The blackest, most flat paint. Period. - Page 3

You really want to use the flat base for the MM Ears by Behr...enamel base will add a sheen...but it does scuff a little less.

Basically, pick your poison.

Yeah, I know. The guy at HD showed me samples of both finishes and I couldn't tell the difference so I went with the enamel.

I hope I didn't give the impression that the Mouse Ears didn't work out and that I didn't think it was any good.

I would certainly have been satisfied with the smoothness of finish etc. I am quite sure the lady @ Home Depot messed up the sample can mix or something because the Mouse Ears on my wall ended up looking like it was either an eggshell or satin sheen. My can says "Disney Base: PP103- Flat, Matte Prem Plus Color Sample (Mouse Ears) DC4B-10-5".

Therefore, no comment. I am unsure whether or not the lady messed up the mix and if the sample is representative of what it should actually look like. Perfect example of why I prefer working with factory tints whenever possible. For both peace of mind and color saturation/finish.


You know what... I think part of the reason the Rosco was flying around so much was due to using water to dilute it. I've heard water really causes paint to fly. You may want to try diluting with a "Paint Conditioner". I am going to call Rosco tomorrow and ask them if you can use a Paint Conditioner to dilute the supersat as opposed to water.

FYI.... I used "RO Treated" water to dilute the Rosco when I did it the first time. That would be Reverse Osmosis in case you're wondering. I was told the cleanest water would be the best to use. I may try to use Paint Conditioner if Rosco says I can.

Cheers.

FWIW, I've tried both the Enamel and the 100% Acrylic Latex. Both scuff very easily and the Enamel is lighter in tone and more reflective than the 100% Acrylic Latex of the exact same paint. In the end though, all that matters is that you, the owner, are happy!

Cheers.

P.S. - I used Benjamin Moore paint not Behr, but same should apply here.

Any response to the inquiry?

Hey there, I was told they'd get back to me but I never heard back from them. I will be calling again today. I'll report back immediately with their recommendation.

Sorry for the delay if you were holding off pending the answer Rosco gave me.

I used the Behr Mickey Mouse only on the screen wall and not the ceiling. I still have the Sherwin /Williams on the ceiling. The Behr is doing alot better job on the screen wall and I'm happy with it.

Finally talked to Rosco about using paint conditioner to dilute as opposed to water. He said it's okay and will not cause any unwanted chemical reactions but suggested to test dilution ratio in smaller quantities first to get the consistency you're after.

Pretty much what I figured he'd tell me.

On another note I'm done painting my ceiling with the Supersat Velour, I've got a picture I took real quick.

On the end wall you can see my sample patches. The 2 on the left are the Rosco Velour, different dilution ratios. The one on the right is the Behr Mouse Ears that I was talking about. The wall itself is painted with BM F215 80 Enamel. The Left/Right walls are painted with BM 215 80 Acrylic Latex.

Sorry for the poor picture quality, my camera sucks and so does its user.

From what I can tell, the Rosco is noticeably darker and blacker than any of the other paints.

However, the Mouse Ears looks WAY off. It's not even a "Dark Gray". It's more of a "Medium Gray". Even the lamp in front of it is "blacker". Something seems like it's not right with that paint. Either you got a bad mix or you don't know how to use a roller!

(just kidding)

But if that's the type of results one might expect from the Mouse Ears, then I can't believe ANYONE would be satisfied with it. Yet it's very popular and lots of people claim it's the blackest black they've ever seen.

I ended up using a 3/4:1 RO water to paint.
Worked out well and I'm impressed that a single coat on a popcorn ceiling had the coverage that it did. Since it's popcorn, I did have to do some touch up but that's not due to coverage but just due to the popcorn texture and missing some "holes" in the texture.

Overall, I've impressed by the Roscoe paint saturation and darkness.

Big thank you for taking all the time and effort to post pics and share your experiences with us. Great example of what makes AVS a great resource...members like yourself and the OP.

AurakXTC & 42Plasmaman:

What's your impression on light absorption with this super black paint versus say velveteen from syfabric or something similar? I just recieved the velvet fabric, I was going to use it on a 12'x14' ceiling. But the more I think about maybe I'm going to need a professional upholstery person to put it up. I've checked with several carpet people and upholstery people and no one seems to want to do any work or side job for something on the ceiling. The only bid I had was for $400. And i'm more the tech guy than handyman guy. I was thinking about ebaying or selling the 20yds of material I have and just painting with the Rosco.

JR.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner.... Rosco! followed by



Photo: Rosco SuperSaturated Black Velour 6003(Top) vs. Benjamin Moore 215 80 Wall-Satin Flat Black(Bottom). 2 coats of each paint over black base. As you can see, the Rosco is clearly superior when it comes to light absorption. It truly nears fabric-level absorption! Sorry for the photo quality (again).

For those wondering about what mix ratio I used, unfortunately I can't say exactly as I did 3 gallons at once and started adding very little amounts toward the end to get it just right. I can say it was around 1quart + 2 or 3eighths RO Water to 1 gallon paint. Under 1/2:1. It's definitely a thicker paint to work with and "marks" easier, but the results are well worth it! I recommend using Microfiber roller-covers with this paint (and any other paint actually... they are amazing). I used Microfiber 10mm pile.

A little tip I learned along this journey for those of us with flat black walls in our theaters.... for removing marks from touching the walls, using a piece of masking tape works wonders if you use it quick... and if you hadn't just finished a bucket of fried chicken without washing your hands

I should mention that the BM paint pictured above is very black, the blackest I had seen except for Rosco. So that gives you an idea of how great the Rosco really is at absorbing light.

I should also mention the light source is my Pioneer PRO-141FD 60" Plasma displaying a mostly white screen. The display is probably 8-10ft away from reflection point on an angle and about 6ft away from the side walls in the middle of the room. The Rosco is excellent at absorbing incoming light. I had said I thought it was lighter in some instances earlier in the thread, and it is lighter when you're looking at it facing the same way as the light source. In lighter conditions it takes on a greyer, more earthy kind of tone kind of hard to describe. I find it to be more pleasing aesthetically during these conditions than the pure flat black of other paints. This is including daylight...

...perhaps the same effect as the OP was describing earlier with the "college dorm room" comment. Though I didn't find the BM that bad during lighter conditions. It's kind of cool really, the Rosco gives you a real dark fabric-like appearance in dimly lit conditions/theater environment but when you lighten the room up it's not a "black" looking paint To me, at least...


Well gee, thanks for saying that, rboster. That's very kind of you. I appreciate it It's my pleasure doing all this! Any time I can give back to a site which has helped me GREATLY over the years I gladly take the opportunity! AVS is truly a great resource like you said.


Fabric is still slightly better, but check out the above photo, see what you think!

Cheers.

Good news on your review....I've been lurking on this one just to see how things panned out in general. I'm planning on pulling the trigger on a gallon and give it a go. I plan on putting this on my HT ceiling which has a knockdown texture. Any tips or suggestions with that in mind?

Painting starts on Friday..can't wait.

I have 2 gallons of the Rosco.

My painter has a question though. Since he is spraying the ceiling, should we go 1:1, as recommended on the pail or thinner? Seems those that used rollers did 1/2:1 He said that it will tend to drip, especially on the ceiling, if you dilute too much.

Anyone spray their Rosco?

^^^ That's a good question. I've got a Wagner sprayer... I wonder if it would be better to spray the ceiling than to roll it.

Then again, I wouldn't worry as much about drips as I would about paint just falling into your face as you're spraying it upwards. You'll never get 100% of it onto the ceiling, so you'll be covered in it as the "black mist" falls back down.

That's why I hired a painter..

I have my painter spraying the recommended 1:1 mix tomorrow. Film at 11. I think he's more nervous about this than I am...

Since my guys are coming on Friday, think you could post tomorrow how the initial spray goes and what the final recommended dilution was/is? I'm curious as to what he thinks..

My guy is nervous also...

I would think that 1:1 would be a little too thin, even for a sprayer. Mind you, I've never actually SEEN a 1:1 mix, but I've seen a 3/4:1 mix and it was very watery. My 3/4:1 mix was noticeably thinner than any regular paint I've ever seen. 1:1 could give you some issues with regards to mist, etc.

One thing you could try if you wanted is to use a paint conditioner to dilute as opposed to water. I've been told this drastically reduces the effect of paint getting airborne. The more water you add to a paint the more prone it will be to getting airborne.

Perhaps have your painter do the mix slowly as he goes starting from 1/2:1. Tell him to go from there and stop when it gets thin enough to be used properly in a sprayer (I would imagine it'd be something like 2quarts + 2 eighths water to 1 gallon Rosco). At least this way your painter can always add more water to the mix, if he starts @ 1:1 and doesn't like it, he can't really un-dilute it unless he wants to take from an unopened can and start adding more supersat to the first mix. I think once he starts mixing he'll realize 1:1 would be a little too watery.

I painted my ceiling with the Rosco and it worked out well, but my ceiling area wasn't very big (only 14ft wide x 10ft deep). If I was painting my entire ceiling of 14ft wide x 22ft deep I would have considered using/renting a sprayer.

Good luck, keep us posted on how everything goes! Make sure you mask off everything you don't want to get hit with overspray! Especially if you end up using the 1:1 mix!

Cheers.

Knockdown texture... is this like a popcorn ceiling/stone texture? If so, I'll be getting to that myself soon. I have a bulkhead area where my surrounds are that I'll be painting black with AcoustiTex textured paint mix.

One thing I already know about this stuff is that to roll it you need a specially designed roller. However, if you're painting over a texture already laid down, I would say to just use a roller cover with a thicker nap length so you reach down into the "canyons" of the texture. My experience lately with 10mm pile Microfiber rollers has been excellent, I think a 10mm pile Microfiber would probably do it fine, or to be safe you could go with a 3/4" pile Microfiber. My 10mm Microfibers hold an insane amount of product, and are incredible at dispensing said product. Can't rave enough about the Microfiber roller covers

Good luck! Let us know how everything goes!

Cheers.

It's closest to the "Slapbrush Knockdown" texture shown here:
http://www.drywallschool.com/textures.htm

I'm thinking that the peaks/valleys of the texture will bode nicely as far as hiding any painting imperfections vs. painting a standard drywall ceiling.

Looking at the page (good link, btw) I think a standard 10mm pile Microfiber roller cover should do just fine, though 2 coats will most likely be necessary for 100% perfect coverage. From what I've been told, indeed using a textured surface like that helps with covering imperfections.

Good luck!
Cheers.

thanks for the advice, I'll definitely follow it. Yeah, I was on that site a lot until I decided to sub out my drywall Still, there's a lot of good info on repairing etc that I'm sure will eventually be put to use.

I hear what you're saying, but the side of the can says minimum 1:1 dilution, and so does their customer support staff. Why would they actively tell people the wrong thing? And sell less paint as a result?!?

I'll report back later today/tonight. I may very well have a pi$$ed-off, black-misted painter on my hands.

I wasn't exactly saying Rosco is telling people the wrong thing... I know the can says 1:1 but at the same time this is more an "artists" paint than an interior home paint, plus I've used it first hand .

I spoke to Rosco and they said yes, while the can states minimum 1:1 dilution, it is not a problem at all to use less and it's more a concern of workability than finish.

Either way I still think it's a mistake to start @ 1:1 dilution because you can't go back . I'd just match the viscosity of a regular interior latex paint... you know that's fine in sprayers.

Let us know how it turns out!

Cheers

Let's see, let's see...

It's definitely black. Very black. Almost eerie. Like a paint bomb went off. It's freaking everywhere--the subfloor looks like it was attacked by very unimaginative graffiti artists. I have temp lighting in right now (4 cans lit up in the side soffits), and I can't see the ceiling anymore, if that helps. The texture/finish is extremely smooth. Almost like, um, velour. If I had to describe it, I'd say it's saturated. Nay, *super* saturated.

Sadly, I'm lacking a clear frame of reference, because I'm so mad I can't see straight. The painters bolted before I got home, and we seem to have a 2' x 6" spot at the bottom of the right side wall that didn't get sprayed. Total primer staring at me. Luckily, all the paint is gone, and it will take a week to get more. And the carpet goes in on Monday.

Until I get a hold of the super, I can't verify exactly what happened. All I know is that both gallons are gone (the room is only 11x15x8), the job's not done, and I'm up $hit creek without a paddle.

Hello:

I'm doing a ceiling tommorow, its currently flat white. Its 13' x 11'. I only ordered 1 gallon Rosco, I kind of don't want to wait or spend for another gallon.

Do I have enough for a thorough coverage? And what type of primer should I use? The painter never heard of a black primer? It's going to be rolled on.