Is it me or the paint?

[Vera]

Sounds like it's the finishing strokes that gave you the lines - I've never done that and never had lines...

[Grant Fitzgerald]

Maybe, but I only get the lines where one section overlaps the next, not within each section. I am thinking that the paint in the previous section is drying a bit too quickly meaning that the overlap isn't levelling itself properly. I think I'm going to experiment with Crown paint at the weekend (as suggested elsewhere in the thread) to see if it has better levelling properties or allows me more time to work.

[RichardS]

Not necessarily IME. Thinking about it, I always tend to finish up rolling more-or-less vertically for light finishing and don't get overlaps showing.

From the sounds of it the paint pigmentation and formulation is to blame. I just don't like the amateur/DIY formulations available in the shops - they just seem too thick, which makes overlap problems more likely to occur & the spreading out on the wall just that much more difficult. My personal favourite is Leyland trade, or Farrow & Ball if we want the flattest of finishes. 2 coats minimum, always.

[Stuart Noble]

I've proved to my own satisfaction that Crown emulsion is better than Dulux. A customer of mine wanted a two tone room and had bought one of each brand. All the walls had been recently skimmed so it was a level playing field situation. Crown went on like a dream, covered well despite being thinner, and left no lines or brushmarks. Dulux left lines that I could see in certain lights and generally looked a bit cheap and nasty by comparison. And before anyone tells me to thin it with water, just consider what a bloody performance that is in practice. Slurp some into a bucket and stir

10% water into it? Just try and get anywhere near a uniform consistency. The more you stir a thixotropic liquid, the thinner it gets, and it can take a couple of hours standing for it to return to anything useable. There really isn't any excuse for firms formulating paints which don't work on the most common surface.

[Christian McArdle]

What sort of Dulux?

I find Dulux Trade goes on absolutely like a dream. I thin the first coat on fresh plaster so it doesn't dry too quickly, but main coats go on neat. It is by far the best paint I've worked with although I haven't tried the properly expensive paints (i.e. F&B etc).

Dilution isn't much of a chore. When pouring paint into the tray (I usually use an old washing up bowl!), I just put in a slug of water from a cup and stir with the brush.

Even just a single coat gives a disturbingly creditable appearance, especially as it isn't officially a 1 coat paint.

Christian.

[Mary Fisher]

F&B is delightful to work with, somebody round here said it was like painting with velvet. He was right, we used it when we rebuilt our small caravan and wouldn't use anything else now.

Mary