Using a roller to apply gloss paint

In article , Anode writes

Any reason not to use a mini foam roller?

IIRC you should use foam rollors for gloss. I tried this once on flush finished doors. The result was OK but not as good as I could achieve with a brush.

Malcolm

I have tried a foam roller a couple of times, but the finished surface had 'bits' of something on it, as if specs of foam had been pulled off the roller. Using the same paint with a brush had an acceptable result, but I am trying here to find out what is the best result that can be expected from a roller - a roller seems quicker than using a brush..

Anode.

In article , Anode writes

I've not had that, clean finish but definitely noticeable as rollered rather than brushed. That's originally using B&Q foam mini rollers then nowt specials from the local Johnstones trade counter.

Thanks for your comment. I too have some flush doors to paint. Rollers seem quicker than brushes, so I thought I would see what results could be got from rollers. A factor involved here is the composition of the paint, that is something that seems to be changing frequently these days.

Anode.

After years of sticking to brushes, I eventually tried a foam roller for gloss. Nowadays, whenever I have large areas of gloss to cover, I apply with the roller for speed, but use a brush for the finishing strokes. Best of both worlds

Chris

I've used foam rollers with gloss.

In message , Anode writes

Yes.

I find it is possible to *over brush* paint. It brings to mind the effect of stirring thixotropic stuff.

In my case the final smoothing strokes seem to drag globules of thinner material from the paint body and which then remain on the surface.

regards

I worked on a Habitat project earlier this year and this is what we did save that we used a short pile roller. The brushing was with the lightest of strokes just to even things up. The finish was almost as good as factory spray paint.

So that's why they went bust... B-)

An awful lot depends on the paint. The best finish I've ever had with gloss has been with those "one coat" things, brush applied and left it seems to pull itself flat. One has to resist the urge to try and brush out the brush marks. Whack a good coat on but not so much that it runs and leave it. I suspect this applies to ordinary gloss as well.

I've used a Wickes brand mini roller marked for varnish with pretty good results. Shorter pile than the gloss ones.

That was damned expensive paint though, two-pot yacht enamel.

Andy

Thanks for all the helpful comments.

Acting on the advice you gave, I have made some test panels, and find I can get acceptable results if I make two changes. First, I needed to use a roller made from high density foam, and not the lighter foam, or fibre, that I had been using. Second, I had to thin the paint about 10%. The thinning may well be required as a result of the present weather conditions; without thinning I was unable to keep a wet edge long enough to join up acceptably.

I then have the option of finishing off with a brush, although the ?orange peel? effect caused by using a roller is minimal when the particular paint I am using has dried.

The above comments apply to painting vertical surfaces. For some reason I do not understand, the same paint applied in the same way to a horizontal surface gives a very blotchy/bitty surface. But as I am painting flush doors, the horizontal surface problem is not a worry.

Anode.