Insights and tips for managing paint.
Practical notes from the Tullamore counter: how to store lacquer, specify sheen, mix catalysts, plan FR joinery and keep a colour matching on the second batch. This is the living section of the site — new pieces go here.
10 articles
Shop tips Ordering paint so you do not run out mid-job
Next day nationwide is real. It is not a substitute for a cutting list. FR, matched colours and odd sheens need more notice than a stock matt sealer.
Insights Oil, wax or lacquer: choosing the finish for the job
Not every door belongs in a booth. Oil and wax are maintenance finishes. Lacquer is a built film. Choose with the wear, the sheen and the client’s willingness to re-oil in mind.
Shop tips Spray booth setup: viscosity, filters and gun care
A good lacquer through a dirty gun is still a bad door. Keep viscosity, filtration and wash-up as specified as the sheen.
Shop tips Colour matching that still matches on the second batch
A match is a formula plus a process. If the second batch is sprayed on a different primer, at a different sheen, or over a stain that was “close enough”, it will not look like the first door.
Insights Moving a solvent line across to waterborne lacquer
Waterborne is not solvent with the smell turned down. The gun, the room, the wash-up and the sample door all change. Switch a line, not a single tin, and match the colour on the system you will actually spray.
Insights Specifying fire retardant joinery without losing the finish
FR joinery fails in two ways: the film looks like site paint, or nobody can find the certificate when the fire officer asks. Specify both the class and the finish, then keep the batch paperwork.
Shop tips Mixing catalysts, pot life and why you do not thin first
Most failed catalysed jobs are mixed wrong, thinned too early, or sprayed after the pot life. The tin already told you the ratio. The clock starts when the catalyst goes in.
Insights Choosing sheen: from dead matt to high gloss
Sheen is not a mood. It is a percentage, a viewing angle and a maintenance conversation. Specify it the way you order it: in writing, on the sample, before the doors leave the booth.
Shop tips How to store lacquer and paint in an Irish workshop
Frost, heat and a tin left open over a bank holiday ruin more jobs than a bad gun. Here is how we tell trade accounts to store lacquer in a real Irish workshop.
Compliance Diisocyanate safe-handling training under REACH
If you spray catalysed PU or other diisocyanate products above 0.1%, your staff need documented REACH training. Lacquerite will tell you which tins are in scope. We will not train your team for you.
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Need this applied to a live job?
The articles are the conversation we have on the counter. Call sales with the system, sheen and substrate.