Tips from Your Professional Painters in Philadelphia
Painting your home interiors is always an exciting way to transform your space quickly, efficiently, and in a cost-effective manner. A fresh coat of paint can truly be your magic wand to improve a tired looking room, upgrade to trending paint shades, and elevate the value and appeal of your home. Selecting the colors for your walls may often be an animated discussion between family members, due to the differences in individual tastes. However, choosing the paint finishes is a relatively easy task. You simply need to know how each type of finish impacts the durability, visual appeal, and cleaning tasks, and why certain finishes may complement your rooms and lifestyle better than the others.
The experienced painters at Mastercraft Painting and Finishes offer a quick rundown on the advantages or disadvantages of different paint finishes, along with insights into creating the perfect pairings between rooms and finishes.
Pros and Cons of Various Paint Finishes
While every paint company may call them by different names, you will usually find 4 or 5 different types of finishes that range from dull or matte, to shiny or high gloss. Essentially, this depends on the amount of sheen that the paint contains. Higher the sheen, the greater its reflective properties. Here are some of the pros and cons of each paint finish type.
Flat/ Matte: While flat finish contains up to 4% gloss or sheen, matte may have between 5% to 9% gloss. Since these finishes are very similar, you can use either one for hiding imperfections, especially for walls with scuffs, troughs, joints, uneven texture, or surface bumps. Flat and matte are very forgiving finishes that help you create rich looking walls, with a saturated, velvety effect. However, both these finishes are not very durable, and do not clean as well as the other finishes. In fact, scrubbing down flat paint could impact the finish, and cause blotches or patchy spots on the wall. Use these finishes for your ceiling, accent walls, or other low-traffic areas that do not need frequent cleaning.
Eggshell: With about 10% to 25% sheen, an eggshell finish offers an understated sheen, but better washability, making it ideal for high traffic areas, such as hallways, kitchens, and kids’ rooms or bathrooms. The slight sheen can still show imperfections in your wall; hence you’ll need to invest time and resources in sanding down the wall and using a good primer.
Satin: Containing about 26% to 40% sheen, satin finish is ideal for painting doors, window panes, cabinets, furniture, trims, floor boards, crown moldings, and such. This low-luster finish can hide minor cracks and flaws in the wall and offers greater durability and dirt resistance than the first two finishes. You can also use a satin finish for other spaces, such as a family room, a foyer, a dining room, or a child’s playroom.
Semi-Gloss: Similar to satin, semi-gloss is a durable, easy-to-clean finish with a sheen content of 41% to 69%. In addition to highlighting window frames, doors, trims, or kitchen cabinets, you can use the stain and mildew resistant semi-gloss finish for painting kitchens and bathrooms.
Super Gloss: A super gloss or high gloss finish contains 70% to 89% sheen. Due to its highly reflective properties, it will show even minor imperfections on the wall surface, or in the painting technique. Use this finish only when you have properly prepped the surface, and know how to apply a non-streaky, even paint coat. This finish lasts for years to come, is easy to clean, and holds up well in humidity. A reflective finish can help you highlight the architectural details, baseboards, doors, trims, and other such surfaces, instead of using it for painting walls or furniture.
Finalizing the paint shades and choosing the right sheen is half the job done. Leave the rest in the hands of the custom painting professionals at Mastercraft Painting and Finishes. Our licensed, qualified, and safety trained crew promises impeccable finishes and thorough post-job cleanups. We stay abreast of the latest products and application techniques, have access to specialized equipment, and ensure completion of your painting project on time. We stay within your budget – no nasty surprises!
For reliable, affordable, hassle-free home painting services, count on Mastercraft Painting and Finishes. Call 267-496-5307 or contact us online to get a free estimate.