# Glidden America's Finest Changes Color in 24 hrs



## stp57 (Dec 12, 2007)

I realize that this is cheap paint ($70 for 5 gal semi-gloss int), but it is what the HO wanted. Last night I picked up a newly mixed bucket & immedialety rolled 2000 sq ft. I stirred as I painted, as usual & several hrs later I even went back over places that I had painted right after I had opened the bucket. Perfect consistency & color. I come back 24 hrs later to cut in & the remaining gallon has completely changed colors. The paint started out yesterday the color of a white switch plate & today it is the color of a dark almond switch plate? When I opened the bucket I noticed the the color had changed & stirring it up made no difference. 
What happened? This new bucket was overnight in the house @ 70 degrees?
I am going to HD tomorrow to see what they are going to say?
Steve


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## Gough (May 1, 2010)

Just so I understand, there was ~1 gallon left in a 5, right? Did you apply any of that remaining gallon to the areas that you'd painted the day before?

By waiting a day before cutting in, you'd likely have picture framing anyway, but this sounds a little extreme. There have been some threads here and on PT about cutting or rolling first, and the consensus seems to that cutting first is the way to go.


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## stp57 (Dec 12, 2007)

Yea, there was one gallon left & the color doesn't even closely resemble the original. I also like to cut in first, but in this case I color matched so I hoped that it would reduce cut in (which it did for the most part).
I have never seen such a radical color change before in any paint. The house is vacant, so I know that I wasn't punk'd.
I am suspecting that the paint guy didn't fully mix the bucket 2 days ago & I hit a glob of something at the bottom of the bucket?
Steve


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## Sir Mixalot (Jan 6, 2008)

stp57 said:


> I realize that this is cheap paint ($70 for 5 gal semi-gloss int), but it is what the HO wanted. Last night I picked up a newly mixed bucket & immedialety rolled 2000 sq ft. I stirred as I painted, as usual & several hrs later I even went back over places that I had painted right after I had opened the bucket. Perfect consistency & color. I come back 24 hrs later to cut in & the remaining gallon has completely changed colors. The paint started out yesterday the color of a white switch plate & today it is the color of a dark almond switch plate? When I opened the bucket I noticed the the color had changed & stirring it up made no difference.
> What happened? This new bucket was overnight in the house @ 70 degrees?
> I am going to HD tomorrow to see what they are going to say?
> Steve


Steve, Did you actually put any of the discolored paint on the wall? 
Or is it just discolored in the bucket and you haven't done any cutting in yet?

-Paul


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## briancreary (Feb 10, 2010)

This is an easy one: never buy paint from HD especially if it's $70. You can get Pittsburg at a compairable rate and I've never had problems. 

Sorry to hear this happened to you. There is nothing more frustrating than a manufacturer's defect because the customer still want's to blame you.


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## uselessknowledg (Mar 28, 2009)

Try a small spot with the paint that changed color in an inconspicuous area. More than likely the lighting difference from last night to this morning makes the color appear different in the bucket. Paint will not change color overnight. Even if you bought it for $70 from HD. Its in your head.


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## Gough (May 1, 2010)

So we still don't know if stp actually tried some of the paint on the wall, right? We've had several occasions where paints would go through several color transitions as they dried, some mid-tone beiges especially. They would darken up as they started to dry, then lighten up substantially after that. It was actually nerve-wracking to see, because the walls would have an awful mottled appearance for a while. 

I'm wondering if this is what was happening, and if the 1 gallon left in the 5 underwent that initial darkening.


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## uselessknowledg (Mar 28, 2009)

and always, always, always. cut in first. You are seeing what can happen when you try an "easy" or "quick" way of doing paint jobs. In the end it usually bites you on the bum and cost more money in time and labor to fix problems than you plan to make on the job. You won't be in business very long taking shortcuts.


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## Sir Mixalot (Jan 6, 2008)

stp, If you did 2,000 sq. ft. with 4 gallons. 
You'll probably have two do a second coat anyway.:whistling

-Paul


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## Gough (May 1, 2010)

Sir Mixalot said:


> stp, If you did 2,000 sq. ft. with 4 gallons.
> You'll probably have two do a second coat anyway.:whistling
> 
> -Paul


Good point, I hadn't even considered that.


He may learn about the all-importance difference between coverage and hiding.


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## stp57 (Dec 12, 2007)

This is just a re-coat of the same color, so not much paint was needed to do the house (I had it color matched for this reason). I did apply this paint to parts the walls of one room yesterday & it is as night & day to the original color before the change occurred (no illusion).
The HD guys were astonished by the color change in 24 hrs. The color of the paint dried to the walls of the bucket & the color of the paint left in the bucket is amazing. They insisted that someone must have dropped something in the bucket. As this is a vacant house, this is not a possibility.
I got a one gallon can of the original color to cut in with today, so I am hoping that will take care of the problem.
Note:
While cutting in first is always the best choice, a second coat from bleeding through is sometimes necessary too & would be done after the walls were painted. So this color change could have been a problem anyway.
Steve


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## Faron79 (Nov 29, 2007)

IMO-

Sir Mix finally hit on a huge point...IF it was actually 2,000sf of wall, and you only used 4 gal's., there's not enough paint on the wall!!!
Therefore, your paint was applied "at the rate of"....500sf/gal., which is ridiculously thin.

I don't care HOW good the paint is. Paint should never be pushed beyond 400sf/gal., AT THE ABSOLUTE MAX. With a cheap paint like that, it shouldn't have been pushed past 350sf/gal. You should've shot for ~ 1,800sf/per 5gal. with so-so paint like that. THEN you'd have a viable coat....

BTW....if a 1st-coat color is "Bleeding thru"....

You don't have enough paint on the wall!!!
It's that simple.

Faron


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## stp57 (Dec 12, 2007)

I don't know how some of you get so confused by my posts. There is NO bleed through. This is a rental property & the new paint is exactly the color of the old paint. This is not a repainting, merely a refreshing (or whatever you call it). 
I posted the before photo of the paint that changed color after 24hrs & a photo of the new touch up last night.
No one seems to know why it changed color, but it appears that the lacquer (or whatever they use to give the paint a semi- gloss sheen) has separated?
It took two coats of the new paint to cover this.
HD says that 48 hr paint should have never separated, oh well.
Steve


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## Faron79 (Nov 29, 2007)

Sorry Steve,
But your last sentence in post#11 was confusing!

The color-change issue:
Possibility #1-
Sometimes 5-ers don't get mixed very well. I run-'em thru our big shaker for 2 3-min. cycles. Deep colors I'll usually run for 3 3-min. cycles.

Possibility #2-
It MAY also have been sitting a while b4 sale. If it was motionless for months, some heavier pigments can settle-out to a clump on the bottom. These can be hard to re-mix back into the liquid, even after 1 machine-shaking.

A good way to check is dragging a yardstick firmly across the bottom and sides, just like you'd scrape out cake-batter from a mixing-bowl. If ya feel a clump, get out your drill and stir-rod!

BTW...
There's no "Lacquer" in shiny paint!
It's just a different Binder-resin that dries to a smoother finish, therefore appearing glossier.

Faron


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## Sir Mixalot (Jan 6, 2008)

stp57 said:


> I realize that this is cheap paint ($70 for 5 gal semi-gloss int), but it is what the HO wanted. Last night I picked up a newly mixed bucket & immedialety rolled 2000 sq ft. *I stirred as I painted, as usual *& several hrs later I even went back over places that I had painted right after I had opened the bucket. Perfect consistency & color. I come back 24 hrs later to cut in & the remaining gallon has completely changed colors. The paint started out yesterday the color of a white switch plate & today it is the color of a dark almond switch plate? When I opened the bucket I noticed the the color had changed & stirring it up made no difference.
> What happened? This new bucket was overnight in the house @ 70 degrees?
> I am going to HD tomorrow to see what they are going to say?
> Steve


What were you stirring it with?


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## stp57 (Dec 12, 2007)

Thanks Faron,
Yea, I was just making a general comment about "cutting in", though it wasn't relevant to same color painting. It was a confusing comment.
I'm sure that you are correct about HD not mixing the 5 gal enough. I'll run my drill next time, even on a new bucket!
Sir Mixalot,
There was only a gallon or less paint in the bucket, so I just used a stir stick.
Steve



Faron79 said:


> Sorry Steve,
> But your last sentence in post#11 was confusing!
> 
> The color-change issue:
> ...


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## Metro M & L (Jun 3, 2009)

My bet is on colorant on the lid or somewhere making into the pot or the pot was not shaken. Perhaps the clerk put it in the shaker but didn't turn the dial. When the colorant goes in the pot it mostly sits on top. I'm guessing the paint was poured into a pan; as it came out the five it mostly rolled out from underneath leaving the colorants primarily suspended in the top layer of the five. Get to the bottoom of the barrel and voila - you have a whole new color.


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## shesaremonclus (Nov 24, 2008)

AF is not $70.00 around here it is $49.00 and it works great for same color recoats in rentals there is no reason for $30.00 gal in a low end rental same color. AllWAYS cut in first.


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## siberian (Mar 15, 2007)

For renals I use ultra hide. Never been crazy about AF and 20% off the ulra hide is a decent price. You do have to be carefull when getting the right numbers so it matches up.


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## stp57 (Dec 12, 2007)

Yup, you hit it right on the head. Another HO today had a 1/3 full older 5 gal of AF white paint & I stirred it to the bottom & I had no problem. Someone mixed this one properly.
Steve



Metro M & L said:


> My bet is on colorant on the lid or somewhere making into the pot or the pot was not shaken. Perhaps the clerk put it in the shaker but didn't turn the dial. When the colorant goes in the pot it mostly sits on top. I'm guessing the paint was poured into a pan; as it came out the five it mostly rolled out from underneath leaving the colorants primarily suspended in the top layer of the five. Get to the bottoom of the barrel and voila - you have a whole new color.


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