Do you have an old piece of furniture making your home appear dull? Are you looking for a way to transform its appearance and make it look appealing? Chalk paint has you covered to make that home improvement project successful. The chalk paint market offers colors of multiple choices giving you a chance to pick the one that pleases you. The saturated colors blend with most furniture giving a silky matte finish to the old piece. However, there are several advantages and disadvantages attached to chalk paint.
Some of the advantages include and are not limited to;
No preparation work
In most cases, you will find that many paints require a lot of preparation before the actual painting happens. Practice creates a significant challenge since you have to sand and clean the surface that needs painting. The Annie Sloan chalk paint does not require such preparations before the painting since the color goes along well even without sanding or priming. If an image were done before, it would not be necessary to strip off those layers before you begin painting.
Durable
Among the qualities you need to consider while painting, durability should be at your top list. You do not want to do a great job re-doing the painting after a short period. Once the topcoat dries, it hardens, providing scuffs and a scratch-resistant finish.
Good coverage
Chalk paint is thicker than ordinary paints; hence, it requires you to paint one or two coats to make your piece look new. It would be best if you also used less paint to cover a particular area than standard colors, which demand several coats.
On the other hand, there is a disadvantage of chalk paint which includes;
Cost
When considering chalk paint, you must dig deeper into your pocket. The paint also demands special tools, which come at an extra cost. To achieve the elegant and durable finish, you will be required to do a top coat for protection purposes failure to which it will strip off quickly. The topcoat comes with more demands since it requires a stiff paintbrush due to its thickness.
Requires waxing
Chalk paint is highly recommended for being durable. Nevertheless, the paint cannot give a durable finish by itself. You will be required to apply a top coat to ensure that it will not scratch easily. Waxing is what works best for top coating, and it comprises a two-step process. After applying the wax, you must clean and buff it to eliminate the excess wax.
Drying and curing time
Even though the paint feels dry after a few minutes of painting, it takes longer for it to dry between the coats. You need to wait 24 hours to apply the second coating to have strong adhesion and achieve a good finish. In addition, the wax will require at least one month to cure completely.
Summing up
Even though the entire procedure of chalk paint sounds costly, the cost incurred will be less than taking the furniture to a repair workshop. However, you do not need to know the exact application techniques; you can work independently to transform any piece.
