A few weeks ago I wrote about the 53 year old home my wife and I bought. Due to its location we are able to stay with a single car, but the house is technically in the suburbs (although we were renting in Minneapolis and it was less conducive to mass transit for my job). Being more than a half century old, the home was looking its age. Among the updates was a fresh coat of paint in every room, as well as the door trim.
In our previous home we went with a cheaper paint and hired painters. This time, with family help we painted ourselves and spent more on paint. With two young kids we felt the need for no/low VOC (volatile organic compounds) paint. We went with Benjamin Moore’s Natura line which was available at Ace Hardware, the locally owned alternative to big box stores. Benjamin Moore’s website provides the following facts:
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Virtually odorless
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Zero VOCs
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Quick return to service
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100% Acrylic
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Provides a durable, washable film
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Spatter-resistant
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Unlimited color selection
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Lower Total Emissions
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One hour recoat for quick return to service
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Carries the Green Promise designation**
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Self-priming on most surfaces.
**Benjamin Moore’s “green promise” is the company’s “assurance that its environmentally friendly coatings meet and exceed the strictest industry standards.”
We applied 2 coats to all surfaces and found that the paint did a nice job of covering and replacing the previous color. The waterborne paint gives off little scent. Get close enough and you can pick up the paint smell.
The lighter colors we chose were quite faint, but this is a reflection of the tints, not the Natura line. It dried quickly (as noted in the bullet points above) and allowed us to put a second coat on the same day. While I can’t speak to the durability at this point, it was nice to paint with a line that doesn’t reek.
On the downside, the paint was very expensive, $56.99 per gallon. It behooves consumers to plan wisely and only purchase a few gallons at a time to reduce waste and unnecessary expenditures. Also, the Ace we went to only had 6 gallons of the Natura on hand, necessitating going to a second Ace location for more paint, and a small mix up in our order.
Overall I highly recommend the paint from our experience thus far. However, know that it is expensive upfront. Being a bit more sensitive to the noxious odors like diesel fuel and new paint, it was the right choice for me, let alone my family.
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