Roger Bisby sees the white light and the white heat with Leyland, a British institution.
Given the fierce competition out there in the paints market it is a great achievement that Leyland paints maintains such a prominent position, affection even, among the trade. It may be that the company is still seen as an iconic British brand.
It started manufacturing in Leyland Lancashire but moved to Birstal in Yorkshire which, given the rivalry between those counties, is tantamount to treason. Back in the day Leytex paint was one of the first emulsion paints to appear on the market and it is still going strong today as Super Leytex.
This is a breathable paint that allows moisture to escape so it is ideal for new plaster unlike some paints which lock the moisture in. Water-based technology is now an important part of the Leyland offering, with a range of interior and exterior paints.
I used the quick drying undercoat followed up by the satin finish. I am not a fan of gloss finishes because they show up imperfections in the timber but satin wood and eggshell are a lot more forgiving and very easy to apply.
I am still surprised by how many decorators still have a resistance to using water-based paint on trim. For some reason they prefer to breathe in solvent fumes all day long and believe that the alkyd oil gives some magical property to the paint.
What it does do is turn the paint from brilliant white to yellowing white in a few years which means they will be back again to redecorate. Ah I see their thought pattern now.
Seriously though many old school decorators can’t get the water-based eggshell to brush out well. It is really a question of putting it on and leaving it. Once it has been brushed out you need to resist the temptation to lay it off. The clue is in the name ‘Quick Drying’ which means that after a few minutes any further action will leave brush marks.
For the exterior masonry I used Leyland Truguard smooth masonry paint. The obliteration of this paint is first class and, in many cases, you might get away with one coat but to give the colour some depth I used two coats.
The masonry colour range is mercifully basic but you can tint to any colour you like. As a professional I avoid discussions about colour, the last thing I would want to do is stand with the client and a colour swatch discussing the subjective merits of one colour over another.
“You choose it and I will put it on, and if you don’t like it you can pay me to put a different colour on because the fact that I don’t have an opinion about colour means it will never be my fault”. Like so many things in life it pays to draw the guidelines from the start.
