# product and sheen level for commercial work



## stewball (Apr 7, 2009)

This is my first solo commercial job. I am painting an employee lounge in a warehouse. A partitioned room with some new drywall, some old chalky painted walls. They started repainting with Glidden semi gloss last summer and gave up 1/3 of the way through. They picked 3 different colors (After I gave them the quote - I ASS U ME d it would be all one color). Two colors are a medium base. 

SW recommended I prime everything with Problock and finish with 2 coats of Pro Mar 200. There is a lot of conduit and junk to paint around, and if I could get by with 2 coats total, I will save me days. 

Should I recommend flat for easy touch up or eggshell for cleanability?

Most of the walls in this place look like they have never been cleaned, so I think they will just repaint when it gets ugly. I could get a lot of work out of this place.

I have been reading the posts about primers on new drywall - goes against everything I have taught.

I am looking for best options.

Thanks in advance. 

Newbie 

(PS be nice - I am a girl)


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## ProWallGuy (Apr 7, 2007)

stewball said:


> (PS be nice - I am a girl)


Thanks, that made me laugh. 

I would apply Gardz to the new drywall. I would actually prime the old chalky paint with Gardz also.

As for the multiple colors, you should have listed in a "scope of work" section of your contract exactly what you would be doing in return for the pay. such as 1 primer, 1 finish coat. That way if they pop up with dark colors, you can tell them that you will need to apply X number of coats for $X.

For the conduit, can you use one of these:


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## ProWallGuy (Apr 7, 2007)

Oh, forgot to add that the sheen level would be up to them. I as a professional would make the proper recommendations, but let them make the call, and them make them sign off on it.


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## Tonyg (Dec 9, 2007)

stewball said:


> (PS be nice - I am a girl)


:laughing: Thats ok - most of the guys around here are too!


Since youve already got burned with the multiple coats I would let them know that the quote was for flat and if they wanted anything else it would cost extra - and then you could make your money back. I would do one coat primer - PrePrite or ProBlock - and ONE coat flat Promar 200. Throw a little tint in your primer. 

If it has never been painted, and only 1/3 painted for the past year, I would not count on getting much work from them since they are not likely to be too worried about appearance.

Ideally it would be painted with a washable coating but they are not going to wash it anyway and unless this is in a customer area they are more likely to just repaint it in another 10 years. Besides, multiple coats in semi-gloss should definitely be an add-on IMO


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## Mantis (Aug 4, 2008)

Either problock or prep-rite 200 primer would be a fine to prime with. Tinting the primer would be an idea if you're trying to get by with 2 total coats. I'm not sure how viable that would be with 3 different colors though. Otherwise I would prime the bare drywall and finish with 2 coats of Pro-Mar 200 Low Sheen. We use a quite of bit of this for our commercial jobs and it's a great product for the price.


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## canadianpainter (Mar 7, 2009)

We only do large commercial jobs and it's really rare that we use flat. The only time we use flat is when there's a lot of critical light.


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## stewball (Apr 7, 2009)

Thanks for not laughing me off the forum! 

I don't think we got burned - there is enough profit left. 

Picture a large room partitioned into three smaller rooms with 8' partitions. I was planning to prime and put 2 coats on the new partition. That's the easy part. The original walls are the ugly part - 12' high, half semi gloss and and half old paint. That's the part I would like to do in 2 coats. I already talked them out of dark colors, as it would just be too oppressive.

I was leaning toward going flat because I did the taping on the new drywall, (not bad, but not class 5) and the old walls have lots of irregularities. I figure they will repaint instead of cleaning. *Is low sheen the standard for commercial work? *

I like to save time and money, but the best way is more important. 

I am not locked into SW. The local Ace place is closing out their top end Pratt and Lambart for $25 a gallon, about the same price as Pro Mar 200.

I can get Zinsser products in 5's, but I haven't found Gardz. Is it worth searching out?


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## chrisn (Jul 15, 2007)

I can get Zinsser products in 5's, but I haven't found Gardz. Is it worth searching out?

Absolutly http://www.zinsser.co.nz/wtb-GARDZ.asp?SID=11&WID=27

*Is low sheen the standard for commercial work? *


Eggshell or better is what I have always seen.


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## Mantis (Aug 4, 2008)

Gardz is a great product to use removing wallpaper to keep the glue from becoming problematic, or if you need to seal drywall to keep the paper from fuzzing up. Other than that I almost never use the stuff. However, if you decide you wanted to use Gardz, you would want to prime over top of it with problock or prep-rite anyway. 

As far as pro-mar Low Sheen being 'stanard', i guess, its not as commonly used in commercial work. But I dont like pro-mar eggshell to much, so unless it's in a very high traffic area, i'll use the low sheen. I've used it on a considerable amount of jobs since it came on the market about 18 months ago. I cant think of a reason to use eggshell or semi over it unless the customer desires the specific sheen the later gives you.


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## BrushJockey (Mar 15, 2009)

I'm with Mantis on the Gardz- it is a great problem solver and you should learn about it for other projects, but you need something that has coverage, and Gardz is clear. Might want a bonding primer for going over the old semi. 
I would think Kilz 2 or Zinsser Fast Prime with a bit of tint would do it.


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