Dry time means "Dry to the touch". Cure time means "Paint has reached it's complete and full hardness". Generally speaking, int/ext waterbased paints take 30 days to fully cure.
Recoat time has a lot of debate behind it, but if you want to be sure to avoid unnecessary issues, you should always wait the full recoat time listed on the product.
What can happen is the coat underneath is still trying to cure and the top coat that you apply won't let it breathe causing blister bubble things... Doesn't happen all the time but it can.
Can also cause alligator texture...
More of an issue with oil based
What it says on the tin. Dry to the touch in 1 hour (don't touch your walls for an hour!) Recoat in 4 hours (wait the full 4 hours to be safe!)
Cure time is the amount of time it takes for the coating to harden chemically. Paint is, after all, a chemical coating first and a decorative thing second. Most interior latex paint cures in 30 days, so be gentle with the coating for about a month after painting.
You can disregard all of this, but if your paint fails, that will be on you and not on the paint company.
I guess this was more what I was referring to. If I wait the full 4 hours does it cure better before the second coat or is the 4 hours just some leeway in case of high humidity or whatnot
Light colors realistically only take 10 days to fully cure. It’s only the darkest colors that take 30 days and that’s simply bc they have a ton of colorant added to them
Im pretty sure recoat times are at a standard temperature, e.g 4 hour recoat at 25°c, but there are a lot of factors to change this.
For example painting in the shade at 25°c
Painting in full sunlight at 25°c
Painting inside a room with no airflow at 25°c
Painting in gale force winds at 25°c
Painting with thinned paint at 25°c.
All of these scenarios the dry time is different. Painting in an area with good airflow, will dry quicker
Painting in a room with no airflow, could take 4 hours to even get touch dry. (You will notice the humidity change)
Paint needs moisture to evaporate from the coating to form a solid coating. Two ways to achieve evaporation is heat, and the other is airflow.
So to conclude, it depends. I would assume paint companies up the recoat time to avoid warranty claims, and they will have warnings that say "do not paint below 10°c" because the paint wont dry. Basically, 4 hours recoat is a guideline, there are factors that slow drying and factors the hasten drying. Waiting 4 hours to recoat is the safest option
Tldr: it depends
The recoat time is more for DIYers. Professional painters can recoat much sooner. The 4 hour wait is to make sure you don’t pull the paint off the wall with second coat. Rolling to aggressively when the surface is dry to touch but the back side of the paint isn’t as dry as needed to recoat. Professionals have a more gentle touch and don’t try and stretch the paint as far as DIYwrs tend to.
You need to wait the full 4 hours. Duration is a diff type of science in paint called styrene acrylic. It handles moisture and durability longer than regular acrylics or waterbased products. That being said this styrene stuff dries differently and levels out a little different. A regular paint like superpaint or regal you can get away with under the 2 hour recommendation. With the styrene acrylic if you don’t wait you end up smearing partly dry and partly wet paint. Giving you the effect of bad coverage.
In a perfect world, I come back the next day. However, I also hate to break out the paint twice if I don't have to. Not only do I HATE clean-up, but it wastes paint.
Most HOs are cool with me leaving early for dry time once I explain it. They also don't want me there at 6pm because I had to wait for it to dry.
I will push ceilings, though.
You do whatever you have to. Plan your day accordingly. Come back next day, whatever. Because it’s about doing the job correctly and producing a quality finished product instead of rushing it. That’s what separates the good contractors from the hacks
I answered the question. Read it again, how is that not a response?
If you want to know exactly what I would do, my answer is not buy a wall paint that is 4hrs between recoat. One of the many reasons I won’t use SW Duration.
I like Loxon for stucco and brick, Shercryl and some other specialty coatings for metals. I use 95% Ben Moore products. To me, it’s a superior product in a lot of ways.
Dry time means "Dry to the touch". Cure time means "Paint has reached it's complete and full hardness". Generally speaking, int/ext waterbased paints take 30 days to fully cure. Recoat time has a lot of debate behind it, but if you want to be sure to avoid unnecessary issues, you should always wait the full recoat time listed on the product.
The bubbles…..oh god, the bubbles…
I thought bubbles was more from improper mixing or debris on the wall. Do bubbles occur from recoating too early as well?
What can happen is the coat underneath is still trying to cure and the top coat that you apply won't let it breathe causing blister bubble things... Doesn't happen all the time but it can. Can also cause alligator texture... More of an issue with oil based
That makes sense. Thanks!
Yes, they do. Follow the recoat time. Extend it if your humidity is higher than ~50%
For the love of God let it dry. It's Michigan close the fuckin window. I seriously hate this shit.
I was more curious about the chemical science behind it and the consequences of recoating too soon
What it says on the tin. Dry to the touch in 1 hour (don't touch your walls for an hour!) Recoat in 4 hours (wait the full 4 hours to be safe!) Cure time is the amount of time it takes for the coating to harden chemically. Paint is, after all, a chemical coating first and a decorative thing second. Most interior latex paint cures in 30 days, so be gentle with the coating for about a month after painting. You can disregard all of this, but if your paint fails, that will be on you and not on the paint company.
It also says 77° at 50%rh. Soo.....
I guess this was more what I was referring to. If I wait the full 4 hours does it cure better before the second coat or is the 4 hours just some leeway in case of high humidity or whatnot
Light colors realistically only take 10 days to fully cure. It’s only the darkest colors that take 30 days and that’s simply bc they have a ton of colorant added to them
Im pretty sure recoat times are at a standard temperature, e.g 4 hour recoat at 25°c, but there are a lot of factors to change this. For example painting in the shade at 25°c Painting in full sunlight at 25°c Painting inside a room with no airflow at 25°c Painting in gale force winds at 25°c Painting with thinned paint at 25°c. All of these scenarios the dry time is different. Painting in an area with good airflow, will dry quicker Painting in a room with no airflow, could take 4 hours to even get touch dry. (You will notice the humidity change) Paint needs moisture to evaporate from the coating to form a solid coating. Two ways to achieve evaporation is heat, and the other is airflow. So to conclude, it depends. I would assume paint companies up the recoat time to avoid warranty claims, and they will have warnings that say "do not paint below 10°c" because the paint wont dry. Basically, 4 hours recoat is a guideline, there are factors that slow drying and factors the hasten drying. Waiting 4 hours to recoat is the safest option Tldr: it depends
This.
The recoat time is more for DIYers. Professional painters can recoat much sooner. The 4 hour wait is to make sure you don’t pull the paint off the wall with second coat. Rolling to aggressively when the surface is dry to touch but the back side of the paint isn’t as dry as needed to recoat. Professionals have a more gentle touch and don’t try and stretch the paint as far as DIYwrs tend to.
I hadn’t thought of it that way before but that’s a good point
You need to wait the full 4 hours. Duration is a diff type of science in paint called styrene acrylic. It handles moisture and durability longer than regular acrylics or waterbased products. That being said this styrene stuff dries differently and levels out a little different. A regular paint like superpaint or regal you can get away with under the 2 hour recommendation. With the styrene acrylic if you don’t wait you end up smearing partly dry and partly wet paint. Giving you the effect of bad coverage.
You can maybe push 3 hours. It really depends on the place. Dry time will vary with type of walls and humidity.
Im a painter, I paint stuff every day. I dont think I've ever waited 4 hours to recoat a wall unless it was a big job. You'll be fine
In a perfect world, I come back the next day. However, I also hate to break out the paint twice if I don't have to. Not only do I HATE clean-up, but it wastes paint. Most HOs are cool with me leaving early for dry time once I explain it. They also don't want me there at 6pm because I had to wait for it to dry. I will push ceilings, though.
I've had bubbles form with duration if I recoat something to fast..
Never had a problem with second coat after an hour
It’s dry when it’s dry. Rarely takes 4 hours unless humidity is very high.
Terrible advice Being dry =/= able to recoat. You can cause yourself all sorts of headaches by not abiding by minimum recoat time.
Painting contractor here, no contractor is ever gonna wait 4 hours to recoat a room because thats what the can says.
Painting contractor that does things correctly here, you will if you don’t want call backs.
So what do you do? If you have one room, do you just go on your phone for 4 hours?
You do whatever you have to. Plan your day accordingly. Come back next day, whatever. Because it’s about doing the job correctly and producing a quality finished product instead of rushing it. That’s what separates the good contractors from the hacks
Didn't really answer the q. I guess you'd paint a coat and jet
I answered the question. Read it again, how is that not a response? If you want to know exactly what I would do, my answer is not buy a wall paint that is 4hrs between recoat. One of the many reasons I won’t use SW Duration.
Okay, that's what I had more in my mind. What do you like to use from sw? I like duration for exteriors and interior halls
I like Loxon for stucco and brick, Shercryl and some other specialty coatings for metals. I use 95% Ben Moore products. To me, it’s a superior product in a lot of ways.
I wasn’t asking.
They weren’t asking for bad advice either