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Materials used to paint play a vital role in the longevity of paint.
that it has correct paint specifications.“ It clearly details what the paint on the project is, what they use and then obviously it’ s up to the contractor’ s integrity to ensure that he applies the paints according to specification,” advises Lawson.
Doing research for a paint job, isn’ t something that is common in the construction sector, however, the salesman in the retail outlet should be able to guide you through the process, by asking these questions.“ These are things that they should be able to tell you because he’ s selling it, he should be able to advice. Additionally, a qualified painter should know these things and be able to make recommendations as well,” says Spence.
“ It is important that the correct primer, undercoat and top coat are used for most surfaces,” says Lawson. Failure to follow the process can cause issues; there are different recommended products for plastered surfaces for interior and exterior.
“ Because being economical is a major concern they use a cheap first coat of polyvinyl acetate( PVAs) instead of proper alkali resistant plaster primers, this causes the top coat to fail,” says Lawson. The applicator is responsible to be well trained and knowledgeable on how to paint and they need to use the right products and the correct system.
“ Very often, I’ ve seen due to lack of knowledge and training, the wrong process is followed, and this is only because they are ill-informed and poorly trained,” he says.
Once the paint has been selected how the product is used and the sequence thereafter comes into play.“ If its new housing there must be an undercoat and then a top coat so the quality of these two is terribly important on how long that lasts and whether it’ ll be washed or cleaned,” Spence says. It’ s a common fact that workers are under pressure because of this they often paint when the plaster isn’ t dry.
According to Lawson, plaster takes a minimum recommended of 21 days good weather to dry well prior to painting. However, often the workers plaster and then three to four days after, they paint.“ What happens is moisture trapped brings alkali salts because the building material( sand plaster) is very alkaline in nature and that alkalinity comes through. This leads to common paint failures like peeling or blistering,” he says.
About 86 % of paint failures is the result of bad preparation of the surface. Repainting over an uncleaned
IMAGE COURTESY OF PIXABAY surface can be problematic once applied such as bubbles, cracks or water in the wall if it’ s been painted more than 10 times.“ By not inspecting your project properly you can just compound any previous errors by painting over them again. So, do a proper site inspection and get a local paint expert to also assess the site,” cautions Scheepers.
“ If there’ s more than 25 % water in the wall it will come off. Particularly if there’ s been moisture in the wall, which may be caused by bad damp coursing done in the structure and the water rises in the bottom. You’ ve got to repair the leaks, it’ s not a matter of just saying I’ ll just paint over it. You must find out where the leaks are. There’ s an old saying in our industry that says for every hour of painting you should have four hours of preparation, cleaning off the cracks, taking the old paint off, and preparing the surface properly,” advises Spence.
A LEARNED APPLICATOR
“ There are not qualified painters like there used to be, it used to be a five-year course. We at SAPMA are training applicators,” he says. Due to the training process being fragmented, contractors just take someone off the street and ask them to paint. The contractor or construction company needs to work closely with the paint company.“ This is to ensure that the paint company assists in making sure that the applicators are using the correct products and format,” says Lawson.
Long-standing paint manufacturers have spent years and millions of rands on the development of paint. They’ ve been asking and answering questions like how many scrubs does it take, whether it can smell, whether it’ s pure white, whether it applies in one or three coats.
“ You’ re talking about using very good quality constituents or component in the paint, the best resins, and the titanium dioxide which makes up a large proportion of that paint, the emulsions and anti-odours. All of the things that go into a paint to make it the most pleasant experience for the end-user so that you can paint your bedroom in the morning and then you can sleep in it that same night,” he says.
So, when all this research has been done to create the best quality and then an unqualified painter is given the paint, Spence compares this to giving a 12-year-old, a loaded shotgun.
He also says that when looking for a good quality paint, you don’ t need to go right to the top.“ Look for as good a quality paint that you can afford,” he says.
SAPMA does a lot of training and is the key association in the paints manufacturing industry.
“ We do three things, we communicate with regulatory bodies’ and the legislature and as far as imports and exports tariffs and dumping are concerned and applying the Hazardous Substance Act by removing lead from paint, so it doesn’ t harm kids. Lastly, we also provide training to our industry,” he says.
SAPMA provides training for paint technologists( chemists) employees in the factory making the paint, paint applicators and in 2018 they will start training paint sales personnel in the retail store.
A complex or block of apartments that is well painted requires planning and serious attention.“ A paint job needs to be done right from the beginning,” says Lawson. Providing high quality finishes and affordably isn’ t as easy as we may think...
AFFORDABLE
SA HOUSING JANUARY- FEBRUARY 2018 21