A recently completed project The Great Wall of Fun turned out even better than expected. The following are detailed instructions for using magnetic and chalkboard paints.
Having turned a concrete basement wall into a magnetic chalkboard a few lessons were learned while working with an untreated porous surface. Rather than using the expensive magnetic primer initially a traditional primer should have first been applied. So, if you’re working on a surface that will suck up paint, use a different (cheaper) primer first. If you don’t then one quart may not be enough and it’s very expensive to be used as traditional primer.
As with any primer you may need to clean your surface first, especially if you’re doing this on a “creative” surface such as a metal board or a cupboard door or something decorative. You may also want to sand the surface to get a smooth finish.
Before appling you have to mix this primer. Crazy mixing. Shaking it won’t produce the desired consistency, so make sure you shake it as much as you can, and then grab your stir stick and spend some time pulling the heavy magnetic stuff up from the bottom. And if you’re not really quick with a paintbrush and roller then keep stirring as you go.
Now, you can apply the primer. The manufacturer recommends a ¼-inch nap roller, an uneven surface such as a basement wall may require a thicker nap. Apply smoothly and evenly as you would any other primer. The biggest difference is you’ll need at least three coats of magnetic primer to get a good result. This is what manufacturer recommends but you may want to keep testing after every coat just to make sure you have the adherence you want. Three did seem to do the trick, in most areas. The wall may not have uniform adherence, depending upon how well the primer is mixed, so you may want to test several areas. Remember to wait about 30 minutes between each coat to let the first coat partially cure.
It’s probably a good idea to let the entire wall cure overnight before applying the chalkboard paint. This stuff goes much further and will take less paint to complete your project. If you’re going to use the chalkboard paint without the magnetic paint, prime your surface first with a primer tinted to match your chalkboard color. This is mainly because you can’t really work the chalkboard paint so to get good color coverage the tinted primer may save you.
The manufacturer recommends a ¼ to 3/8-inch nap roller. Now, it’s important not to work the paint too much. So brush and roll in as few strokes as possible! This is a manufacturer instruction and it’s assumed that overworking the product will reduce its effectiveness. It’s also important to let the paint dry for at least 4 hours before applying the next coat.
Then, let the paint cure for three days before the final treatment. Now, this one is apparently not required but highly recommended. Evenly cover the entire surface with chalk and then erase it. These are standard new chalkboard instructions. Something about the thin coat of chalk that remains makes future chalk applications work better.
Both products suggest applying in moderate climate conditions. So nothing too hot or cold and try not to do it when it’s very humid.
It worked great for me and I love my new magnetic chalkboard wall.
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