Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel

A smooth and luxurious finish for doors and trim, Emerald® Interior/Exterior Urethane Trim Enamel delivers a finish that withstands wear and tear and goes on in fewer coats.

( 3 out of 5 )

Rating

Only for the Experienced Painter

February 14, 2019

by Monty

" Painting Oak Kitchen Cabinets project

What I like:
- Levels out nice
- Seems to be a quality hybrid product with good durability
- Works well with "cured" and "sanded" oil based primer
- Excellent for very small pieces of woodwork such as drawer faces

What I don't like:
- Dries too quickly, can only work one cabinet door at a time, then have to stop, clean brush, get new paint liner, refill paint before moving to next door
- Contaminants: "STRAIN THE PAINT" and "CLEAN YOUR BRUSHES WELL" or you will see "LOTS" of contaminants
- Large or long narrow areas are a challenge to keep a wet edge to eliminate brush marks
- Rollers don't work well after 5 minutes, they get sticky and start to lift the paint causing air pockets
- Requires practice and good methodology to achieve desired results (need to know what you are doing before working with this paint)
- Very minimal workability, you have to get it on and don't go back and touch the area you just painted or the finish will be marred (won't re-level).
- Cracks in wood grain areas on oak using SW Extreme Bonding Primer due to primer curing faster than topcoat (pulling/separation)
- Not for a project that has lots of detail, routed edges, etc... (use oil instead to get more workability time)
- Thin coats are not achievable with a brush (unless its a tiny item) and using a roller leaves tiny air pockets after 5 minutes of use due to fast drying

DRY TO TOUCH: Does not mean it will not leave marks, After 24 hours, I turned the cabinet door over to paint the back side and there were marks in the paint from my cabinet door rack. "Paint the back first, and paint the side that gets seen last"

If you are like me, have painted before, have a good knowledge of painting techniques and general knowledge of chemistry of paint, then you'll figure it out, just practice first.

Otherwise, probably better off just to stick with oil base paint. You will probably be less frustrated and get better results, although it may take way longer to dry.

Spraying this paint is probably the way to go if you have the equipment.

I use it because I know how to work with it. If you ever used INSL-X Cabinet Coat, the characteristics are almost identical (hard to work with).

Good luck! "