High Gloss Paint in your Home

Have you seen High Gloss Paint in homes?

Ever think of doing it in your home? How about jet black in your basement?

These 3 questions were all asked of us in the past few months that led to us painting a entire basement Jet black- high gloss paint. It does look like a scene from a batman movie. It is a unique color and finish that is not for everyone, but if you are the few, read on.

What is High Gloss Paint?

I will say that in the US, these high gloss sheen are not as popular as in other parts of the world. To get techy, these high gloss paints have a sheen measured in degrees. Most of your cabinets are about 20 degree sheen, the high gloss we used was 90! Just think of a automotive polished finish on the walls of your house.

The paint itself is imported from Holland. Named Fine Paints of Europe, they can be tinted in any color, and are very popular for front doors. These paints are not for the weekend warrior painters. They are difficult to use, to apply and are not readily available at every paint store.

So what about this basement?

Here are the pictures of the basement when we started…

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As you can see these pics are when we started doing some patch work to the walls, as well as spot priming the areas we worked on. Once we fixed the walls, we were able to spray the black primer to the walls.

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What are you thinking about it now?

It was at this point that the home owners were in love with it even more! Out next step was to sand the walls again to get smooth, and apply the Fine Paints of Europe Eco Brilliance!

Once we applied the 1st coats then we sanded again, applied our final coat and then pulled paper to reveal…

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Let’s not forget the cabinets!

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What is the catch?

There really isn’t a catch, there is words of warning.

• the paint is expensive ($165.00 per gallon)
• this finish requires a special primer for the paint
• the walls must be a level 5 finish- smooth!
• it is time consuming. The paint and primer take 4-6 hours to dry to the touch.

Other things you have to consider when using this paint or this type of finish

• as we sprayed, you lose your heat and A/C while sprayers are going
• aside from the sprayer we used air mover to pull air from the home- lots of noise
• expect some odor!!
• although we used a festool sander and vac for the walls, there still is a little dust that you can expect. This actually came from the airborn paint becoming dust.
• The cost to have this done is not for the faint of heart. It is expensive. ($13.00 per square foot and up)

So maybe black is not for you – Don’t let it discourage you.

We have applied red, blue, and white in various shades. I have heard of a fisherman that did his front door in fishing lure Chartreuse yellow- it was bright! These paints are made from the best pigments in the paint industry which means excellent color and steadfastness. They don’t fade as easy on your doors.

If you have questions on these high gloss paints, please give us a call…we are the professional paint finishers you’re looking for.