One of the most common problems that can occur during a painting project is when the paint fails to fully conceal the layer that is underneath, that is called poor hiding. While professional house painters are adept at avoiding this problem, those that have not painted very often may find themselves painting yet another coat when it is not really necessary.

Use Premium Grade for Better Hiding Qualities

Whether engaging in interior or exterior house painting, the first step is to check the grade of paint that is being used as your top coat. More important than the brand name is using premium grade paint as your exterior layer. Premium grade has the best binders, pigments and solids which will remain when the paint is dry.

Other grades of paint, particularly contractors, professional and architectural have fewer durable binders and use other ingredients which lessens the hiding quality. Many economy paints have fillers which are decent at hiding underlying paint, but lose those ingredients when the dry paint is splashed by water or oil.

Contrary to popular belief, darker colors do not have better hiding qualities than white paint. This is because the base properties that dark colors are made has very little, if any titanium dioxide which gives the paint its hiding qualities.

Tips and Hints

There are a number of tips that house painting Denver professionals use to ensure the hiding qualities of the paints they use.

• Use gray undercoat that matches the light reflective qualities of your top coat.
• Deep accent colors are generally better at hiding than custom tinted colors.
• Have the primer tinted to approximate the finish color, particularly if it’s red, orange or yellow.

There are other good tips as well which will have you painting like a professional when it comes to using a solid, top coat of paint that effectively hides the primer.

• Use a primer-sealer to even out the porosity of surfaces that has never been painted.
• Dull glossy painted surfaces by sanding or using a chemical de-glossing product.
• Never thin the top coat or exceed the spread rate of the paint.
• Be sure the paint is properly mixed.

One of the most common reasons why paint has poor hiding qualities is that it isn’t mixed correctly. Even paint that is properly shaken may not be mixed correctly. Pour the paint into a larger container and use a flat stick to stir it in a figure 8 motion and then pour it back and forth between the stir container and the original can several times.

The label will tell you if a brush or roller cover is best. With latex paint, use a nylon or polyester brush. A nap roller cover levels the paint and increases the hiding properties, especially with premium latex paints. These tips are used by professional house painters to get the best hiding qualities from their paints. For the best house painting Denver residents should use premium paints, getting the most from the hiding qualities of your paint will save you money and effort.