Why is it that two cooks working with the same ingredients can produce different results? It’s difficult to overstate the value of the cook’s experience and flair in turning an ordinary meal into something special.
The analogy works the same way with building product materials. Materials and application may be familiar, but effects can vary widely. That’s why reports from Intertek, UL, ICC-ES, and other independent rating agencies are helpful. Behind the scenes, ASTM test standards provide product predictability for hundreds of products—from construction sealants, structural members, and insulation systems to many other materials used in commercial and residential structures. Today, there are tests for just about every building material.
Unexpected Result
Take paint, for example. Its composition is no secret. A can of paint is largely water with a mix of additives, pigment, and resins.
“You can have six or seven different interior flats with all slightly different performance characteristics,” explains Peter Gaeta, a veteran painting contractor and now an architectural and design services representative with Behr Paint Company, a leading manufacturer. “The architect may expect the product to perform one way, yet even within the same brand there are wide good-better-best variations in chemistry that can vastly alter performance. It’s easy to make an assumption that may not play out as expected.”
Master Painters Institute
That’s one reason why the Master Painters Institute (MPI) is the go-to clearinghouse for impartial ratings of paint and coatings for architects, builders, specialty contractors, and other specifiers.
Today the MPI Approved Products List (APL) is the reference gold standard for specifiers. The APL has more than 200 standards for coating performance. Products must successfully run a testing gauntlet that includes:
- Hiding power
- Reflectance
- Alkali resistance
- Scrubbability
- Burnish resistance
- Cleansability
Other MPI tests examine results on the intended application, environment, and category requirements.
3,000 Scrub Cycles
Consider scrubbability , for example. The MPI testing protocol calls for a minimum of 3,000 scrub cycles to make the grade. It’s a rigorous test that, historically, is met by a gloss or semi-gloss paint. That’s a limiting factor for designers looking to spec a trending flat matte finish in high-traffic areas.
An investigation into a “flat that acts like a gloss” began about five years ago, according to Gaeta. Behr material scientists worked with suppliers to crack the code on a matte finish that was mar, stain, and scuff resistant. The formulation had to check several boxes:
- It not only had to meet MPI# 53 testing criteria, but also far more rigorous MPI# 142 high performance gloss level standards as a flat finish.
- Single-component product (no need for a second catalyzing component).
- Low VOC.
About a year ago, Behr introduced a product that met those conditions. It’s called Behr Ultra Scuff Defense Interior Paint, approved under both MPI# 53 and MPI# 142. “It’s a unique high performance flat,” says Gaeta. “We’ve now moved that technology into other sheens as well.”
It’s good to know the design palette of finish and color is now broader than ever thanks to material science.
Learn more about a flat finish paint that resists scuffs, stains, and marring, Behr Ultra Scuff Defense Flat.
