# Fine Paints of Europe-cracking



## dmpri (Dec 29, 2010)

Wanted to see if anyone had similar problems to this. Procedure was:

started with red door
(used all Fine Paints of Europe materials) 
prime
swedish putty
prime
finish coats (i think 3)

just went to look at the door, i think we did it 3-4 years ago and saw all these cracks. Customer has not called us about it, but I was curious on why it is cracking down to the base coat. Anyone have similar results?

Thanks in advance....
Mike


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## Schmidt & Co. (Nov 6, 2008)

Nope. But my wife and I were looking at there swatches just last night. I've been wanting to try it out myself on our front door. Were looking at red also. Real curious to see if you get any responses.


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## TJ Paint (Jun 18, 2009)

How about a picture.


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## dmpri (Dec 29, 2010)

http://www.painttalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=10855&stc=1&d=1336037317


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## straight_lines (Oct 17, 2007)

Whoa. I have seen oil crack before but never that bad.


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## Paradigmzz (May 5, 2010)

That is an expensive failure. Sorry to hear it/see it.


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## Schmidt & Co. (Nov 6, 2008)

Something was just pointed out to me in a PM by a certain member who dosnt want to use up his 10k post. Is that a full view storm door there? If so the heat is baking the finish in the summer and causing the cracking.

I concur.


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## kdpaint (Aug 14, 2010)

I re-concur. Hot boxing that door 100+ degrees for any period of time= Sh$tshow...


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## plainpainter (Nov 6, 2007)

I've used a lot of that paint - it's more like the old fashioned alkyd/oils of the past vs. the 'retro' versions of today. And basically you are experiencing the exact same issues with the old oils - they became very hard, and can't keep up with the expansion/contraction of the underlying substrate. Sometimes when we wish for the 'old' days, be careful for what you wish for.


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## ProWallGuy (Apr 7, 2007)

Isn't that what fine old paints in Europe are supposed to look like?


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## TJ Paint (Jun 18, 2009)

This paint is the best in the world. The cracks only help accentuate the perfect finish.

Or should I just stick with my goto paint?


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## John Lahey (Sep 5, 2009)

*Cracking paint*

Swedish Putty is an extremely permanent and durable substrate. Problems such as those presented by the black door would most likely be caused by "movement" in components of the door itself or extreme heat levels which will occur when a black door is protected by a storm door without adequate ventilation.
If stability of the door is not in question I would expect a solution might be found by drilling 1/4" holes at the base and top of the storm door which protects the black door. Without such holes we have heard of temperatures climbing above 200 degrees F which is far above the limit of performance of even a high-performance alkyd enamel. Suggest testing with oven thermometer on s sunny day BEFORE drilling holes. 
Further questions concerning this matter can be directed to my attention at Fine Paints of Europe.
John Lahey
President
Fine Paints of Europe


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## Damon T (Nov 22, 2008)

Nice to see you chime in John! 

Another possibility is lack of proper drying in between coats, though I would think you would see this earlier than a couple years. Probably more like a couple weeks. From my recollection the Swedish putty is not meant to be primed over, kinda the whole point of the Swedish putty is to obtain incredibly smooth surfaces, something priming would defeat to a degree. I have used the black high gloss on multiple occasions. It does have a long dry time, I've had to wait more than one day at times before re-coating. It could be that you stacked too many coats of product on and got "mud-cracking".


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## Finn (Dec 18, 2011)

plainpainter said:


> I've used a lot of that paint - it's more like the old fashioned alkyd/oils of the past vs. the 'retro' versions of today. And basically you are experiencing the exact same issues with the old oils - they became very hard, and can't keep up with the expansion/contraction of the underlying substrate. Sometimes when we wish for the 'old' days, be careful for what you wish for.


Good point, 
I myself have to face reality, here in Colorado the old Skool old based paints won't work, I am doing an exterior in downtown Denver soon a high end neighbourhood and want to restore rather than paint the exterior, in England UK there is a private owned company called Farrow and Ball that still make paints the traditional way and the hand make their own wall paper , now our fellow trades men and women on the East Coast may be familiar with them , but an interested to hear if all their waterborne / acrylic stuff would perform well out here. 

I used a lot of their product back in Ireland , it's expensive but beautiful to work with, if you don't like to rush things, 

I would really appreciate some advice on this as this job could very well land me a lot of period home work in Denver which is what I love to do. 

http://us.farrow-ball.com/farrow-and-ball-heritage/content/fcp-content

Guys have a look, give me your thoughts, the original master strainers , painters and decorators origins come from England London, maybe I am being a bit over the top but I want to use original product on this home, I would like to keep the putty single glass 16 pane windows, and just reglaze them but again , what putty do I use that is original, the house itself is not really old built in 1942, but I want to get acquainted with products for this climate.

Thanks in advance

Be Blessed

Brian


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## kdpaint (Aug 14, 2010)

Finn, glazing is one of my favorite things to do. As for quality glazing, mostly I use Crawford's Original Linseed Oil, but there is a Swedish (I think) company called Allback that makes a high quality linseed oil putty as well. I am not familiar with F&B (heard of them) products, but there are a number of super high quality acrylic and or hybrid alkyd/acrylic paints you could use. FPE makes great paint, Aura is great, the list goes on and on.


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