Home Depot and paint

[Bill]

Thank you for your reply to my question.

Bill

[Robatoy]

On Oct 11, 4:00=A0pm, " [e-mail]" wrote: [snipped for brevity]

As always, nicely done, Robert.

Many moons ago, a renowned psychiatrist hired me to take over as general contractor on a house he was building for his wife. In a rage he had fired everybody from the site. She had designed the house herself and it had some elements which were quite nice, but virtually impossible to build. The budget was 285, by the time I was done, a year-and-a-half later, the total was closer to 600. A 32' tall fireplace in the Great Room was part of the problem. The home owner spent a day ranting about the fact that he did NOT want 'emulsion' on any of his walls. "After all this work, I do NOT want emulsion on the walls..." WTF? Turns out he was talking about the fact that 'lager lauts' would smear that on their walls back at the UK and he would have no part of that culture!! He was talking about latex.

[nailshooter41]

Thanks, Rob.

And they wonder why so many think of the Brits as snobs. "Lager lauts"?

For crying out loud.... emulsion?

Sheesh.

I would have rented uniforms for my guys, used an unknown brand of paint and tripled the price.

Actually, that would have probably made that guy happy!

Robert

[Lee Michaels]

wrote

I had a friend of mine who worked for one of those "high end" painting companies.

He worked out of his dining room. He owned nothing. Everything was rented or leased. All his paint equipment was rented by the week.

He drove a very nice leased car. He wore suits. He had fancy signs made up to put around the neighborhood when he was painting a house. He had tee shirts with his logo that his painters wore. Nothing fancy, but it matched.

His strategy? He did not compete on price. He charged three times the going rate. He did extensive prep work. Lots of sanding, etc. He took his time and did a good job.

Every house he painted, he got a referral or two at least. He had more business than he could handle. Everybody would get a number of bids. And when he came in much higher than the others, They would ask why. He would explain that he did much higher quality work, he used much better paint, took his time and did a good job. Enough people saw this as an attractive alternative to the el cheapo jobs offered elsewhere. He did quite well. He worked about 6 months a year.

[Swingman]

By the time a designer is bought and paid for, and all the other work is done, I will willingly pay three times the lowest bidder for three times the quality.

The paint job is what makes the job!

Robert ... I've got a kitchen (white, Euro style, high gloss) coming up that needs a world class paint job. You wanna drive to Houston for a week and let me and Leon wine and dine you as part of the job?

... I'm serious, anytime you want to discuss/consider. :)

[Robatoy]

Not to cut in on Robert's opportunity to be wined and dined, but you may want to look at polyester clad doors. Super shiny and durable. The glossiest of gloss albeit a bit dear.

[Swingman]

I've seen windows and exterior doors with a baked on polyester finish, but never wooden kitchen doors.

Got any more info ...

Thanks, Rob!

[nailshooter41]

That would probably be a lot of fun. I would have to see where I was "work wise" at the time.

Over the last year I have cut a deal with a friend of mine to help him run his company as well. As he has gotten older (mid 70s) he has slowed down a bit and I am taking on more and more.

But it could be fun...!

I would PING Rob though about those cabinet doors. I saw some at a home show, and they looked great if you like that style.

Apparently they are clad in thermofoil (PVC) like the old days, but a better quality. I never like the old Euro style myself, but it is an enduring design and that is why it was at the home show. The doors I saw actually looked pretty nice since they had a bit of woodgrain in the vinyl.

As far as their manufacture, a bit of snooping found this:

Google search of "glossy pvc cabinet doors" revealed a lot of manufacturers from China. I don't know where they cabinets came from at the home show, but I now have a sneaking suspicion of their origin.

Let me know how your project is going.

Would I have to work with Leon?

;^) !!

Robert

[Robatoy]

Sorry... the feed from Google had a hiccup again, I'll get on it and find more info for you.

[Robatoy]

So far, polyester goes through about 20 steps. The people at NEFF kitchens go through 29.

"The technique might involve more than 20 steps of sanding and finishing. There¹s even a step where a special topcoat is applied in a dust-free (!) room. The finish goes through numerous oven curings and hand sandings with extremely fine abrasives. Special glazes and polishes applied at the end help achieve the final, mirror-like sheen.

Perhaps not surprisingly, all that elbow grease makes this one of the more expensive finish choices."

So, IMHO, as a finish to do yourself, seems too crazy. I mean, ovens and special spray gear..too silly.

So now I look for people who do this for you. Woodweb, my goto site isn't much help yet.

[Swingman]

Thanks for the effort though ... I wasn't very successful with finding anything about the process myself.

I remember the finishes in the new houses in Germany back in the 70's. The trim, moldings, doors, and cabinets had a (white) finish that you could see yourself in, with a depth that spoke "quality". It looked almost like plastic coating except not cheap looking in the least. It was acheived, apparently, by literally dozens of coats of "paint", expertly _brushed_ on, and sanded carefully between coats.

Gorgeous, and nothing you will find in this decadent society today.

There was one guy from a Balkan country here in Texas a few years ago who advertised doing just that. He even contacted me about doing kitchen cabinets in my houses at one point. He had a website and I even talked to him a time or two on phone, but at the time everything we were doing was stained, and I have not been able to get in touch with him since.

Would love to find him again.

[Robatoy]

On Oct 15, 8:36=A0am, Swingman wrote:

I have, in the past, managed to get some very high gloss and durable finishes by using an automotive 'system'. Sikkens AutoCryl works very well when applied in reasonably normal conditions. The AkzoNobel people , Sikkens' owners, have excellent support technicians and documentation on their processes. All that is required, is a clean spray booth, and quality spray gun, strict adherence to their system and a seemingly disproportionate amount of money. More on that in a bit. The beauty of AutoCryl, is that one has a selection of additives which allows one to control certain aspects of the finish. A matting clear, which, when mixed in with the AutoCryl, gives infinite control over the sheen. Products that fight fish-eyes, and products that allow for more flexibility (used on deformable things like car bumpers) again, in a range of ratios. When used on MDF, they have a primer/filler which sands beautifully and then gets followed up with a primer, colour coat, and several clear coats...all in one continuous act. The wet-on-wet aspect gives an adhesion which is unsurpassed by anything I am aware of. Of course, no primers or colour coats on wood/veneers. The build is very high. First time I did this, I knew I was dealing with a long drying time and I decided to give it overnight. The next morning, I thought, "shit, this stuff is still soaking wet." It wasn't. It was dry, but looked wet. I was blown away. One panel, next to my gas range, still looks it did 15+ years ago. Clear on cherry veneer. (3 coats, sanded in between) I dare say the stuff is close to bullet proof. I added a bit of matting to get the

33% sheen in the final coat to match my standard cat lacquers.

Back to the money side. You have to toss aside all you know about price per gallon. Mostly because the solids contents are so high, compared to standard cat lacquers, you get 3 times the product, give or take.

Follow their procedure and wear a serious mask; this stuff can hurt you prior to curing.

I'll take a couple of pics around my kitchen to see if I can show the finish.

[Robatoy]

the clear is called Autoclear, the coloured one-step is called Autocryl.

Panel in kitchen. There for 17 years.