James Harvey wrote:

In article ,
"SteveBell" wrote:



James Harvey wrote:



Hello,

I am repainting a door with Behr Premium Plus Semi Gloss latex
enamel. The door was originally painted with semigloss latex but I
primed it with Kilz 2 latex anyway. There were probably at least two
layers of existing paint.

When the paint dried it looked awful, in my opinion. There were
areas that were glossy and others that were somewhat flat-looking.
Brush marks were prominent even tho I used a good quality synthetic
brush. I even tried a second coat to no avail. The paint was mixed
thoroughly.

I did paint another door that had only one layer of existing paint
using the same primer, paint, and brush, and it looks great.

I would appreciate any advice on what I could do differently,
including stripping the old paint if that sounds necessary. This
paint is too expensive to be wasting it on trial-and-error.


Kilz has so many solids that it's hard to put on smoothly. That could
be the source of your problem.

Brush marks and splotching usually come from paint that's too thick or
that dries to quickly.

Let the new paint dry thoroughly, then sand it with fine sandpaper to
get rid of existing brush marks.

Use Floetrol (or a competing brand) to thin the paint and make it dry
more slowly. This gives the paint time to level.

Paint the door horizontally on sawhorses so gravity helps level the
paint.

Keep a wet edge. Start at one end and work to the other. If you let the
paint in one spot get partly dry, work somewhere else, and come back to
the first spot, the paint there has partly dried. Dragging the brush
over partially dried paint disrupts the surface and makes _very_
obvious marks.

The best way to avoid brush marks is to spray.



Thanks for the advice. I tried some Floetrol and it does help. This
paint does have some kind of stubbornly fast drying agent, so I will
probably have to add a little more than the recommended amount.


Floetrol and Penetrol are great for thinning and levelling. Don't do
more than label advises. I use
the one for alkyd paint for spraying and it works like a charm - use
little Preval sprayers for
louvered doors but the spray pattern is a bit small for a regular door.
It would work nicely if
done right - for louvered doors, I kept a foam brush wrung out in
mineral spirits to catch occ.
drips and runs before they set. If the door was laid flat, it would
probably work nicely.

Sanding enamel to remove brush marks is a real pain, though, even with a
belt sander to speed things up. And using a belt sander tends to heat
the old paint and make it rubbery. Using plain sandpaper is guaranteed
to take years off your life sigh.


This is the reason I use only alkyd semi-gloss for doors and trim. Bath
and kitchen walls and
ceilings as well. The blotchiness of your finish could be a result of
not mixing the paint
sufficiently immediately prior to each use. If you did some patching or
filling without priming it
could also cause blotches.

I am really tempted to do a chemical strip and start over. I don't have
unlimited time to keep experimenting and no one is paying me to do this.

BTW, I see you're based in Arlington and I live in Dallas. I may have a
painting job for you.