painters - question about naps/rollers.

[purbeast0]

i'm painting our first unborns nursery right now, and i'm doing 2 colors in the room. before painting, the room was a yellowish color. the 2 colors are both behr ultra paint so they are the identical quality.

couple days ago i painted the accent wall with a lighter blue color:

http://www.behr.com/consumer/ColorDetailView/540D-5

it went on great, and i would have probably been fine without putting on a second coating. i was pretty surprised about that. i ended up doing a second coating though because i noticed 1 spot where i could see some yellow spots that i didn't quite cover completely. on that wall, i was using 9/16 naps roller. 2 coats used about 2/5 of a gallon. the roller i got was the only one labeled "best" at home depot and was the only one labeled as such, so i thought the only "best" one was the 9/16 one.

come to the rest of the room now.

i went to home depot to get the paint and another roller. this time though, they had multiple ones with the "best" label on them. since last time they only had 1 labeled that way, i thought it was the only kind, so i didn't remember the naps on it. i just guessed which one i used before, and since i remember the wall looking smooth, i went with 3/8 naps.

so yesterday i painted the first coating on the wall, and it went on A LOT thinner. the paint i used was this color:

http://www.behr.com/consumer/ColorDetailView/540D-7

i used about 1/2 of the can for the 3 remaining walls in the room.

now my question is - do naps make that much of a difference of the thickness of paint that goes on? like i DEFINITELY am doing a 2nd coat of this color because you can still see the yellow color underneath of it.

i'm debating going to get a 9/16 naps roller for the 2nd coating, if it does make that much of a difference, because i really don't want to have to do a 3rd coating.

and if i DO get another roller, and it does use more paint, i am not sure if i will need just an extra quart to paint the rest of the room, or if i will need more than that and should just get another gallon.

any advice on the situation?

 

[dullard]

The nap has more to do with how smooth/rough your surface is. A rough wall needs a thicker nap in order to have good coverage.

I think your problem is three-fold:
1) There is no such thing as single-coat coverage. It is all just a lie.

2) The more coats you need is often more related to the colors that you are painting. Going from a light yellow to a light blue might hide quite a few missed yellow areas. But going from a light yellow to a dark blue it is obvious where you miss.

3) Also the more pigment added, the worse the paint (especially for red pigments, but that probably doesn't apply in this case), so if you used the same base and added more pigment to get the darker color, then the darker color paint will perform significantly worse. But maybe the darker color had a different base and less pigment, I was unsure from your post.

 

[iwajabitw]

The thicker the nap the more textured the wall will look. I use Purdy White Doves for primer and 1st coats, then nice wool nap for the top coat.

 

[purbeast0]

the thing is, the wall i used the 9/16 naps on doesn't look textured at all, looks smooth.

as far as the base the number on the can is a different base in general, so they don't have the same base.

i just wasn't sure if the higher nap holding more paint, would have any effect on how many coats you need to use.

 

[iwajabitw]

I think what your seeing is the 3/8 nap doesnt load up/ hold as much paint as th 9/16, so when you roll the nap runs out faster and will not look as smooth without multiple coats to get it even all the way across. Thinner the nap, the more times you have to load it up. But a finished 3/8 wall should be nice and smooth when completed.

 

[purbeast0]

yeah, which is why i'm wondering if i should just get a 9/16 nap one and an extra quart of paint and just use that so i only will need 1 more coat. i do not want to have to do a 3rd if i don't need to lol.

 

[olds]

Almost no paint will cover in one coat, no matter what the can or salesperson says.

If you are running low on paint and have another quart mixed, start painting in a corner and go to the other corner because it probably won't match the original paint.

I use 3/4 nap for everything. It holds more paint and you spend less time dipping. If it's a door or cabinet, I will finish with a 3" brush to get a smooth finish.

 

[stinger608]

I do a lot of painting, and in my experience I almost always use a 3/4" nap roller.
I have found that it will hold much more paint which in turn gives me better coverage and I don't have to dip the roller in the bucket as much.

Using a 3/4" also allows me to do walls as well as the heavy textured "pop corn" ceiling textures without the need to change roller covers.

Keep in mind though, a 3/4" nap roller will splatter a lot more so be sure to have everything covered to keep from getting paint on things and carpet.

 

[TheSlamma]

Almost no paint will cover in one coat, no matter what the can or salesperson says.

Exactly.

IMO Ben Moore's Regal Select is leagues ahead of ANY paint out on the market right now and it still takes 2 coats. The thickness of this paint is insane, I have a roller I use for primer and cheap paints and one I just use with the Regal Select, there is hardly any paint on the RS roller while the cheap pants are a splatter canvas.

I base nap on the texture on the wall. I personally hate textures, it's just a way to cover up a crap wall. Level 5 smooth or go home. But you can't always control that so I usually follow this:

3/8 nap for smooth walls done by cool people

1/2 nap for light textures like knockdown and orangepeel (unless they used a huge nozzle)

3/4 nap for ugly huge textures like skip trowel and slapbrush

 

[Blain]

Use an 18" roller setup if you want to get the paint on the wall.
They aren't great for small rooms, but if you've got plenty of wall to cover, they do great.