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This document presents annotated forensic paint failure lab investigation photographs - paint test laboratory photographs of severe paint failure on a wood sided pre-1900 building in New York. After a painter skim-coated old paint on the wood siding using 40 gallons of Sherwin Williams C-70 crack and hole filler (not a recommended use of this product), a rapid and extensive failure of the new painted surfaces was evident in less than 90 days. 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.

Extensive stripping and surface preparation will be required to restore the building whose paint failures are shown in these micro-photographs. As a paint surface shortcut, a skim-coat product, a substance intended for small crack and hole filling, was used in violation of the manufacturer's instructions, resulting in extensive paint failure throughout the building exterior.

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Lab Photos (selected) - numbers refer to citations in lab sample table

-- Daniel Friedman

The accompaning photographs taken in our forensic lab provide examples of paint contaminants or other conditions associated with paint failures that can be of assistance to analysts investigating paints on buildings, artifacts, and works of art.

Paint lab photo - 001 polarized light showing mineral debris (road dirt) in paint layer

Paint lab photo - 003 mineral debris (road dirt) in paint layer

Paint lab photo - 006 pigment removed from surface during adhesion test

Paint lab photo - 007 mineral debris (road dirt) in paint layer

Paint lab photo - 008 road dirt and debris

Paint lab photo - 010 mitosporic fungi on back of paint chip suggest surface was not cleaned prior to painting

Paint lab photo - 013 debris in paint layer

Paint lab photo - 014 mineral debris (road dirt) in paint layer

Paint lab photo - 015 mineral debris (road dirt) and organic debris in paint layer

Paint lab photo - 016 stereomicroscopic view of solvent blisters in paint chip

Paint lab photo - 023 plant hairs & fibers on back of paint chip describe level of surface cleanliness at time of painting

Paint lab photo - 024

Paint lab photo - 026

Paint lab photo - 028 mitosporic fungi and road dirt debris on back of paint chip suggest surface was not cleaned prior to painting

Paint lab photo - 029 mitosporic fungi on back of paint chip suggest surface was not cleaned prior to painting

Paint lab photo - 030 pollen and plant fibers on back of paint chip suggest surface was not cleaned prior to painting

Paint lab photo - 032 Periconia mold spores and other debris on back of paint chip

Paint lab photo - 033 cratering indicating solvent blistering

Paint lab photo - 035 burst solvent blister and debris

Paint lab photo - 038 high magnification of solvent blister eruption in paint surface

Paint lab photo - 040 paint sample thickness and debris in coating

Paint lab photo - 043 no wood hairs on back of paint chip - not a building-moisture related failure

Paint lab photo - 046 thickness of layers including skim coat material is nearly 4 mm.

Paint lab photo - 048 craters and solvent blistering

Paint lab photo - 049 no wood hairs on back of paint chip - not a building-moisture related failure

Paint lab photo - 050 cross section of paint blister

Paint lab photo - 051 mold and debris in skim coating

Paint lab photo - 052 cratering indicating solvent blistering

Paint lab photo - 053 cratering indicating solvent blistering

Paint lab photo - 054 mold on back of paint chip

Paint lab photo - 056 cross section of paint layers, newest layers up

Paint lab photo - 062 shows layer thickness as well as separation of top coat from thick skim coat of Sherwin Williams C-70 crack filler (not a product defect - the product was not applied according to the manufacturer's instructions) - newest layers at left.

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AIR SEALING STRATEGIES
DEW POINT TABLE - CONDENSATION POINT GUIDE
MOISTURE CONTROL in BUILDINGS
MOISTURE PROBLEMS: CAUSE & CURE

PAINT & STAIN GUIDE, EXTERIOR
PAINT FALURE, DIAGNOSIS, CURE, PREVENTION
PAINT FAILURE CHECKLIST
  PAINT FAILURE - EXTERIOR CLUES
  PAINT FAILURE - INTERIOR CLUES
  PAINT FAILURE - SITE HISTORY of
  PAINT FAILURE INDICATORS
COMMON PAINTING MISTAKES
  PAINTING MISTAKE - BAD SURFACE PREP
  PAINTING SHORTCUT ERRORS
  PAINTING OVER MOISTURE
  INCOMPATIBLE PAINTS
  PAINTING in SUN or WIND
  PAINT on STUCCCO, FAILURES
PAINT FAILURE DICTIONARY
PAINT FAILURE ANALYSIS LAB PHOTOS
Paint Failure Case Photographs-SITE
Paint Failure Case Photographs-LAB
PAINT LAB SAMPLE PREPARATION

PAINT REFERENCES

• 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]
• "Paint Failure Problems and Their Cure," Daniel L. Cassens and William C. Feist, National Forest Products Laboratory, online via Purdue University, http://www.ces.purdue.edu/extmedia/NCR/NCR-133.html
• "Why House Paint Fails," Mark Knaebe, US FPL, http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/finlines/knaeb95a.pdf
• "Why Paint Jobs Fail," http://www.bennette.com/pdf/whyfail.pdf
• "Supplemental Guidelines for Removing Paint From Interior and Exterior Wood Surfaces," US General Services Administration, http://w3.gsa.gov/web/p/Hptp.nsf/0/40aff5a115b6a9e5852565c50054b4f4?OpenDocument
• "Common Paint Problems," http://www.parkerpaint.com/Common%20Paint%20Problems.html illustrates common paint failures - though their images and text appear to have been stolen from PPG - see http://www.ppg.com/getpaint/etraining/solver/exterior.html which catalogs paint failures and causes
• "Paint problem solver" from Lowes, http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?action=howTo&p=Improve/PntPrbSlv.html&rn=RightNavFiles/no.html
• "Mill Glaze: Myth or Reality," R. Sam Williams, Mark Knaebe, US FPL, http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/finlines/willi01a.pdf
• http://www.paintlab.com/failure.html is a lab offering paint chip failure analysis
• PPG Exterior Failures http://www.ppg.com/getpaint/etraining/solver/exterior.html

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