be demonstrated that adding a bright yellow pigment to a titanium white paint base will actually decrease the hiding power (opacity) of that paint versus leaving it without added pigments. So what does this have to do with red?

Most deep red colors are formulated using an abundance of bright organic red pigments, thus creating colors that do not hide well. After about your eighth coat of paint you may be wondering what it was about this color that you liked in the first place! This is one of those places were aesthetics and pragmatism find common ground. By using full spectrum reds such as PPC-R10 Ryan’s Red, PPC-R4 Real Red, or PPC-R7 Candy Apple Red, you get colors that have other better hiding pigments mixed in as well to help alleviate this chronic problem. These are reds that are proven winners regardless of trends.

Think about using PPC-R4 Real Red for those situations where you want a really lively affect. PPC-R7 Candy Apple Red is the richest ultra sexy red for dining rooms or even bedrooms if you dare. PPC-R10 Ryan’s Red is in between the two and has ultimate utility anywhere you desire a blast of red.

Most paint companies have formulated deep tinted primers for use underneath difficult reds. Always take the time to follow their recommendations. These primers can save you money and time, and will ultimately give you the final color that you are after.

It seems our hearts will always yearn for a little red now and then. Just as in romance, remember to choose wisely. Happy Valentine’s Day.

I cannot think of a single topic in the paint department that is fraught with more misinformation and mythology than that of paint touch up. I will attempt to shed some light on this subject. First of all we must start from the premise that there really is no such thing as perfectly touching up any painted surface. Unfortunately the paint industry has done everything possible to create and fuel this myth. Why would anyone consistently and repeatedly misrepresent (I call it lying) this very important aspect of their product? Quite simply it is because this is what we want to be told. Yes, sometimes we want to be lied to! Afterall who really wants to be told that the entire wall is going to have to be repainted after the electrician carelessly gets his dirty hands all over the freshly painted walls of your remodel? So you see we are all complicit in the big lie or myth of paint touch up.

Let’s look at this scientifically for a moment. If you are applying one mil thickness of paint over just a portion of another layer of paint, physics tells us that the light reflecting off this surface is going to reveal the difference between the two. This results in a spot that telegraphs itself, especially when viewed from an angle. So there is in fact no sound scientific basis to support the notion of flawless touch up.

Despite the above paragraph, I can’t tell you the number of times I hear the complaint from painters and homeowners alike, “This paint didn’t touch up, and when I use XYZ brand I never have that problem.” What exactly is going on here? Well quite simply sometimes you do “get away” with touching paint up. In other words, in this situation, under these lighting conditions, with this sheen of paint, with this particular color, nobody can notice (easily) that you have touched it up. Yet the fact remains that you can tell the difference if you look closely.

The lower the sheen of paint, the less likely that you will see a given touch up. This is because flat paint scatters light in every direction. In essence it is just confusing your eyes so that you don’t see what is going on. High gloss paint reflects light primarily in one direction (back at you), therefore it more readily shows the touch up. The surface and air temperatures at the time of the original painting, and at the time of the touch up attempt also play into the equation. Temperature has a large affect on the coalescing of an acrylic paint film, and subsequently the pigments contained in that film. Therefore when there is a wide discrepancy between temperatures of when the original paint was applied and when the touch up is being attempted, you get an exaggerated difference between the two. This is particularly the case when touching up exterior deep colors.

Another problem that presents itself when attempting the imposible (touching up paint), is that different pigments have differing weights. The result of this is that if the paint is not thoroughly mixed either when it was originally applied, or when it is used as touch up, you will potentially get quite a different color. I find this is the one that confuses people the most. I often ear, “I used the same paint from the same can, how can it look so different?” This is emphasized when using darker colors as they have more color pigments added to them. Application technique also adds to the complexity of the situation. A wall that was originally painted with a roller or by spray, certainly cannot be touched up with a brush; yet this is what all too often is attempted.

One of the most common problem that occurs however is one that can easily be avoided. Many times a large 5 gallon container is purchased to do a job and then the customer comes back later to buy a quart  of the same paint for touch up. Yet another inescapable fact in the world of paint is that no two cans are EXACTLY the same. Once again we bump our heads against the immutable laws of physics and chemisty. The most reasonable thing to do is to take a small amount of the paint from the 5 gallon container BEFORE we start painting, and reserve it for touch up later. This small step is ignored at your peril. You know the old adage, “an ounce of prevention…”

One last thing that affects touch up is the quality of the paint itself. Interstingly; the cheaper the paint the better the chances are that you won’t notice the touch up. Higher quality paints have more expensive pigments and resins which can build up sheen especially in the flat/matte range. So sometimes the more expensive a can of paint is the harder it is to touch up.

So you see (whew!) this is really not such a simple thing. A paint film is a very complex thing and as such should be treated with the respect and dignity that you would normally reserve for the granite countertop or the newly laid carpeting. We expect a lot from out painted walls and sometimes they just need a little love. I hope this helps.