Contents
What is the Quality of the Finish?
What is the Drying Time of the Finish?
Will the Finish Cover Wood Grain?
If you’re thinking about having your kitchen, furniture, windows or doors spray painted, you probably have a few questions about the finish itself. How good will it look? How long will it last? What sheens can you choose and how long before you can use things again? In this post, we answer the questions we’re asked most often about the spray painted finish.
What Finishes are Available?
The sheen is how shiny the finish is. We offer 10% matte, 30% satin and 70% low gloss sheens:
- Matte – a non-reflective, flat finish
- Satin – a subtle, soft sheen
- Low gloss – a shinier, reflective surface.
30% satin is our most popular sheen and the sheen that we spray 99% of the time. If you’re unsure which sheen to choose, we’ll happily talk you through the options.
What is the Quality of the Finish?
Farrow and Ball say “for most projects, there’s little better than application by spray painting when it comes to speed and quality of finish. Look at most high-quality items in daily use – furniture, cars, kitchens – and you’ll find that almost all are spray painted to achieve a fine result”.
A professional spray painted finish is smooth, even and consistent. Because the paint is applied as a fine, controlled mist rather than with a brush or roller, there are no brush marks, roller stipple, orange peel texture or patches. The paint sits flat across the whole surface, including around areas that are difficult to paint evenly by hand.
Many customers are surprised by just how close a sprayed finish is to a factory finish. The quality comes down to three things:
- Thorough preparation.
- Specialist paint suited to the material being sprayed.
- An experienced Spray Painter applying it.
If you’re worried that a sprayed item will look heavily painted, the best way to judge is to see our work. Take a look at our Instagram page to see thousands of before and after photos or arrange to visit our showroom in Stockport to see sprayed finishes in person.
How Durable is the Finish?
Our finishes are designed to last. We use professional-grade paint that is hard wearing and resistant to the knocks, scuffs and cleaning that every day life involves. We are so confident in the finish that we guarantee the coating we apply will not crack, flake or peel for 10 years.
How long a finish looks its best also depends on how it’s looked after. Cleaning with a mild, non-abrasive cleaner and avoiding harsh chemicals will help to keep it in great condition.
Please note that, as with any finish, damage caused by impact, such as a scrape or a heavy knock, can still chip painted surfaces. Such damage is therefore not covered by a guarantee against cracking, flaking or peeling, due to the damage being caused by impact rather than due to a failure of the coating. If anything like this happens, get in touch and we’ll be happy to advise.
What Preparation is Required?
Preparation is the most important part of getting a long lasting finish. Paint is only as good as the surface it’s applied to, so our teams spend the majority of their time carrying out this crucial stage.
Preparation varies depending on what we’re spraying, but generally it includes:
- Cleaning and degreasing the surface to remove dirt, grease and residue that would stop the paint from bonding.
- Scotching the surface, so the paint has something to grip onto.
- Masking and protecting the surrounding areas, so that only what is being sprayed is painted.
Some jobs need a little more work. For example, if vinyl wrap on kitchen or wardrobe doors is bubbling or peeling, it needs to be removed and the surface underneath primed before our paint is applied. Another example is when we spray windows, as we then also remove the old silicone and replace it with new.
You don’t need to do any special preparation yourself. Our teams take care of it, and we’ll let you know if there’s anything we need you to do beforehand, such as clearing the area.
How is the Finish Applied?
We apply our finish using professional spray equipment. Paint is atomised into a fine mist and applied in thin, even coats, which gives the smooth result that brushes and rollers can’t achieve. Applying light coats rather than one heavy layer prevents runs, drips or sagging. Our teams spray the substrate with a dust coat followed by a medium coat. They allow the first coat to flash off then apply a second and sometimes a third coat.
Where the work is done depends on the item. Almost all sprays are carried out on site however we do have a spray booth that you can bring items to, if you would prefer for the spray to be completed off site.
What is the Drying Time of the Finish?
The paint is touch dry very quickly, but drying and curing are two different things. Drying is when the paint is dry to the touch, which is within a short time of being sprayed (typically within 15 minutes). Curing is when the paint has fully hardened and reached its maximum durability. This happens overnight.
Will the Finish Cover Wood Grain?
The paint does not fill in a wood grain. If there is a grain in the items being sprayed, the grain will still be there once we have sprayed the them. Sometimes real wood has a deeper grain at some parts than others. If the grain is deep then the wood can absorb the paint, still leaving the grain effect there. If the wood grain is different depths in different areas, the appearance of the different depths can be enhanced. We do offer a priming service which can help to reduce and even out the appearance of the grain however this will not completely remove the grain or create a perfectly smooth, factory-style finish.
Get a Free Estimate
If you’d like a flawless, long lasting spray painted finish on your kitchen, furniture, windows or doors, we’d love to hear from you.
We cover Cheshire, Derbyshire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Staffordshire, Tameside and Yorkshire, as well as further afield for larger projects. Simply get in touch via our website or give us a call, and we’ll provide a clear, free, no-obligation estimate.