The blackest, most flat paint. Period. - Page 4

I used general purpose white primer on the door. This made it easy to tell if you got good coverage and missed any spots.

I didn't prime my ceiling due to it was popcorn and just took a broom and brushed it vigorously to get dirt and any lose popcorn off.
My ceiling is 16x12' and I still have about a 1/2 a gallon left.
I used 3/4 RO water to 1 part paint.

Since I have a popcorn ceiling, I had to use one of those real thick rollers that soak up paint to get the paint into the valleys. I thought that may be I was going to run out of paint but didn't even come close.
I was going to do a second coat but the first coat completely covered the white ceiling paint and only required some touch up to get the deep valleys in the popcorn the roller couldn't penetrate.

I even used the paint on my door and there are no reflections.

Only gripe I have about this paint is it's easy to get dirty(finger prints) because it's black and flat.
You can't really rub off the dirt with a rag as that just spread the dirt over an area you wiped.
I've mainly been using a slightly damp rag to clean the door.
I have about 2-3 coats on the door.(I was in zombie mode and can't recall how many coats I did but I know it was at least 2. )

For cleaning surfaces like flat black I highly recommend using pieces of masking tape, they lift fingerprints/skin right off. It even lifted off most of a mark left on my ceiling from being scraped with the end of a pole. Of course, this will only work well on the smoother surfaces without much peak/valley.

Tape has saved me from having to put on a new coat

Cheers!

Sorry to hear about the painting fiasco... Contractors can be a pain in the arse.

My ceiling is primed now... he got to it today and he'll be back tomorrow to spray the ceiling. Any idea on what they diluted it to? If you like the finish, I really would like to know the dilution they used...

Thanks in advance...

Holy moly...

It's like a black hole paint bomb went off downstairs. It's very messy... lots of black paint everywhere, but it looks nice...

The painter just left, so I have to wait for it to dry and then I'll post some pictures. It's definitely black.

He seemed to like th 1/2:1 ratio of water to paint. Said it sprayed nicer.

One of the funny things, was that half-way through he thought we were going to run out, so I had to find a local dealer of Rosco paint in the area. Since I bought it online, I had no clue. Detroit has become a large movie production epicenter so I got real lucky and there were like 5 different places, but only 1 was open on Saturday and he was closing in 15 minutes. I paid for it and he left it outside the door of his store. I ran all the way to Southfield (about 35 min each way). By the time I got back, the painter said that he no longer needed it and the coverage was good and looked good. SHOOT! I'll have to return it next week... it was $56.00 for the gallon. I only paid $42.00 a gallon online shipped. He knew I was desperate I think...

Pictures forthcoming...

^^^ Where did you find it for $42 shipped online??


Was the painter himself covered in black paint?? I mean, how messy was the spraying?

It just seems like spraying the ceiling in particular would just cause the painter himself to get doused. Seems like rolling might be a better option if you want to stay "clean".

Rose Brand - sorry it was $47.00 and I got them to cover shipping because I bought 2 gallons.

It wasn't that bad on him. He wore a suit with a respirator. There was a mist. A perfect coat though. Spraying is the only way to go. No matter how good you roll, it always leaves some type of "tracks". He's a master roller - he's worked on 2 of our homes - and even he said you spray the ceilings, it's easier. He does have a vertical apparatus to spray up vs. pointing the sprayer at an angle.

Well, I'll keep that advice in mind. Maybe I can find some sort of hood to slip over my head with the respirator to try to avoid completely soaking myself in pitch-black paint.

I'll probably just end up spraying everything -- I have to do the ceiling, front wall, shadow box, false wall, and cover panels all in black.

So I take it you spray the ceiling, then mask it off and then paint the walls? Is he using a roller on the walls at least?

O.k.. so here are some pictures. While I have a really good camera (DSLR) I'm too tired to mess around with a tripod and settings to get a real accurate picture. This is taken with just the halogen work lamps on.... Also, it's still drying so any blotchiness is really just the paint drying.

It's pitch black in there...the front wall seems to disappear when you are looking at it. So glad I decided to paint the false wall now. I was hesitating on whether I should put it up before paint, but having it up and having him paint it was a good idea...

I'm kind of wondering why people are using a satin or enamel base for a paint that is supposed to eliminate reflections, which is impossible btw.
If I understand things correctly, you'd want a flat base as anything "up" from that is going to have a harder finish which reflects light no matter how black it is.
I've been thinking about installing material used for lining telescopes on the ceiling area 6' out from the screen wall because although it's flat black, it still reflects light.

While we can't eliminate, we can reduce considerably.

If you can do it, then go for it. That should be better than just using paint.

That stuff's fairly expensive, so most people won't want to cover their entire ceiling with it, so either you cover a small portion (like you're talking about) or just stick with the painted ceiling.

It's hard enough to get approval from The Boss to get black paint on the ceiling. But to have a 6-foot section of black cloth on the ceiling if the rest of the ceiling weren't black would be a tough sell.

Just checked out the paint downstairs - it's finally all dry.

Trust me on this one. If you get the finish I got with this paint and my painter, you will be esctatic. It's sweet! My painter never smiles and even he smiled and said it looks great! The look on his face - he's a grumpy little guy - was priceless.

Just to chime in on my experience, though not different than what others have reported...this paint is terrific at bringing down light reflections. I tested it out on my screen wall. The paint was somewhat difficult to use and took two coats to get a smooth look. The paint's results were terrific. I worried that it wouldn't stand up absorption-wise to the SMX screen frame black hole cloth. The material covering the SMX screen's frame is the best I've found for light absorption. The combination of this paint and SMX created the floating image effect that I've strived for, but never accomplished with other black paint and frames.

I am putting off painting the ceiling till I paint the rest of the room too...but I am confident it create a terrific effect on the ceiling too (I'll be painting the side and rear walls in a different paint a color).

Did you roll or spray?

I'm not sure if the question is directed toward me...


but, I used a roller. When I do the ceiling, I'll be using a roller too.

What type of roller?

^^^ Since I had a popcorn ceiling, I used a thick high density roller with slits in it to get the paint into the valleys & catch any loose popcorn/texture.

I just painted my ceiling with Sherwin Williams Promar 400 in flat black. It comes in flat black so no mixing. I primed the ceiling with tinted primer and did 2 coats and it covered everything, but I cant get rid of roller marks. Not edges where the paint went on thicker, but some spots almost appear slightly glossy. I did a chocolate brown on the rest of my basement ceiling in flat as well and i'm getting the same thing even after 4 coats. Im using a really nice 1/2" nap roller. Any tips or ideas on how to correct the roller marks? They are visible when the cans are on.

Are you backrolling it?

I promised I would take a good picture of the ceiling.

Like Velour...perfect after spraying.





I'm over the moon on this finish.

That is a beautiful finish, probably one of the best I've ever seen here. I'm going to have to rethink rolling my ceiling...

Really NICE! I am impressed

Yeah, I'm convinced that I have to spray my ceiling, even though it'll be a complete MESS!

I think I'll go locate a full body suit somewhere with an evacuation hood!

Hey All,

Great thread. I will be painting my screen wall this week, and think this could be the paint for me. The wall is approx 14' wide x 9' tall. Should 1 gallon be enough for multiple coats? And, has anyone with kids used this paint? The theater shouldn't get too much kid traffic, but...

I'm thinking about having this professionally done, since I'm just moving into a new house, and the painter is still around for touch-ups.

Thanks.

I'll throw my two cents back into the mix here, after having "lived" with this paint for a bit. My room is still being tweaked, so YMMV.

It's excellent for ceilings. I'll expand that to include any surface that can't physically be touched by a room occupant. Best paint I'm ever seen for the black hole effect.

After multiple spray rounds and lots of bickering with the painter, I'm back to looking at fabric on the walls (Fabricmate track system). If someone can brush up against a surface, this paint *knows* it and responds accordingly, singing it's siren song. I made the mistake of painting the interior door jamb/casing with it, and boom, it was sullied after one day.

If you plan to have kids anywhere near this paint, plan for misery or make sure you have a spare bed for a live-in painter. Unmolested, it's beautiful. In the real world, it just doesn't hold up very well. I might try to apply a coat of Modern Masters DP-609 on the jamb/casing and see how that fares, but I'm 99% sure I'm going to give up on the walls and do fabric.

In summary: in an effort to "save" money I spent $150 on 3 gallons of paint (shipped, the people at Rose Brand know me and take pity on me), had the room sprayed 3 times over 3 trips (not cheap!), brought on a hell of a lot of angst with my painter, and it probably would have been about the same cost to just go with fabric, which I know will perform better.

Wow that is definitely very nice finish. Looks exactly like the sprayed on finish I had on my grey ceiling before rolling on the Rosco.

While it is a truly excellent finish and extremely smooth, for what we are after, I think rolling is the best option as most roller covers will leave a slight texture (some leave more than others) which also contributes to deflecting light.

To my eyes, the rolled on finish is superior when it comes to absorbing/deflecting light. I actually prefer the rolled look with the Rosco, it gives it even more of a fabric look. My walls and ceiling literally look like there is velour fabric glued on to them until you touch the wall and realize it's paint.

The texture that a roller leaves is beneficial to what we are trying to achieve here. A "rougher" surface will always appear flatter (less reflective) than a smooth one.

What's interesting about the rolled-on texture is that ideally you won't want to see the walls while watching a movie anyways, so if the black paint does its job and absorbs any incident light that hits the walls, you won't be able to see the texture. And the same goes for the spray-on finish... you won't be able to see how great it is if it absorbs the light!

So it might not even matter in the long run, performance-wise.

Microfiber Roller Covers my friend! They are my new best friend! I use 10mm pile Microfiber.

Also, practice makes perfect. I am now basically a pro painter, my walls and ceiling look like they were sprayed aside from the texture the roller left. You can't see any roller marks at all.

I'm not exactly sure about the quality of paint you're using but that also factors into things. I'm not sure what technique you are using to roll the paint, but if you are seeing lines you are most likely applying too much pressure while rolling. If you're not experiencing lines, but lap marks instead.. you may be back-rolling too much causing the lack of uniformity.