# AURA - New Construction



## ROOMINADAY (Mar 20, 2009)

Are there any PT members using BM AURA or equivalent self priming paints for their prime/base and finish coats exclusively in NEW construction?

I painted my whole new house with it except the ceilings. I have tried the BM Ceiling paint a few times and was not comfortable with the results and have been gun shy to use it more frequently.

We are almost 100% AURA now in repaints as it saves a ton of time and increases our efficiencies. We also use it extensively in small rooms with new drywall. 

I do however, like the finish/build a good coat of primer leaves on new drywall. All drywall here is level 4. 


Any comments, thoughts, experiences to share?


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## jack pauhl (Nov 10, 2008)

Interesting topic. Good question. Because all I really ever paint is new drywall I am going to chime in by saying i have used many paints as self priming paints on new construction for a 2 coat process with a very wide variety of results. I have only two I'd recommend, the Glidden Ultra-Hide 1410 semi-matte and BEHR Ultra satin. Its not so much an adhesion issue with the other paints I used but rather the uniformity factor in the finish for 2 coats.

I would be curious to know anyone using Aura on straight bare board too. How it looks, and how it touches up.


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## jason123 (Jul 2, 2009)

I've always wondered about the self priming paints.. Can it be used on new construction and will it actually seal the wall. The job im on now im going to spot prime all the touchups of plaster and then top coat .. I would just use one paint.. however pretty sceptical if its actually going to prevent the flashing!!!


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## jack pauhl (Nov 10, 2008)

jason123 said:


> I've always wondered about the self priming paints.. Can it be used on new construction and will it actually seal the wall. The job im on now im going to spot prime all the touchups of plaster and then top coat .. I would just use one paint.. however pretty sceptical if its actually going to prevent the flashing!!!


Like I mentioned above and even with paint not sold as "self priming", the issue is rarely an adhesion/sealing issue but more like you're concerned about, the flashing aspect. Thats really more the issue IMO and hard to get out of a 2 coat system. 

Your new homes have plaster or are you loosely using the term plaster for mud or patching? I'd be more concerned with paints of sheen than flat paint.

What sheen in Aura are you guys using on a regular basis or more of?


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## briancreary (Oct 12, 2010)

*Aura*

We are talking about my all time favorite paint now. I love Aura...but. on bare Drywall I would still start with a PVA primer for a couple reasones. The Poly vinyl will block moisture coming from the inside of the home and gives you a good starting point with stippling to run your Aura. I will say that I typically do re-paints and get very little new construction any more (thanks State of Michigan economy), so it is nothing for me to PVA, sand, Aura, sand, Aura again; this may be a bit much on a whole house when you just want to get the money flowing. 

Plus, a question here, do home onwers that are building new really request Aura at $50 to $72 a gallon? It seems to me that even the richest customer would try to get some savings on the paint and just go with Pittsburg (which I also like BTW) and save the extra money for their wall sized Plasma screen T.V. .


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## NCPaint1 (Aug 6, 2009)

I used Aura in my home, not every room, but the main living areas. It was already painted before...poorly, may have just been primed...could still see the seams through it. Anyways, I primed all my patches with a coat of Aura, then rolled it out. Most areas were great with 1 coat, although I did 2 coats on a few high walls simply because I had lapping. Hide wasnt the issue. 

For NC, I guess 2 coats of finish would be fine with this product, but IMO, just too expensive. A good tinted prime coat, and 1 finish would probably be the best route if custom colors are being spec'd.


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## jack pauhl (Nov 10, 2008)

NCPaint1 said:


> I used Aura in my home, not every room, but the main living areas. It was already painted before...poorly, may have just been primed...could still see the seams through it. Anyways, I primed all my patches with a coat of Aura, then rolled it out. Most areas were great with 1 coat, although I did 2 coats on a few high walls simply because I had lapping. Hide wasnt the issue.
> 
> For NC, I guess 2 coats of finish would be fine with this product, but IMO, just too expensive. A good tinted prime coat, and 1 finish would probably be the best route if custom colors are being spec'd.


I think I'm with you on this one NC. Its too expensive. Besides, I would rather see Aura applied to an established surface rather than a new one like bare drywall. Like I mentioned, new board is really all I paint and there are many mud types and board types from a handful of companies and drywall guys are using 3 types of mud for finishing drywall. There is green board (dark green, light green, fire board, regular board, crappy board etc and all those surfaces need tied together before you go applying any paint for the absolute best results with paints of sheen.

All I would say, if anyone wants to do Aura direct to bare drywall, I'd suggest doing a full 2 coat sample wall in a couple well lit areas first.


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## DeanV (Apr 18, 2007)

I have only done a couple small rooms using Aura as primer and finish coat. It seems to really seal up the dry wall very well, but the first coat goes through a lot of paint, even without spraying it. For a small job like that, it was cost efficient, for a larger new construction home it would not be cost efficient IMO. 

Since it was a small remodel project, no touch-ups were needed and that was not evaluated. The second coat went very far so the board was well sealed.


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

I don't know why you would ever waste really good paint like that for a primer.


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## jack pauhl (Nov 10, 2008)

johnpaint said:


> I don't know why you would ever waste really good paint like that for a primer.


After more consideration from my previous post I would agree john. You have to identify the reason for purchasing Aura, its color, its look, its longevity, its overall appearance that you get from Aura. 

Bare board really needs a foundation when you are doing top quality finishes IMO, be it high build or Gardz. Although, I can honestly say, there is little difference between my 2 coat system straight on bare board vs a 3 part system but its that little difference that makes all the difference in the finished product.


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## DeanV (Apr 18, 2007)

In these cases, someone had finished off one room in the basement. In these cases, the cost to do 2 coats of Aura was much cheaper than doing 1 primer plus 2 finish paint. Saved the customer a bunch of money due to time savings on my end. On a larger scale new construction, the cost of Aura would be too high and it since spraying and backrolling primer goes so fast, it would not save $$ for either the customer or contractor.


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## ROOMINADAY (Mar 20, 2009)

Thanks for the replies. 

I have estimated NC with Aura and there is a savings... just less labour hours for us. My OP was more in reference to any PT'er using it for NC in a major way. I am sticking to primer, base and finish for the time being unless a GC or HO requests it.


We use Aura Matte as I prefer the sheen especially on crappy old wall repaints. I find the eggshell frames too much for my liking in critical areas. There is no flashing over your patches and there is no surprises eg. - the last guy who painted before you not priming etc. It dries super fast, so you can double up your coats as fast as you can work. 

We always fill the obvious large holes and dings before the 1st coat, and then get really picky once the 1st coat goes on as new paint seems to show more sins...we can then catch all of them, cut the room, spot prime with AURA and roll out the 2nd coat. It beats waiting for primer to dry. 

On room on bare drywall I have had no issues....I did my whole NEW house with it (except ceiling). You just have to cut against joint compound and fast on the 1st pass. I will overlap my ceiling to wall quite a bit so I can cut with less stress and I use a little water (a no no apparently) to assist in a better line.

I did have a bathroom repaint show old wallpaper border glue as if it were a dark shadow after what I can assume humidity caused. I hit the wall a 3rd time to test it and looked at it a few weeks later. I told the HO I will oil prime and repaint if it comes back. 

We use Aura Bath and Spa in all bathrooms and kitchens. I have touched up in the middle of a wall with critical lighing with a whizz and it blended great. I normally just cut and roll out, but in this case with this colour, there was no question it covered.

I pretty much just quote AURA now for all repaints and offer a deduction to go with a different line. As I mentioned before - it save me so much time, that I will just use it regardless if they paid for it. 


Good point on the seal and stipple of a PVA... I agree

I only have PPG and Benny Moore in my area so I can't experiment too much...


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

Yeah, see one size does not not fit all, in that case you went with what was best from your experience. This is the sign of a good painter I think.


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## jack pauhl (Nov 10, 2008)

Where exactly does the time savings come from? You mentioned labor? Do you mean being able to apply 2 coats vs 3 coats or are you talking about something else?


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## DeanV (Apr 18, 2007)

What I found for new construction is that since my NC homes usually have a lot of different wall colors we never mess with tinted primer. We also prime out as soon as drywallers are done and the house is empty at that point so it goes fast. 

Aura goes really far over a well sealed surface, but really soaks in to raw drywall. Also, cutting and rolling over raw drywall is much slower than spraying (we always apply wall finish coats by brush and roll) and slower than cutting and rolling over a sealed surface.

When I factored these items up on paper, I could not find a cost saving in new construction for using Aura and skipping the sprayed on primer coat. This was for projects in the 6,000 sq. ft. of floor space size.

Now, this was on paper calculations. Real world may vary from my estimates, but on a project that size I could not afford to try and see.


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## jack pauhl (Nov 10, 2008)

DeanV said:


> What I found for new construction is that since my NC homes usually have a lot of different wall colors we never mess with tinted primer. We also prime out as soon as drywallers are done and the house is empty at that point so it goes fast.
> 
> Aura goes really far over a well sealed surface, but really soaks in to raw drywall. Also, cutting and rolling over raw drywall is much slower than spraying (we always apply wall finish coats by brush and roll) and slower than cutting and rolling over a sealed surface.
> 
> ...


I'm with you Dean. I'm trying to grasp how much time can be saved between spreading 2 coats of Aura vs 2 coats of say umm Sherwin Williams Builders Solutions or Benjamin Moore SuperSpec, both super thick and slow to move paints. Aura being not the fastest paint on the block to move.

Two of the fastest paints to spread with brush/roller are Duration Home and Glidden Professional Diamond. If we were talking those two vs Aura then I would agree there is time to be saved in application but its nothing to write home about.


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## MAK-Deco (Apr 17, 2007)

We did a small bath remodel a few weeks ago, two coats of Aura bath and spa on raw green boards and had no issues with flashing, I was happy with final results. Not sure i wool start doing all NC that way tho.


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## bikerboy (Sep 16, 2007)

Seems I get the extreme ends of the spectrum. The high end guys that want Aura still want the drywall primed. The guys who just want it painted, just want two coats of something like Masterhide. (talking NC)


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## johnpaint (Sep 20, 2008)

Most people out here don't know what Aura is, which is good. lol


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## jack pauhl (Nov 10, 2008)

bikerboy said:


> Seems I get the extreme ends of the spectrum. The high end guys that want Aura still want the drywall primed. The guys who just want it painted, just want two coats of something like Masterhide. (talking NC)


Aura is not sold as self priming though right? Ya know, something interesting about what you just said, "The high end guys that want Aura still want the drywall primed"., I always have to ask "why, what are you wanting or trying to achieve with a primer coat?" 

There are paints that need something under them and others that do not. Its really that simple. Some paints penetrate the board too much and leave little film build left on the surface so by the time the 2nd coat is applied, its not quite as nice as some other paints might provide then when you touch them up, your 2nd coat is under par and the touch up shows.

In some cases, not specifically Aura, the answer is simply, this paint does not need a base coat under it.


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## jack pauhl (Nov 10, 2008)

johnpaint said:


> Most people out here don't know what Aura is, which is good. lol


lol, hey dont feel bad... our local store cant even carry it because they cant mix it. We have to drive 50 mins out to get Aura


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## NCPaint1 (Aug 6, 2009)

jack pauhl said:


> lol, hey dont feel bad... our local store cant even carry it because they cant mix it. We have to drive 50 mins out to get Aura


I have UPS at my shop every day....just sayin :whistling2: :jester:


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## jack pauhl (Nov 10, 2008)

NCPaint1 said:


> I have UPS at my shop every day....just sayin :whistling2: :jester:


How is it for your area? Are you pretty much THE place to get Aura or do you have other local stores? Our 3 local stores have some BM but none of them can do Aura.


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## MAK-Deco (Apr 17, 2007)

jack pauhl said:


> How is it for your area? Are you pretty much THE place to get Aura or do you have other local stores? Our 3 local stores have some BM but none of them can do Aura.


I got my mom and pop shop to bring it in because they lost all my biz because I using all gennex products now. Unless I have some zinsser primers tinted.

They brought it in Aura (mainly for me) regal Select and Ben for lower end to send sell to homeowners. BM finally offered some good deals on the tinters for small shops.


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## DeanV (Apr 18, 2007)

JP, you are in Cleveland and there are no Gennex machines at any of the BM stores???

That is seriously weird for a market that size. Gennex ain't new anymore.


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## jack pauhl (Nov 10, 2008)

DeanV said:


> JP, you are in Cleveland and there are no Gennex machines at any of the BM stores???
> 
> That is seriously weird for a market that size. Gennex ain't new anymore.


I'm 45 mins west (highway) from Cleveland, I guess I can go either direction, east or west to get it but I am more familiar with the guys further west of me, takes 50 mins to get there. We had another store not too far (20 mins east) but just found out recently they closed. Another contractor sent me a txt the other day asking where the closest BM store was. I used to use it exclusively for yeeaaars. I do keep my hands on BM product for obvious reasons but not a regular basis. The closet BM is less than 10 mins from me but its a dive and the guy cant mix the same formula twice to save his life, no Aura. Its funny actually because when I dropped the line back in 2000 that was a big issue and I still hear (last week in fact) guys still saying the same thing.

I hear guys say they like certain BM product but they also say they cant justify the cost. The feasibility studies I've done in the past proved not feasible so I understand when I hear guys say that, even with Aura unfortunately. 

We are home to SW, Glidden and Devoe and thats where the majority of contractors go around here.


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## MAK-Deco (Apr 17, 2007)

jack pauhl said:


> I'm 45 mins west (highway) from Cleveland, I guess I can go either direction, east or west to get it but I am more familiar with the guys further west of me, takes 50 mins to get there. We had another store not too far (20 mins east) but just found out recently they closed. Another contractor sent me a txt the other day asking where the closest BM store was. I used to use it exclusively for yeeaaars. I do keep my hands on BM product for obvious reasons but not a regular basis. The closet BM is less than 10 mins from me but its a dive and the guy cant mix the same formula twice to save his life, no Aura. Its funny actually because when I dropped the line back in 2000 that was a big issue and I still hear (last week in fact) guys still saying the same thing.
> 
> I hear guys say they like certain BM product but they also say they cant justify the cost. The feasibility studies I've done in the past proved not feasible so I understand when I hear guys say that, even with Aura unfortunately.
> 
> We are home to SW, Glidden and Devoe and thats where the majority of contractors go around here.


Yeah OH has always been an SW State for the most part due to Cleveland being the center for a lot of paint manufacturers over the years, I'm sure BM doesn't consider that market a priority.

As for pricing the big companies are pretty much in line these days when it comes to pricing over then lines, you can still get products like Super spec and Super hide cheap. People seems to forget that BM makes more than just 50$ a gallon Aura. 

The current job we are on is one coat Aura matte and I know its saving me a lot of time to justify the cost. I could use something in the 30$ range and take the chance it won't cover and have to spend more time on it.


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## NCPaint1 (Aug 6, 2009)

jack pauhl said:


> How is it for your area? Are you pretty much THE place to get Aura or do you have other local stores? Our 3 local stores have some BM but none of them can do Aura.


Most stores around me have it....its almost as if "you're the odd man out" if you dont carry it. Ive been watching my purchasing...and its starting to become lopsided towards the Gennex lines. Although, Super Spec can still jar that number with some large jobs. I cant wait until everything is switched to Gennex. My life is so much easier. Ive had one problen since bringing it in, regarding colorants...thats it!! If and when Super Spec switches over...that'll be the end of the old system for me.


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## jacob33 (Jun 2, 2009)

NCPaint1 said:


> Most stores around me have it....its almost as if "you're the odd man out" if you dont carry it. Ive been watching my purchasing...and its starting to become lopsided towards the Gennex lines. Although, Super Spec can still jar that number with some large jobs. I cant wait until everything is switched to Gennex. My life is so much easier. Ive had one problen since bringing it in, regarding colorants...thats it!! If and when Super Spec switches over...that'll be the end of the old system for me.


Don't they have super spec green that uses the gennex tinting? That would solve your problem.


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## MAK-Deco (Apr 17, 2007)

jacob33 said:


> Don't they have super spec green that uses the gennex tinting? That would solve your problem.


Yeah I have seen that too but dealers don't seem to be bringing that in, not sure why. Might be volume pricing that dealers get?


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## NCPaint1 (Aug 6, 2009)

MAK-Deco said:


> Yeah I have seen that too but dealers don't seem to be bringing that in, not sure why. Might be volume pricing that dealers get?


Eco Spec? I have that one. Not a viable replacement to Super Spec :no:


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## MAK-Deco (Apr 17, 2007)

NCPaint1 said:


> Eco Spec? I have that one. Not a viable replacement to Super Spec :no:



No Super Spec in green can for Gennex don't think tis available yet in all markets


exact same label as the blue SS but in Green


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## jacob33 (Jun 2, 2009)

MAK-Deco said:


> No Super Spec in green can for Gennex don't think tis available yet in all markets
> 
> 
> exact same label as the blue SS but in Green


Yep that is the one. I have used it and it actually covered a little better than super spec. Could be the better tints I do not know. Cost was actually .20 cheaper per gallon than super spec not sure why.


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## NCPaint1 (Aug 6, 2009)

jacob33 said:


> Yep that is the one. I have used it and it actually covered a little better than super spec. Could be the better tints I do not know. Cost was actually .20 cheaper per gallon than super spec not sure why.


Nope, dont have that one here yet...but when we do, if the price is similar...I'll get it. :thumbsup:


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