Saturday, May 8, 2010

KITCHEN MAKEOVER PART 3

So, Can #8 was taken back to Sherwin Williams and another call to the District Manager resulted in him picking up paint from 3 different stores around the Houston area. Back to our local SW store I went with a cabinet door in tow. I had learned not to let them paint a small piece of cardboard as a test piece. Sure enough, Paint cans #9, 10 & 11 all left a sandy substance in the finish. Ahhhhhh!!


Did I learn from my mistakes? No, I actually let them talk me into taking their new paint product that was replacing the oil paint that I had been using. In my defense, they did give me 3 free gallons (#12, 13, & 14) and reassured me that although I would have to start.. all.. over… again.., I would be very pleased with the new paint. Several days earlier, I had resigned myself to the fact that I would have to re do everything, so I took the news calmly and walked out with the new paint. So, everything had to be stripped/sanded down. Ugh! What a tedious mess. It took me over a week to do all of that (I’m by myself here with the sweet husband back at work) and then the painting began. I only painted the cabinets, no doors or drawers. There was no sandy substance, but lots of streaking. I thought it would even out with 3 coats, but after a week of painting, I now know that the new paint will have to go back to the drawing board. It is impossible to work with. When you paint one small section, it looks good. However, when you move your brush to a new section, if you touch the “just painted section” at all, the result is a streak. This process is tedious and impossible. I have had so many friends tell me that they only use SW paint for their walls. I did paint the walls around my window and yes, it went on beautifully. However, painting on wood is an entirely different matter. Of course, the EPA is partly to blame for this. They are regulating the paint industry and all paint manufactures are struggling to roll out replacement paint that satisfies the new green laws.

So, I threw down my brush and did what I should have done in the beginning. I went to the mall and purchased this:


I am happy to report that my old faithful and favorite paint came through for me. Due to prior commitments, life events and getting discouraged with all of the paint problems, I found myself having less and less painting time. I was able to get some of my other commitments completed and I devoted all of last week to hours of painting. Oh, it feels so good to finally accomplish something. My inside cabinets have had 8 coats of paint on them. That is so ridiculous and it is no wonder that I have been so frustrated! However, I am definitely on a roll now.

I will say this for Sherwin Williams. While they definitely have paint problems with their oil paint and now the replacement paint for cabinets, they are great on customer service. Although they did not get the problem solved, they definitely tried. I know that Lowe’s and Home Depot have never been very helpful with problems.

I am hoping that this will soon be gone!