27-07-2013, 04:38 PM
Hi,
Being part of the EU is causing problems in lots of areas of our lives and I'm not on about politics.
What a job I've had in trying to obtain top class oil based paint in both undercoat and gloss. Over the last few days its driven me around the bend but then of course whenever I want to buy anything companies and stores that have been in business forever suddenly close down?
I'm planning a big job around the bungalow in that I want to replace the double glazed units to the front elevation and hopefully replace the remaining single glazed units with double glazed units. I'm not jumping in wanting to do the cheapest job possible so I'm researching and in particular I want top quality materials throughout because I want to do this job once but do it well.
I used to use Sikkens Rubbol oil based gloss but years ago Sikkens discontinued their colour range in gloss and the store I used to buy from suggested I switch to Johnstone's paints because the professional painters buying from the store swore by Johnstone's. This must have been seven or eight years ago and when I switched I still had a supply of undercoat but bought Johnstone's oil based gloss.
I was delighted with the Johnstone's gloss and it looked excellent; very easy to apply and dried without brush marks; I was using a "Purdy" brush. I like to keep on top of the exterior woodwork so about four years ago spent the usual six weeks doing exterior painting; I never skimp on rubbing down and turn this job into a project then rather than loathe the job I enjoy it and see it as a challenge trying to do better each time.
I had now run out of undercoat so needed both undercoat and gloss. Bron and I visited the Leyland/Johnstone sales counter at the factory in Birstall spending a lot of money buying the Johnstone Professional oil based paint. The undercoat colour needed to be "Charcoal" and we bought 2.5L together with all the other materials needed.
I had made and installed brand new side hung timber garage doors and these were first on the list to tackle. After the usual rubbing down and knotting I poured a quantity of the undercoat into a smaller container and with the doors fully dusted and the surrounding area protected got stuck in; it was a lovely warm morning so I hoped to apply two undercoats during the day?
The first brush full of undercoat went on but what a fight this rubbish put up; it wouldn't lay off at all in fact it dried immediately it hit the timber? I was disgusted with the effort and thought perhaps it was too warm to be painting after all we live in bleak Yorkshire?
I rubbed the offending paint down then called it a day. The next morning I was on the job very early when it felt quite cold outside and I was determined to apply this undercoat? I thinned it with white spirit but by the time the doors were finally undercoated and I stood back I could have cried because it looked like the paint had been applied with a sweeping brush leaving very deep tramlines.
Whilst at a local timber yard I had noticed they stocked dark grey undercoat and as the timber yard was much nearer than Birstall I popped over and bought a tin of this undercoat. Back home with tears in my eyes I burned off the Johnstone undercoat doing all the preparation work for a second time; boy what a difference this new undercoat was; it went on beautifully without a brush mark at all in fact a wipe over with abrasive paper just to de-nib and a second coat was applied just as easily.
I've never had problems with Johnstone's oil based gloss and two coats of this went on without trouble. I bought more undercoat from the timber yard and completed the job which still looks very good even four years on.
I've this week finally given the offending undercoat away because I was going to return it to Johnstone's but now I find the store at the factory is no longer there? I got sick of seeing this paint so it's now out of my life.
As I say I'm gearing up to replacing glazing but firstly I want to gather everything I'll need; possibly I'll now wait until next year before tackling this job. A couple of weeks ago I visited the timber yard again to stock up with the wonderful undercoat; as I searched the store I was asked what I was looking for and said to the guy I'm looking for undercoat; his reply was "we don't sell undercoat" simple as that and in front of a queue I thanked him and walked out never to return.
So now although I can easily afford whatever I need it is no longer readily available so the timber yard cannot supply undercoat and the factory trade counter has also closed; a cloudburst would finish the job off?
OK so now my bad luck has kicked but I'm not beaten. I've spent many hours browsing the web looking for paint reviews and recommendations. I no longer want Johnston's oil based gloss; I want the best paint I can get hold of irrespective of how expensive it is; B&Q; Homebase and Wickes sorry but I don't believe in stack it high sell it cheap especially if I'm going to be grafting for around six weeks; I want the best.
Whilst recently visiting Joe; Joe very kindly suggested Farrow & Ball (F&B) paint as this has always been regarded by professionals as "High end" paint and it isn't cheap.
Joe very kindly gave us the address of the local F&B stockist so on the way home I popped in to enquire if F&B could colour match against a sample; the guy in the store must have thought I was speaking a foreign language and I had to explain further my needs regarding buying a very dark brown paint. Good try Joe and much appreciated but I was no nearer.
I've also been browsing lots of websites and sending out requests for help all this taking many hours. One site was most helpful because they were advertising Sikkens in oil based gloss? WOW I thought I had cracked it so enquired by email and sure enough yes they could supply. I then sent another message asking if they could supply against a colour sample. Now I received a reply saying sorry they had made a mistake and they could not supply Sikkens oil based paint in colours? A few hours later I received an email from this company asking if I could supply a paint reference number as they would try to help? Again I sent them a message asking if a BS or RAL number would be of use and yes it would. To keep them in the loop I replied again saying it would take me a while to create a swatch then I would drive over to Dewsbury to get it matched to a number at Gordon's Auto Paint store.
I made an MDF swatch colour sample of the dark brown. Yesterday as it was a scorching hot Day I asked Bron if she would like a trip out in the car? All during this I had been doing a lot more web browsing and a paint company by the name of "Little Greene" kept popping up and I also browsed for reviews. What I found out was that Farrow and Ball no longer manufacture oil based traditional gloss paint because of EU regulations? F&B are now manufacturing water based paint and unfortunately are following Dulux in losing their excellent reputation?
http://traditionalpainter.com/all-hail-t...nt-company
Many very highly regarded professional painters are now using Little Greene paint which is still being supplied in oil base. These painters are at the top of their league and unsurpassed regarding quality of skill or workmanship. If Little Greene is good enough for them it sure is good enough for me.
I was happily surprised to find a local interior decorators store was agents for Little Greene so I checked Google Maps and as I know the area in Mirfield very well took Bron along for the ride. As we reached the centre of Mirfield it was around 4.30pm and the rush hour was in full swing; eventually we parked down a side street and walked to where the store had been indicated by Google Maps? I was so sure I knew exactly where the store was I hadn't taken any details with us. Once again my bad luck kicked in and we couldn't locate the store so set off for home feeling hot and bothered.
Last night again on the computer I decided to see if this missing store had also a website and it had; a location map was included; of course the store was in a totally different location to where Google had directed us to? This morning we were in Mirfield just after 9 o'clock when the store opened and I took along the sample. On the computer the sample matched the Little Greene perfectly but in store the brown was much lighter in colour as we looked at the sample pot of paint. Not to worry I can get around this by adding black to darken it.
I had taken along a wish list and the young lady took our order consisting of 2.5L Oil primer undercoat in Dark Grey; 2 x 1L Traditional oil gloss in Chocolate and 1L of Traditional oil gloss in Jack Black. We were asked to leave a deposit because the paint had to be ordered so we handed over the full £114.00 and delivery to the store should be mid week next week.
The above story only tells part of what I've had to go through in order to obtain just the paint I want and I had no intention of compromise; once I'm annoyed enough with my bad luck then I dig in.
I've now got a top quality Fein Multimaster for aiding in removing the old glass and now the top quality paint is sorted; I now wonder if double glazing has been phased out because I'm going to be looking for some?
Whilst in the store buying the Little Greene paint I mentioned that F&B had now stopped making oil based gloss and would Little Greene be forced to do likewise due to EU regulations? The lady said no; Little Greene use a different type of oil which was unaffected by the new regulations; please don't tell anyone I'm now buying Little Greene Paint.
I've only just decorated one of the rooms in our two roomed extension; I used my favourite Purdy paintbrush and working in good conditions indoors for a change; I used Dulux oil based undercoat and matching Dulux oil based Gloss and I can't believe how poor it looks; at a glance no one would see anything wrong but I sure can and I don't like it.
The top class painters are recommending Wooster paint brushes which I've never heard of previously and for my use I might compare a Wooster against the Purdy?
http://www.decoratingdirect.co.uk/viewpr...tAodOBkA-Q
I've always said I can't knock a nail in without it turning into another saga?
Kind regards, Col.
Being part of the EU is causing problems in lots of areas of our lives and I'm not on about politics.
What a job I've had in trying to obtain top class oil based paint in both undercoat and gloss. Over the last few days its driven me around the bend but then of course whenever I want to buy anything companies and stores that have been in business forever suddenly close down?
I'm planning a big job around the bungalow in that I want to replace the double glazed units to the front elevation and hopefully replace the remaining single glazed units with double glazed units. I'm not jumping in wanting to do the cheapest job possible so I'm researching and in particular I want top quality materials throughout because I want to do this job once but do it well.
I used to use Sikkens Rubbol oil based gloss but years ago Sikkens discontinued their colour range in gloss and the store I used to buy from suggested I switch to Johnstone's paints because the professional painters buying from the store swore by Johnstone's. This must have been seven or eight years ago and when I switched I still had a supply of undercoat but bought Johnstone's oil based gloss.
I was delighted with the Johnstone's gloss and it looked excellent; very easy to apply and dried without brush marks; I was using a "Purdy" brush. I like to keep on top of the exterior woodwork so about four years ago spent the usual six weeks doing exterior painting; I never skimp on rubbing down and turn this job into a project then rather than loathe the job I enjoy it and see it as a challenge trying to do better each time.
I had now run out of undercoat so needed both undercoat and gloss. Bron and I visited the Leyland/Johnstone sales counter at the factory in Birstall spending a lot of money buying the Johnstone Professional oil based paint. The undercoat colour needed to be "Charcoal" and we bought 2.5L together with all the other materials needed.
I had made and installed brand new side hung timber garage doors and these were first on the list to tackle. After the usual rubbing down and knotting I poured a quantity of the undercoat into a smaller container and with the doors fully dusted and the surrounding area protected got stuck in; it was a lovely warm morning so I hoped to apply two undercoats during the day?
The first brush full of undercoat went on but what a fight this rubbish put up; it wouldn't lay off at all in fact it dried immediately it hit the timber? I was disgusted with the effort and thought perhaps it was too warm to be painting after all we live in bleak Yorkshire?
I rubbed the offending paint down then called it a day. The next morning I was on the job very early when it felt quite cold outside and I was determined to apply this undercoat? I thinned it with white spirit but by the time the doors were finally undercoated and I stood back I could have cried because it looked like the paint had been applied with a sweeping brush leaving very deep tramlines.
Whilst at a local timber yard I had noticed they stocked dark grey undercoat and as the timber yard was much nearer than Birstall I popped over and bought a tin of this undercoat. Back home with tears in my eyes I burned off the Johnstone undercoat doing all the preparation work for a second time; boy what a difference this new undercoat was; it went on beautifully without a brush mark at all in fact a wipe over with abrasive paper just to de-nib and a second coat was applied just as easily.
I've never had problems with Johnstone's oil based gloss and two coats of this went on without trouble. I bought more undercoat from the timber yard and completed the job which still looks very good even four years on.
I've this week finally given the offending undercoat away because I was going to return it to Johnstone's but now I find the store at the factory is no longer there? I got sick of seeing this paint so it's now out of my life.
As I say I'm gearing up to replacing glazing but firstly I want to gather everything I'll need; possibly I'll now wait until next year before tackling this job. A couple of weeks ago I visited the timber yard again to stock up with the wonderful undercoat; as I searched the store I was asked what I was looking for and said to the guy I'm looking for undercoat; his reply was "we don't sell undercoat" simple as that and in front of a queue I thanked him and walked out never to return.
So now although I can easily afford whatever I need it is no longer readily available so the timber yard cannot supply undercoat and the factory trade counter has also closed; a cloudburst would finish the job off?
OK so now my bad luck has kicked but I'm not beaten. I've spent many hours browsing the web looking for paint reviews and recommendations. I no longer want Johnston's oil based gloss; I want the best paint I can get hold of irrespective of how expensive it is; B&Q; Homebase and Wickes sorry but I don't believe in stack it high sell it cheap especially if I'm going to be grafting for around six weeks; I want the best.
Whilst recently visiting Joe; Joe very kindly suggested Farrow & Ball (F&B) paint as this has always been regarded by professionals as "High end" paint and it isn't cheap.
Joe very kindly gave us the address of the local F&B stockist so on the way home I popped in to enquire if F&B could colour match against a sample; the guy in the store must have thought I was speaking a foreign language and I had to explain further my needs regarding buying a very dark brown paint. Good try Joe and much appreciated but I was no nearer.
I've also been browsing lots of websites and sending out requests for help all this taking many hours. One site was most helpful because they were advertising Sikkens in oil based gloss? WOW I thought I had cracked it so enquired by email and sure enough yes they could supply. I then sent another message asking if they could supply against a colour sample. Now I received a reply saying sorry they had made a mistake and they could not supply Sikkens oil based paint in colours? A few hours later I received an email from this company asking if I could supply a paint reference number as they would try to help? Again I sent them a message asking if a BS or RAL number would be of use and yes it would. To keep them in the loop I replied again saying it would take me a while to create a swatch then I would drive over to Dewsbury to get it matched to a number at Gordon's Auto Paint store.
I made an MDF swatch colour sample of the dark brown. Yesterday as it was a scorching hot Day I asked Bron if she would like a trip out in the car? All during this I had been doing a lot more web browsing and a paint company by the name of "Little Greene" kept popping up and I also browsed for reviews. What I found out was that Farrow and Ball no longer manufacture oil based traditional gloss paint because of EU regulations? F&B are now manufacturing water based paint and unfortunately are following Dulux in losing their excellent reputation?
http://traditionalpainter.com/all-hail-t...nt-company
Many very highly regarded professional painters are now using Little Greene paint which is still being supplied in oil base. These painters are at the top of their league and unsurpassed regarding quality of skill or workmanship. If Little Greene is good enough for them it sure is good enough for me.
I was happily surprised to find a local interior decorators store was agents for Little Greene so I checked Google Maps and as I know the area in Mirfield very well took Bron along for the ride. As we reached the centre of Mirfield it was around 4.30pm and the rush hour was in full swing; eventually we parked down a side street and walked to where the store had been indicated by Google Maps? I was so sure I knew exactly where the store was I hadn't taken any details with us. Once again my bad luck kicked in and we couldn't locate the store so set off for home feeling hot and bothered.
Last night again on the computer I decided to see if this missing store had also a website and it had; a location map was included; of course the store was in a totally different location to where Google had directed us to? This morning we were in Mirfield just after 9 o'clock when the store opened and I took along the sample. On the computer the sample matched the Little Greene perfectly but in store the brown was much lighter in colour as we looked at the sample pot of paint. Not to worry I can get around this by adding black to darken it.
I had taken along a wish list and the young lady took our order consisting of 2.5L Oil primer undercoat in Dark Grey; 2 x 1L Traditional oil gloss in Chocolate and 1L of Traditional oil gloss in Jack Black. We were asked to leave a deposit because the paint had to be ordered so we handed over the full £114.00 and delivery to the store should be mid week next week.
The above story only tells part of what I've had to go through in order to obtain just the paint I want and I had no intention of compromise; once I'm annoyed enough with my bad luck then I dig in.
I've now got a top quality Fein Multimaster for aiding in removing the old glass and now the top quality paint is sorted; I now wonder if double glazing has been phased out because I'm going to be looking for some?
Whilst in the store buying the Little Greene paint I mentioned that F&B had now stopped making oil based gloss and would Little Greene be forced to do likewise due to EU regulations? The lady said no; Little Greene use a different type of oil which was unaffected by the new regulations; please don't tell anyone I'm now buying Little Greene Paint.
I've only just decorated one of the rooms in our two roomed extension; I used my favourite Purdy paintbrush and working in good conditions indoors for a change; I used Dulux oil based undercoat and matching Dulux oil based Gloss and I can't believe how poor it looks; at a glance no one would see anything wrong but I sure can and I don't like it.
The top class painters are recommending Wooster paint brushes which I've never heard of previously and for my use I might compare a Wooster against the Purdy?
http://www.decoratingdirect.co.uk/viewpr...tAodOBkA-Q
I've always said I can't knock a nail in without it turning into another saga?
Kind regards, Col.
Happiness is a wreck of a cabinet to restore.
