 Extreme sheen
Ultra-pricey paint gives a stunning finish
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Bridget A. Otto
The Oregonian
I had my front door repainted this summer. It's red and looks terrific.
It just doesn't look fantastic.
You know what I mean. Like one of those highly lacquered red or black doors that you can practically use as a mirror to fix your lipstick.
The painter never had a chance to make my door look like that, given the paint he used.
If I had done more research, I would have found a paint that produces that brilliant sheen. It's made in the Netherlands, imported by Fine Paints of Europe and sold here in Portland by Chromatix.
I'm sort of surprised that I didn't do more research before painting my door. After all, I'm no paint novice.
I've reported on Yolo Colorhouse's no-VOC paints and set up a blind paint-off that tested various brands earlier this year.
Well, I'm making up for that now.
Touring Chromatix with founder Jim Wierson Sr., I learned even more about the elements of paint. I also learned about all the Fine Paints of Europe and got some tips from Chromatix's Will Martinez on how I could
get that brilliant sheen on my front door.
First off, good paint isn't cheap. And this paint -- because it's better than good -- is even more expensive.
The Fine Paints of Europe brand, which includes three different paint lines, comes in thousands of colors and goes on like any other paint, runs $85-plus a gallon, but the results look like a million bucks.
Pookie Martin, a Portland homeowner, fell in love with Fine Paints of Europe years ago. Last year, she moved and bought 40 cans of Fine Paints' Eurolux line for all her interior walls -- at a cost of more than
$3,000. (Cans are 2.5-liter Eurogallons, about two-thirds of a gallon.)
"It's totally worth it," she says of the expense. "It's one of those things that adds a subtle value to the room that you notice."
Larry Wade noticed too.
Wade, who retired from the high-tech world only to start his own remodeling business, Three Boxes, is a convert.
He wanted to save the cabinets in his latest remodel, but he knew painted cabinets often don't turn out well.
He'd read about Fine Paints of Europe and went to Chromatix to check it out.
With some instructions from Dennis Wilcox and Fine Paints' Eco line, which is an oil-based water-soluble paint, Wade redid all the cabinets -- which was quite a bit of work. He had to sand them down, putty them to
smooth the wood grain, sand again and brush on several coats of paint. But the result was stunning.
The cabinets looked so smooth and brand-new that a friend who had recently repainted his cabinets saw Wade's work and says he's going to redo his.
As Wade found out, there is labor involved, but these products are such that with the proper coaching -- something Chromatix offers -- time and patience and money, you can work magic.
I got a taste of the Fine Paints of Europe at Chromatix in its upstairs studio.
Martinez had a front door prepped for me. He'd sanded it, primed it, painted a first coat and sanded it again.
It was ready for a second coat.
I used Fine Paints' Dutchlac (currently being renamed Hollandlac) Brilliant, an oil-based, high-gloss enamel.
Martinez instructed me to work on one section at a time and then "let it be": No mucking around after you finish a section. And always have a damp rag at the ready to wipe any drips, or they will dry as, well, hard
drips.
The paint went on easily and spread out in long stretches as Martinez had instructed. As it began to dry, seeing its self-leveling quality was easy. Basically, this has to do with the paint's ingredients.
"The paint elements have to be refined," says Wierson. "The titanium can be like baking powder or like salt."
The finer the particles, the easier it is for the paint to settle out smoothly and dry hard. The harder it dries, the longer it will keep its fresh look and withstand marring.
But that ultra-smooth finish can be a curse if dust settles when the paint is wet. To mitigate such problems, Martinez and Wierson suggest filling a small plastic swimming pool with water to pull the dust out of the air.
If you are in a garage or workshed, layer the floor with newspaper and wet it down.
Although these paints cost more, people who have used them say the price is irrelevant.
Interior designer Karol Niemi found Fine Paints of Europe almost by accident. Niemi was flipping through all the fandecks of paint colors that have gathered in her design studio, trying to find just the right cobalt blue
for her new home. One of those fandecks was from Fine Paints of Europe, and there was the blue. A deep, rich cobalt.
"Everything else paled in comparison," she says.
And her painters loved it because it covered in two coats, instead of four.
"The cost of the labor offsets the price of the paint," Niemi says.
Wierson's been puzzled by the cost vs. result issue too.
"When somebody buys a Mercedes," he says, "they don't say, 'Put the least expensive paint on it and drive the price down $500.' They want the best."
Although the home is the biggest expense most consumers ever face, they don't seem to care much about the paint used on it, he says. "I just don't understand it."
Sometimes it takes a while to learn these things.
Personally, I now know what I'm getting my husband for Christmas: A Dutch Door Kit from Chromatix. It includes the sandpaper, primer, solvent, paint and brush needed to take my door from fine to fantastic.
Merry Christmas, honey.
Bridget A. Otto: 503-221-8527; bridgetotto@news.oregonian.com
CHROMATIX
WHERE: 222 S.E. Alder St.
WHAT: Purveyor of made-to-order paints; Fine Paints of Europe; Sydney Harbour finishes; SkimStone floor finishes; Aqua Finishing Solutions for faux finishes; brushes, cleaning solutions and more.
LEARN: Classes on faux-finish techniques are held regularly.
MORE: www.chromatixpaint.com |