Teknos Pro addresses a number of common questions it receives from decorators and tradesmen, providing answers that merchants can pass on at the trade counter.
Q. What difference is there between spray, brush and roller application? Is there a clear winner?
A. For the smoothest finish, spraying wins hands-down but not every item lends itself to spraying. A well-brushed finish can look great too, but you have to choose the right brush for your paint. For water-based paints always select a synthetic brush because natural bristles absorb water and will give you a streaky finish. Rolling is good for large surfaces like walls, but these areas can also be sprayed.
For a beautiful finish on a new interior wall, apply a mist-coat base layer using your topcoat emulsion let down with some water and follow with two sprayed topcoats allowing enough drying time between applications. TeknosPro 5 waterborne matt emulsion would be ideal for this.
Q. Which products work best for spraying?
A. Spraying is the way forward and there’s lots of advice out there if you’re just starting out. The Teknos Futura Aqua range is brilliant for spraying, especially for kitchen cupboards and interior/exterior doors. It’s suitable for wood and metals and can be used indoors or outdoors, so would be great for re-spraying garden furniture.
Q. Is there one coatings supplier which can supply products for different types of surfaces? Are they likely to be available under one merchant’s roof?
A. There are lots of well-known manufacturers with a wide range of good products. If you’re looking to purchase specialist products along with your emulsions and glosses however, these can be harder to find in one place.
Most TeknosPro stockists carry our full range, including more specialist ones like stain blockers, adhesion primers and anti-microbial paint. If they don’t have it in stock, you can have it the next day.
Q. My client has requested I use waterborne paints, but I’m used to working with oil-based products. What can I use on woodwork that will suit their requirements?
A. Modern waterborne paints are high quality with low VOC and odour levels, so there’s every reason to give them a try.
Lots of decorators trying Teknos Futura Aqua have commented that it flows like an oil-based but it is water-based, so if you’re nervous about moving over to waterborne this would be a good starting point. Furthermore, unlike some waterborne full glosses, you won’t be disappointed with the high sheen of the Futura Aqua 80.
Q. My client wants a radiator painted. Which product would you recommend that won’t peel or crack when the radiator heats up?
A. Such is its versatility, you can use Teknos Futura Aqua on metal as well as woodwork, so it’s ideal for radiators. Sand back the old paint then apply Futura Aqua 3 primer. Key this base back lightly to give a super strong surface for your topcoats to grip onto e.g. Futura Aqua 20 or 40, resulting in a highly durable finish that won’t yellow, crack or peel.
Q. Which products have the quickest drying times?
A. Drying times for waterborne paints depend a lot on the ambient conditions. Air-flow makes a big difference to drying times so as well as monitoring the temperature in the room or outside space, check that plenty of — not too cold — air is passing over your painted area so that you can minimise waiting times between coats.
Q. What does environmentally-friendly really mean in the world of paints and coatings?
A. There is no universally recognised definition or standard for ‘environmentally-friendly’ in the world of paint. To choose paint that is better for the environment, look for terms such as ‘waterborne’ or ‘water-based’, ‘low-VOC’, ‘no lead’, ‘no chrome’, ‘no heavy metals’ and paints that meet European REACH substance regulations (or UK REACH if/when the UK leaves EU).
Better still, look beyond paint manufacturers’ environmental responsibilities and choose ones that are making their whole business sustainable — for example, the ethical sourcing of ingredients and contributing to the local community.
Q. What should I be looking for in a product to ensure its durability?
A. Durability of paint is heavily reliant on the quality of the product’s ingredients and the ratio of the carrier substance to the solid ingredients, for example pigments and binders. Most TeknosPro paints for example, contain up to 40% solid ingredients which are dissolved in the water-based carrier. This high solid ratio means that they have excellent coverage and this makes them last longer.
The superior quality pigments in TeknosPro paints also give them a rich deepness ensuring the colours don’t fade. Some waterborne paints contain lower amounts of solids and more water which is why they don’t last so long.
The TeknosPro range is being stocked by an increasing number of merchant branches. For more information, visit www.teknos.com/en-GB/.
