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Uneven paint after primer and 3 coats--HELP

16 years ago

HELPÂHELP! My house is about 2 years old & IÂm trying to paint my laundry room only to find that IÂm having HUGE problems. The walls were originally a light cream and now I am painting a very light violet. I first primed my walls with what LoweÂs says is their best primer...let it dry for about 10 hrs and followed with 3 coats of satin American Tradition paint(I did wait 1 day between each coat.) After ALL that... my walls still look blotchy- almost striped in some areas even thought the color is exactly the same and the paint is giving great coverage (really after one coat.) In those blotching areas it looks as though itÂs a different sheen than the rest of the wallÂ as if the paint soaked into the wall in certain spots. On one wall if you look just right it looks like I had tried to do sheen striping. Looking close...my texture appears very even however, if you feel along the wall those blotchy spots do feel rougher and dryer than the rest of the smooth painted wall.

I also had one medium spot on one of my bedroom walls that did the same thing and I just figured they must have had to repair that spot so it didnÂt exactly match. In wondering what the heck is wrong with my walls I did a complete house inspection and I noticed the same random blotching throughout different parts of the house---I just hadnÂt noticed it since all my walls are such a light cream and you wouldnÂt notice it unless youÂre looking for it.

Over the past year I have painted almost all the rooms in my home--- all using American Tradition from LoweÂs and I have never had difficulty with quality or coverage. I clean my walls--- prime with a quality primer--- use quality tools---take my time and IÂd have to say IÂm a dang good painter if I do say so myself----- so IÂm at a loss.

Any suggestions? Melissa

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Comments (4)

scarlett2001
16 years ago
Melissa,
That is EXACTLY My experience last month with the same paint company. American Tradition is owned by Valspar and here is the email address of the rep I am working with:
rheymann@valspar.com

I am convinced that this is a bad batch of paint, because I have also used it quite a lot before with no problems.

Let me know how it goes. It took him quite awhile to answer.
nurse_melissa
Original Author
16 years ago
I wish it were that simple---unfortunately I'm certain my issue is not the paint because there are rooms in my house with this same problem that I have not painted. and the builder used SW paint for my entire house not valspar. I really appreciate it though!!

Thx-- Melissa
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colorcrazed
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I just came onto the forum tonight to ask someone the same exact question- only my entire house has been painted with Benjamin moore paint- which is the only paint I would ever use- and it looks TERRIBLE! You can see every single roller swipe and the paint looks extremely uneven. I was blaming the painter (nicely of course) and insisted that I could do the same room without any streaks (we have several very dark colors and I have used many of them in my other house so I 'knew' that I could do it---- ) Well, I have to admit, even though my wall has LESS variation of color than the painters, the wall is still showing streaks. I use Purdy rollers and do not thin the paint down at all...
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We have the Ben Moore paint rep coming out to the house since we are talking about a 6000 sq foot home that needs to be repainted before I move into it... and someone has to cover the cost!
cdstevenson_yahoo_com
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I am told by a painter friend of mine that most of this sheen variation is caused not by the paint quality, but by uneven painting. Most people (mystef included) apparently try to spread their brush or roller of paint too far on the wall, thus lessening the sheen effect as the paint on the wall gets too thin. The solution is to really load up your roller or brush with paint, and keep reloading frequently while painting. Put it on fairly thick, both at the cut-in areas as well as the middle of the walls. Also, the professional painters more often roll their paint on in a straight and simple line rather than using the fancy "z" shaped application technique, which tends to thin out the paint too much.

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