Great Painting Tips recommends - Berger Pathmasta April 15, 2007
Posted by admin in : Colour Chart, Painting Tips , add a comment
This is a perenial favourite as far as floor paints are concern. The Berger Pathmasta is a modified polyurethane coating that is tough and hard wearing. It is designed for use on cement and concrete floors where heavy foot traffic is expected. I tested the drying time of the paint, since drying time is an important consideration for floor coatings. I applied a single coat on a concrete surface at 30 degree C. It was touch dry in slightly over half an hour. About another half hour later, it was no longer tacky. According to the specifications, it can be overcoated after 12 hours at 35 degree C, or after 24 hours at 25 degree C. Theoretical coverage is at 7.0 sq m per litre per coat. Dry film thickness is about 50 microns. You should build up the film thickness to 100 microns (2 coats) where possible. Otherwise, one coat may just be slightly better than being cosmetic. Click on the picture on top to view the colour chart. It is available in 10 colours - White and Black included. Pathmasta is semi-gloss and comes in 1-litre and 5-litre packings. Please refer to the Price Reference page for the latest prices for the 2 sizes. 
Product Specifications
Great Painting Tips recommends - OceanMaster Range of Products April 11, 2007
Posted by admin in : Marine Paints, Recommendations , add a commentOceanMaster Marine and Yacht range of products has been around for many years and has built up a reputation of quality as well as a wide following in the region. 
The product range include include: 1) Anti-fouling paint 2) Epoxy primer 3) Polyurethane paint 4) Epoxy fillers 5) Epoxy resins 6) Epoxy glues 7) Marine varnishes 8.) Boat care products
Colour Chart
In a future post, I will review 2 products from the range and discuss not just its marine use, but also its use in and around the house.
Dulux Weathershield New “Colour Lock” Logo April 9, 2007
Posted by admin in : Painting Tips , add a commentICI has just introduced a sticker on their Dulux Weathershield range of product.
It’s has a "colour lock" logo to announce that this range of exterior paint has "colour retention" property. This is intended to address a concern some home owners have when they paint their exterior walls - fading colours. By using superior tinters that has better UV resistance, the effects of the elements take its toll much later and the paint looks fresh longer. The walls need to be painted less frequently. There is no change in the formula for the paint ie. the colour retention property is already in the current product. The sticker is there to remind you so. See also: Getting a Manufacturer’s Warranty , ICI 2007 Colour Chart
Nippon Odour-less Ultra All-In-One April 6, 2007
Posted by admin in : Colour Chart, Painting Tips, Recommendations , 1 comment so far
I recently painted my daughter’s room and regretted not using the Nippon Odour-less Ultra. She spent several nights sleeping on a mattress in the living room to avoid the smell of the paint, which, I thought was fragrant. I’m finally convinced that ‘odour-less’ is not just a marketing gimmick, but is of real benefit to users. It’s now 2 weeks since the paint job and the smell is still strong. My daughter has learned to tolerate it and has since moved back to her room. I’ll do a proper review of the product next week. Meanwhile, the scanned Colour Chart is available below: 
see also Product Datasheet
Painting Tips - Painting Wood April 3, 2007
Posted by admin in : Painting Tips , 2comments
I receive a lot of questions about painting wooden surfaces. Actually, if you appreciate wood, my advice is to go with varnish, rather than paint. A varnish
is a transparent clear protective coat which may be either glossy or matt. It also comes in tinted range, giving the wood a colour while protecting it. As varnishes are transparent, the wood grain patterns are not concealed. It is this that gives the wood its beauty. Each piece is different as nature and time carves out unique patterns on different types and different cuts of wood. A fewtypes of wood grain pattern are shown below:
A good product to use, especially on exterior wooden surfaces is the ICI Solarscreen (see post). For indoors, you can use the Nippon Timberlac (see fig. on the right) which comes in Clear Gloss and Clear Matt plus 6 other colours (see chart pg 18). However, if you still insist on paint, let me discuss the processes on 1) bare unpainted wood and 2) on previously painted wood.
i) Painting on a bare unpainted wooden surface If you go for paint, sand the surface with a 280 - 320 grit wet-or-dry sandpaper. This will smoothen the surface further for a better finish. Remove sand particles and this is best done with a lint-free cloth lightly wetted with paint thinner. The 
wetness of the cloth picks up the sands and the thinner vaporizes almost immediately. Put 1 coat of white alkyd undercoat (left) and allow about 2-3 hours drying time. A good alkyd undercoat to use is the Nippon Bodelac 90 Undercoat or the Zinsser Bullseye 123 (see previous post). If the wood you are painting is constantly exposed to moisture, a great primer to use is the Aluminium Wood Primer. The aluminium powder in the primer fills up pores and cavities in the wood, reducing entry of water. After the primer, topcoat with 2 coats of alkyd enamel. Nippon Bodelac Alkyd Enamel is a good topcoat to use and is available in a wide range of colours (see Colour Chart pg 14, 15).
ii) Re-painting
If the existing paint is peeling, use a 1.5 inch or 2 inch metal scraper to remove the loose paint. Smoothen surface with a 180 grit wet-or-dry sandpaper. If the existing paint work is intact, you would still need to prepare the surface. This is where most
make the mistake and assume a direct overcoat of the new paint would suffice. It is not true. A direct coat of paint will not adhere properly onto the old coat of paint as the substrate usually lacks profile. We need to create profile and improve adhesion either by sanding or by applying 1 coat of undercoat, or best of all, both. Use 280 grit sandpaper to sand down. Remember that we are not trying to remove the old coat, but simply trying to create surface profile. After the sand down, remove the loose sand particles using paint thinner on a wet cloth. If time is lacking, or if energy is lacking, you can apply the topcoat right after sanding down. If you have a bit more time (and enthusiasm), paint 1 coat of white alkyd undercoat before the topcoat. I will discuss varnishing in future post. The salient point in this post is that the surface needs to be prepared even if the old paint is intact. Paint overcoats poorly onto old alkyd paint, especially the glossy ones.
