[jerry_b]

Hi- I am painting all the trim in my old house(1904) that originally was varnished. I washed it with a light wash of TSP, then primed it all with a good Zinsser primer. I hired a painter to put 2 coats of semi gloss on the trim, The deal was that I would buy the paint. He recommended I buy BM Regal Select Semi Gloss. He did the first floor and it came out satisfactorily. He then needed more paint as some of the trim down stairs required a 3d coat. He asked me to pick up a couple of more gallons. When I went to the BM store, the salesman didnt have the Select in semi gloss, but had the original version of BM Regal in stock and told me that actually the old stuff was better. $42 vs $45.
Well, the 2nd floor came out horrible. The paint streaks are so noticeable that it looks terrible. See picture. I don't know if its the difference in paint or that he didn't wait long enough between coats. He claims his brushes are $30 each, so don't thank it's that. I read in another thread that maybe a thinner would have hepled, but I don't know.
My question is, what can I do now, without sanding verything out whic would be a nightmare. Is there any paint that maybe with anothe coat would fill in the grooves a bit?
Thanks

 

[cocomonkeynuts]

Not sure what happened there but yeah you'll need to sand that out. Most people I have talked to do in fact prefer the old regal. My only question would be how old the can was on the shelf and was it mixed fully. The newer stuff is much faster drying for example.


CabinetCoat, Advance, Ben semigloss would be suitable replacement for regal semi.


Cost of brush doesn't mean diddly. Chinex or other stiff bristle will leave brush marks like that in latex all day.

 

[jerry_b]

Thanks
I was hoping I could give it another coat of something to fill in the grooves. Maybe even use a satin sheen rather then semi gloss? I know sanding can fix it but that would be totally too much work.

 

[siffleur]

Re: Trim streaks and brush marks

Thanks
I was hoping I could give it another coat of something to fill in the grooves. Maybe even use a satin sheen rather then semi gloss? I know sanding can fix it but that would be totally too much work.

jerry, if the 1st floor was brushed out satisfactorily for you, then you got a different paint for the 2nd floor that your painter brushed out with the very same expensive brushes and the trim showed pronounced brush marks as your photos apparently show, my guess is that since the only variable that changed between the 1st and 2nd floors was the paint, the paint is the culprit. Without smoothing out the brush strokes in the finish, any paint brushed on top will follow the contour of the brush strokes underneath. If you can sand the trim smooth, great. If not, you might try wiping it smooth with denatured alcohol solvent while wearing a carbon filter mask.

Good luck,

siffleur

 

[jerry_b]

Thanks.
There is something I didn't mention and that is that the first floor was done 6 months ago in August.Things got delayed for various reasons and the painter came back a week ago to do the upstairs. The paint sat for those six months, one can opened and one unopened. It is possible that it wasn't stirred well enough. Now that I think about it, some of the original Regal was used downstairs and I didn't notice any changes on the downstairs trim.
However, at this point there is nothing I can do. I can't accuse him of not stirring the paint as being the problem so I'll just have to live with it.

 

[mark sr]

While I agree the different paint was likely the culprit, painting in the summer often results in quicker drying/set up time than when the temps are cooler. I also agree the only way to get rid of the brush marks is to sand them out. Even if you can't sand them completely smooth it will still help.

 

[woodco]

switching to satin will make it less noticable.

 

[jerry_b]

Thanks to all. I appreciate expert comments, and especially appreciate the quick responses. I may try a coat of satin finish on a small section to see if it's less noticeable.

 

[mark sr]

Satin should help but you still ought to at least scuff sand first - it will knock down the highest spots.

 

[jerry_b]

Thanks- I did try a little sanding in a spot, and see that the paint is rock hard and tough to sand. There should be a product that you can paint on that is thick enough to fill in the voids but easy to sand the high spots to level the whole thing out.

 

[siffleur]

Paint solvent

Thanks- I did try a little sanding in a spot, and see that the paint is rock hard and tough to sand. There should be a product that you can paint on that is thick enough to fill in the voids but easy to sand the high spots to level the whole thing out.

jerry_b, did you try wiping an area with denatured alcohol and paper towels? You might be able to "melt" those brush marks down to where they are not so visible.

siffleur

 

[woodco]

Thanks- I did try a little sanding in a spot, and see that the paint is rock hard and tough to sand. There should be a product that you can paint on that is thick enough to fill in the voids but easy to sand the high spots to level the whole thing out.

You sort of CAN, but its really not worth it. Sand the crap out of it, and either use a better product, or put some extender in the paint. It will make it flow better. Nothing will just fill the voids and sand easy though. better to sand the topcoat, and re-topcoat in a better way.

 

[jerry_b]

Thanks-I ended up putting a final coat of BM Advance in a Satin finish and it looks much better