There is a lot of talk about one coat paint jobs. Can you really do a one coat paint job? Many manufacturer’s will guarantee some of their paint lines to cover in one coat. What makes a paint a one coat paint? Let me say that you can get one coat paint coverage over properly prepared surfaces with the right paint, using good paint technique. Pros do it everyday. Don’t expect to get one coat coverage on every paint job though, you will be disappointed.
Paint
There is a difference in paint. As a rule paints mixed out of a white base will hide (cover in one coat) the best. The main ingredient in paint that gives it coverage or hide is titanium dioxide, which is a white pigment. Titanium dioxide is expensive, therefore paints with more titanium (and thus better hiding power) will cost more than those with less titanium dioxide.
Flat paints will look good in one coat, whereas sheen paints sometimes will not because the sheen will soak in to the substrate sometimes unevenly. So even if you get coverage with a sheen paint, you will have to recoat for good sheen uniformity.
Deep tones
For the most part, you are out of luck here if you want one coat coverage. Deep tones are mixed out of a clear base and therefore have no titanium dioxide and are somewhat transparent. Good hiding deep tones will cover in two coats, sometimes three coats. You should use a gray primer under the deep tone paint (see Painting with Deep Tone Paint) to facilitate a two coat (one primer and hopefully one paint) or three coat job.
Brush
Paint is brushed on , spread out, then smoothed with the tips of the brush (called tipping or laying off). The last stroke(s) go back toward the last painted section. That is, you lay the paint off from “dry” or unpainted into or toward wet painted areas. Doing this prevents “starting” marks, which are always abrupt and thin.
Roller
Double rolling is the way most painters get one coat coverage. Roll the paint on the wall and let it sit for a few minutes, then re-roll over the paint. The key to double rolling is timing, you can’t wait too long or the paint will dry on the wall and you will be double coating. If you re-roll too soon, you will pull the paint back off the wall and not improve on the paint coverage.
Spraying
The easiest way to get one coat coverage is to spray with an airless sprayer. Good airless sprayers will spray most conventional interior or exterior paints without thinning. HVLP sprayers will usually require some thinning. The very best of the electric cup guns (see Wagner Power Painters with Optimus technology) can spray smaller projects for the most part without thinning, but they are not good for bigger projects like wall painting or siding painting. An airless rig will spray at a high production rate, and give you good hide and coverage.. Then only downside of spraying is masking off and protecting for overspray.
Big color changes
Again, you are out of luck , you will probably need two coats here. If you need to prime you can tint the primer to match the finish paint color and use that as a first coat. If your finish paint was mixed from a white base, you can usually get a close match by tinting the primer with the same colorants used in the finish paint - only use half the amount of each. Primers are not made for hiding and have less titanium dioxide than the finish paint, consequently they will tint stronger than the finish paint. Use half the tint for primer matching.
One Coat Paint Coverage
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