Old Enough To Remember

[Bruce Wrenn]

Spent today painting downstairs bathroom. It now takes at least two coats of paint to paint a room. Brand doesn't matter. I've used Gliden, Olympic, Varathane, Sherwin Williams, Behr, Ace, Pratt and Lambert, Duron, and none cover in one coat. When water based (latex) paint came out, one of the big selling points was "one coat coverage." Fast forward fifty years, and now it takes two coats to do the same job. Of course this means you have to buy twice as much paint to do the same job as fifty years ago. And it does cost a little (a lot) more now than it did fifty years ago. Old enough to remember "one coat coverage." What progress the paint industry has made in the last fifty years.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Not seeing Benjamin Moore on your list. Try Aura next time.

[glenn bradley]

Not seeing Benjamin Moore on your list. Try Aura next time.

Agree. Single coat with BM, Sherman Williams, Dunn Edwards, etc. A choice between time and money. Good paint can be pricey and a good primer is a must when a primer is called for.

[Lee Schierer]

Agree. Single coat with BM, Sherman Williams, Dunn Edwards, etc. A choice between time and money. Good paint can be pricey and a good primer is a must when a primer is called for.

Get your primer tinted to match the finish coat.

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Tinting the primer is very helpful. It is tricky to get home store paint counters to cooperate. Most primers do not have enough room in the can for much colorant. Sometimes you have to buy the primer, take it out to the van, remove a little, go back in, and sweet-talk the paint person. Or you can go to the trusted paint store and be taken care of quickly and quietly.

Pro XP has vanished from Sherwin Willams? That was an amazing Paint + Primer, with a 1 coat guarantee over bare drywall. It could be done with a roller but was intended to be sprayed, pause, back-rolled.

[Jim Becker]

There are different grades of paint from each manufacturer and color matters, too. Maurice mentioned Aura. I've been able to do one coat on some colors and two on others. (same with SW Emerald which is an equivalent level of paint product) But the darker golden color that was in our media room at the old property actually required three coats of Aura to fully cover evenly. Nature of the beast. The light grey I just sprayed in my shop looks fine with one coat and it's a relatively inexpensive PPG paint that was about $92 for five gallons. A second coat might have kicked things up further, but I was fine with the look and just moved on.

Application technique also matters. Many folks roll paint out too thin, for example. (not saying you are one of them)

In this house I tend to use SW Emerald or Cashmere paints (mostly the latter) with ProClassic on the white trim.

[Ron Citerone]

I can't comment on paint 50 years ago, I was only 14 then. With that said, If I am moving furniture, doing prep work and getting out my paint equipment, I just figure on 2 coats. Just my 2 pennies.

[Bill Dufour]

Pick up a can of walmart paint and it is noticeably lighter weight then a good brand. No wonder it takes multiple coats. Less stuff and more water. I assume the paint stuff is denser then water. Try hefting a can of boat antifouling paint some time.
Bill D

[Maurice Mcmurry]

Application technique also matters. Many folks roll paint out too thin, for example. (not saying you are one of them)

It took me a while to learn how to apply enough paint. I thought I was getting the hang of it until the first time I used a wet film thickness gauge. The wet film spec provided by the paint manufacturer is often hard to achive.

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[Perry Hilbert Jr]

I have been painting some ornaments with Rustoleum latex paint. The white, yellow, green and blue go on nice but require two coats. I opened the can of black and it was like clear mucus with black blotches in it. I sealed the can and shook it for 15 minutes, same thing. Stirred like an obsessed mad man and no improvement. Took three coats and there are still a few tiny spots where I can see the wood underneath. I never had this problem with the oil paints. (A local artist, whose work I really like, recently confided that she uses Rustoleum oil paints in her paintings. the paints she used for decades are no longer manufactured and she says the Rustoleum oil paints are the closest she found. )

[Maurice Mcmurry]

I have been painting some ornaments with Rustoleum latex paint. The white, yellow, green and blue go on nice but require two coats. I opened the can of black and it was like clear mucus with black blotches in it. I sealed the can and shook it for 15 minutes, same thing. Stirred like an obsessed mad man and no improvement.

That can of black sounds like it may have been frozen at some point?

[Perry Hilbert Jr]

I just purchased the can during the summer and it has been in the shop since I brought it home. But, that thought has crossed my mind. I once had a can of latex paint "curdle" separated into clear liquid and hard lumps of pigment. Now that had been accidentally left in the barn for a couple years. I am going to finish the tiny item I am painting with another coat and then pitch the can.

[Jerome Stanek]

25 years ago I painted Revco Drug stores whith Glidden Ultra and that covered all but the Orange berry color that they used before the Revco gray. now Ultra needs 2 coats to cover