How To Tint Paint

2023 Author: Douglas Hoggarth | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-24 11:23

Correct selection of the color of your building is a very responsible and difficult business. From the point of view of aesthetics, it is difficult to give any ready-made advice, as they say, "there is no friend for taste or color." On the issues of technology and economics, you can give quite definite recommendations.

In the recent past, paints of several ready-made colors were made in the USSR. If a person wanted to get some other color scheme, then he had to mix these paints at his own risk.

Now, with the advent of tinting systems, the situation has changed radically. There are a number of European and American tinting systems of various companies on the Russian market: Tikkurila, Relius, Huls, NCS, etc. All of them usually exist in both computer and manual versions, i.e. in the form of an album. There are also computer programs for the transition from one system to another.

Tinting systems

All these systems can be classified according to several criteria.

First, according to the material used. Coloring pastes are used in some systems (without a binder), in other systems - tinting paints (with a binder).

Secondly, by appointment. In construction, tinting systems are usually divided into facade and general-purpose ones. There are also special systems, for example, for children's rooms, for signal paints, etc., but this is already exotic.

General purpose systems typically include 1500-2200 colors. These include, in particular, the "NCS" widespread in Moscow. It should be noted that for these systems there are practically no restrictions for internal work, but there are restrictions for facade ones. These limitations are associated with insufficient lightfastness of some tinting pastes included in this system. These restrictions are usually indicated in a note, but, unfortunately, the client and architects do not always read it.

It should also be noted that there is a very large variation in the value of different colors. In some cases, this difference reaches 10 times, that is, there are expensive and cheap colors.

Those who have traveled to Europe have probably noticed the relatively narrow color range of the facades. These are usually variations of white, gray, yellow, brick red and brown. These are mainly paints made on the basis of iron oxide pigments. They are optimal in price and good in operation, and wealthy Europeans know how to count money.

Much less questions and problems arise if you use a facade system for facade work. It can also be used for interior work, but here you have to put up with a smaller assortment of colors. In facade systems, there are usually 150-250 of them.

Thirdly, by the tinting method. This point in most cases is associated with the first, although not always.

Tinting systems based on pigment pastes have a higher versatility due to the fact that they are not tied to a specific binder. Among them there are systems that can be tinted, both water-based paints and solvent-based paints.

Typically, this type of system is designed for the use of tinting machines, since a very precise dosage is required. A tinting machine is a very convenient thing, but expensive. The simplest dispenser costs $ 3000-5000, and if we are talking about a well-equipped automatic tinting shop, the cost of the equipment can reach $ 30,000-50,000. These initial costs are a heavy burden on the cost of tinted paint.

Another negative aspect of these systems is the need to use several bases for tinting, usually 4-5, because when the tinting paste is introduced into ordinary white paint, it weakened, especially when obtaining saturated colors.

The situation is simpler with tinting systems based on tinting paints.

You are looking at a color atlas, you don't even have to buy it, you can just look at the seller and rewrite the recipe for the color you like.

In accordance with the choice, you buy tinting paint and white facade paint, and then at the construction site you mix it all according to the recipe. As they say: cheap and cheerful.

According to this principle, tinting systems are made by companies: Dufa, Joby and many other companies.

In the modern economic conditions of our country, this tinting method can be considered optimal, so do not rush to throw money away, they will still be useful to you.

Text: Shtreis B. G. "VGT Enterprise"