# durability of alligatoring



## jason123 (Jul 2, 2009)

One of my guys sprayed an exterior wall a little to heavy on what i can tell. The entire surface has alligatored. To the eye its fine. it is the second and third floor only.

I wont lie i have alligatored once in my time to. just so happened to be a high ceiling and no not the hole ceiling just some corners, i rushed and put to much to quick.

my question is does alligatoring effect more than the looks, does it effect the durablility and longevitiy. I know the easy answer is what are you dumb of course it does, but is it ever that easy? well i suppose that was two questions, oops now thats three!


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## StripandCaulk (Dec 30, 2011)

jason123 said:


> One of my guys sprayed an exterior wall a little to heavy on what i can tell. The entire surface has alligatored. To the eye its fine. it is the second and third floor only.
> 
> I wont lie i have alligatored once in my time to. just so happened to be a high ceiling and no not the hole ceiling just some corners, i rushed and put to much to quick.
> 
> my question is does alligatoring effect more than the looks, does it effect the durablility and longevitiy. I know the easy answer is what are you dumb of course it does, but is it ever that easy? well i suppose that was two questions, oops now thats three!


Jason, maybe there is a difference in the term from the US to Canada. Alligatoring is a type of failure where im from, where the paint will start to crack in a way that it looks like an alligators skin. In which case you should really strip the area.

If we are talking about the same alligatoring, you may have laid paint on premature to the undercoat fully curring. Can happen if you used a latex topcoat over an uncured oil primer. 

I am not really sure what you mean, if you post pictures im sure some here on PT can help you including myself


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## robladd (Nov 22, 2010)

Alligatoring will cause too much surface tension.
Eventually checking, cracking and pealing off.

Total failure.


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## Wolfgang (Nov 16, 2008)

I'm thinking what he's talking about it is a "rippling" effect from applying too much material - the pressure of the sprayer has moved the wet coating around causing the effect. Usually results in uneven drying which can cause cracking and checking.


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## wills fresh coat (Nov 17, 2011)

jason123 said:


> One of my guys sprayed an exterior wall a little to heavy on what i can tell. The entire surface has alligatored. To the eye its fine. it is the second and third floor only.
> 
> I wont lie i have alligatored once in my time to. just so happened to be a high ceiling and no not the hole ceiling just some corners, i rushed and put to much to quick.
> 
> my question is does alligatoring effect more than the looks, does it effect the durablility and longevitiy. I know the easy answer is what are you dumb of course it does, but is it ever that easy? well i suppose that was two questions, oops now thats three!


I think our term is "orange peeling".......I have done this too and it depends on the build up, if it fails or not. If it looks like its cracking it will most likely not hold up


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## CApainter (Jun 29, 2007)

From some notes I have, Checking and Alligatoring are similar terms that describe a surface defect caused by stress of a rigid coating over a flexible coating. It can also be caused by contraction of solvent evaporation when coatings are too thick. This problem is more of an esthetic surface defect rather then an indicator for complete failure. 

However, actual cracking or severe mud cracking that extends to the substrate will cause catastrophic failure, particularly in harsh environments. These type of cracks are the ones to be concerned about


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## Oden (Feb 8, 2012)

We call them mill cracks. it happens.


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## jason123 (Jul 2, 2009)

This is what I think it is



CApainter said:


> It can also be caused by contraction of solvent evaporation when coatings are too thick. This problem is more of an esthetic surface defect rather then an indicator for complete failure.


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## jason123 (Jul 2, 2009)

Here is a picture of the alligatoring this is very close up shot,


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## Paradigmzz (May 5, 2010)

Air pops. Doesn't look like alligatoring to me.


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## StripandCaulk (Dec 30, 2011)

when i think of alligatoring, this is an example..early stages before it actually starts to peel out.


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## jason123 (Jul 2, 2009)

if you look close you will see the hole surface has very fine cracks everywhere


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## mpminter (Mar 21, 2011)

jason123 said:


> if you look close you will see the hole surface has very fine cracks everywhere


I always thought that was called mud cracking


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## CApainter (Jun 29, 2007)

Jason,

What are your plans, re-spray, strip and re-coat (I wouldn't favor this method) or just leave it because it's not at eye level and doesn't present an obvious esthetic discrepancy?

What percentage of the job has this occurred, and can you accept this as a minor flaw that isn't too serious. Frankly, the surface defects with all the micro holes and protrusions looks worse then the micro checking.


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## jonathanthepainter (Jul 5, 2011)

Is it paint (sheen?) or primer? Lap siding? What size is the surface?
If it's primer a quick sand and paint.


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## jason123 (Jul 2, 2009)

CApainter said:


> From some notes I have, Checking and Alligatoring are similar terms that describe a surface defect caused by stress of a rigid coating over a flexible coating. It can also be caused by contraction of solvent evaporation when coatings are too thick. This problem is more of an esthetic surface defect rather then an indicator for complete failure.
> 
> However, actual cracking or severe mud cracking that extends to the substrate will cause catastrophic failure, particularly in harsh environments. These type of cracks are the ones to be concerned about


does this look like mud cracking?


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## jason123 (Jul 2, 2009)

its primed and two top coats.

it is a whole side of a building 40 feet wide three storey

ooh so this is called micro checking, hey Capainter thanks for the help


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## CApainter (Jun 29, 2007)

jason123 said:


> does this look like mud cracking?


No. 

Think of a dried up pond bed.


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