Incompatible Paints or Wrong Type of Paint as a Cause of Paint Failure InspectAPedia® -
Using incompatible paints or the wrong paint type will lead to early paint failures on buildings.
What are the most common painting mistakes that we should avoid when painting a building?
How to diagnose the cause of failing paint on a building exterior or interior
Paint failure diagnosis checklists for the building exterior & interior
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Here we explain how and why using incompatible types of paint in successive coatings can lead to paint failure on a building interior or exterior surface. This article series reviews common building exterior & interior painting
mistakes, describes how to diagnose paint failures on buildings, and outlines a procedure for diagnostic field inspection & lab testing of failed painted surfaces. We include photographs of paint failures on buildings and more photos of forensic paint laboratory examination of samples of failed
paint useful to assist in diagnosing the probable cause of each type of paint failure. Readers should also see Paint Failure Case Photographs-SITE and then Paint Failure Case Photographs-LAB, and see PAINT & STAIN GUIDE, EXTERIOR for a guide to the selection and proper application of paints and stains on exterior wood surfaces.
INCOMPATIBLE PAINTS - Improper, Incompatible Paint Selection - Bad Chemistry
Our photo shows an exterior paint failure that occurred when a mixup led to both interior paints and defective paint product used on a building exterior. The white primer was intact. The color coat began peeling even during the paint job.
Paint failures can occur, such as failure of a paint to bond with a surface,
failure of inter-coat bonding, or even dissolving of one paint coat by another, if
incompatible paints are applied to a surface. For example, surfactant leaching can occur if there is an incompatibility between
the primer coat and the finish coat.
Paint chemists formulate primers and topcoats to work together as a tested and proven paint coating system.
Painting a new coating on incompatible already-coated surfaces, including the paints or paint solvents: - applying a coating which is chemically incompatible with the existing layers. (Usually see wrinkling, staining, blistering, loss of adhesion, usually occurring while the new coating is still wet.)
Applying paint where a stain or pigmented stain is more suitable, or without first applying the proper primer over a stained surface
Using an indoor paint outside
Omitting the first-coat primer or conditioner recommended by the top coat paint manufacturer
Using a primer as a top-coat
Contaminating varnish, shellac, or lacquer with moisture/water
WRONG PAINTS - Improper Paint Type Selection
There are lots of examples of using the wrong paint (besides the incompatible paints discussed above.
Using an interior paint outdoors
Using a paint which lacks the necessary attributes for a
specific application - painting a wood siding paint on a metal water storage tank
Painting an oil top coat over previous acrylic/latex top coats
Using a defective paint which has been improperly formulated at the factory
Using a def
Failure to use the manufacturer's recommended primer, particularly on challenging surfaces such as new stucco, can lead to early paint failures. See PAINT on STUCCCO, FAILURES for details.
Be sure to follow the recommendations of your paint supplier and paint manufacturer in choosing the
right paint for the proper application.
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Additional technical contributors & reference sources for this article are listed below.
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Paint and Surface Coatings, Theory and Practice, R. Lambourne & T.A. Strivens, Ed., Woodhead Publishing Ltd., William Andrew Publishing, 1999 ISBN 1-85573-348 X & 1-884207-73-1 [This is perhaps the leading reference on modern paints and coatings, but is a difficult text to obtain, and is a bit short on field investigation methods - DF]
Analysis of Modern Paints, Thomas J.S. Learner, Research in Conservation, 2004 ISBN 0-89236-779-2 [Chemistry of modern paints, overview of analytical methods, pyrolysis-gas chromatography signatures of basic modern paints and their constituents, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy for paint analysis, direct temperature-resolved mass spectrometry, and analysis in practice - technical reference useful for forensic paint science, focused on art works -DF]
Seeing Through Paintings, Physical Examination in Art Historical Studies, Andrea Kirsh, Rustin S. Levenson, Materials in Fine Arts, 2000 ISBN 99-051835 [ forensic science, technical reference, focused on art works - DF]
Paint Handbook: testing, selection, application, troubleshooting, surface preparation, etc., Guy E. Weismantel, Ed., McGraw Hill Book Company, 1981 [Excellent but a bit obsolete paint theory and practice, also a bit light on field investigation methods, out of print, available used-DF]
Art, Biology, and Conservation: Biodeterioration in Works of Art, RObert J. Koestler et als. Eds., Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2003, ISBN 1-58839-107-8
Building Pathology, Deterioration, Diagnostics, and Intervention, Samuel Y. Harris, P.E., AIA, Esq., ISBN 0-471-33172-4, John Wiley & Sons, 2001 [General building science-DF]
Understanding Ventilation, John Bower, The Healthy House Institute, ISBN 0-9637156-5-8, 1995 [General building science-DF]
Dampness in Buildings, Diagnosis, Treatment, Instruments, T.A. Oxley & E.G. Gobert, ISBN 0-408-01463-6, Butterworths, 1983-1987 [General building science-DF]
"Moisture Control in Buildings: Putting Building Science in Green Building," Alex Wilson, Environmental Building News, Vol. 12. No. 5. [Good tutorial, "Moisture 101" outlining the physics of moisture movement in buildings and a good but incomplete list of general suggestions for moisture control - inadequate attention given to exterior conditions such as roof and surface drainage defects which are among the most-common sources of building moisture and water entry.--DJF]
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