Hey Marksr... (or others): I wonder if you have ever had to experiment with this?

Long story short, I have to match a factory siding color (and sheen) with another brand of paint. The factory color (Duckback SoPro Silver Dollar) has no exact cross reference with the SW color palette. But they can color match my sample chip... that's not the problem. The SoPro paint (exterior acrylic) is eggshell, while SW Duration Exterior comes in flat, satin, and gloss. Since I need 2 gallons, I wonder if mixing one gallon of flat and one gallon of satin might approximate an "eggshell" sheen.

I'll ask my SW rep tomorrow (going to her house tomorrow night) but just wondered if you'd ever done it and what sort of result you got.

 

It's done all the time

I'm not sure why but the flat paint generally over powers the paint with a sheen. You'd think half gloss and half flat would equal semi-gloss but when the two are mixed, it comes out with less sheen than semi-gloss. Matching colors is fairly easy but matching the sheen can be tricky. As you know, paint color changes some as it dries. Sheen level does the same but it takes longer.

Dependent on the manufacture and line of paint, eggshell and satin can be the same or very close. I don't know why but there isn't an industry standard for sheen levels. Do you have a piece of the old siding you can use to see how much the SWP paint needs to be modified? A wild guess would be you'd only need a quart or two of the flat to mix into the satin.

How much siding is being replaced compared to what's being left on that side or section of the house?
Also how old is the paint on the existing siding? Both colors and sheen tend to fade some as it's exposed to the elements.

 

X - Check with your SW rep to find if the color match system they use actually matches color, or approximates the nearest SW color. Ben. Moore's system only matches the nearest Ben. Moore color and therefore is an unreliable matching system for other companies colors. The best color matching system I have run into so far (Marksr don't go too hard on me) is found at the big orange store. I have on multiple occasions tried to match exterior colors at numerous outlets, big blue stinks, BM stinks, Dulux/Glidden is pretty good depending on the operator, Haven't enough experience with SW/Duron to advise (mostly go there if was previous SW paint). Has to do also with the base preparations and the dyes used. Recommend you be picky and don't accept something that is "close". Have them do a big enough sample of the mix that you can really judge. Otherwise it will stick out like a sore thumb.

 

All the siding is being replaced, (only about 200 sq ft) so it's not critical that the sheen be exactly the same, but it would nice to get it close. Same with the color. A designer picked out the factory color, but since the factory color only comes in 5 gallon buckets we are just going to get 2 gallons (assuming 2 coats) and paint it in place. Maybe I'll end up just going with the satin.

I also think its odd that there isn't a standard for sheen. And its funny how some brands offer about 5 levels of sheen, and SW only has 3 premixed sheens.

Thanks for the tip, Czizzi, I will ask about that. That thought would have never entered my mind.

 

Color matching can vary by store. The computer match should only be a starting point! After the computer match is done, the paint should be fined tuned by hand and eyeball. I've never had an issue when a paint store uses that method. If it's all done by the computer then a perfect match is iffy and relies more on luck than skill.

I suspect the satin will be fine since you are painting the entire side. Even a slight difference in color won't be noticed around a corner. If you are dead set on getting it perfect you could paint a piece of scrap, let it dry and hold it up against the existing siding [or paint a sample on what's being torn off] to see if any minor adjustments are needed.

edit; it would be best to bring in a piece of the old painted siding along with your color chip - that will help them to get the color matched better. Paint chips aren't always the exact color as the paint appears in the real world.

 

True, but the designer was going off the paint chip. So that's close enough for me! LOL