In a 5 gallon container, the multipurpose primer is roughly $70 more expensive than the Drywall primer. So unless the paint starts peeling tomorrow, I’m going to have to say you save your money and stick to the drywall primer.

Mythic Paint has a large selection of colors, more than I have seen with other low VOC paints like Benjamin Moore’s Harmony or Lowe’s Freshaire. In addition, they can match any color you like. In my case, I had a local Mythic Paint dealer match a Sherman Williams color – Aqua Sphere 7613.

I really like the consistency of the paint. It rolls on nice and thick and the paint self levels very well. For comparison, I’ve used other brands like Behr and Olympic and none of them compared to Mythic. This would take me roughly 3-4 coats in order to get an even finished. With Mythic it only took 2 coats (and I would certainly hope so at $50 per gallon)

The First Coat This is the same wall as shown in the primer review for consistency. At a distance, the color is near even. Up close there are some pinholes of the primer showing through. I was painting in about 4′ x 4′ patches. There was no noticeable building up the paint overlaps. Very amazing results for the first coat.

The Second and Final Coat Following Mythic’s recommendation, I waiting 4 hours before applying the second coat. I put it on nice and heavy. Dripping was never an issue here. Now the color is very even. I’d say we’re done here. Time to take the blue tape off. This performed better than previous paints that I had used as there were only 3-4 spots where the paint peeled along with the tape. Nothing major and should be easily fixed with a painter’s brush.

Conclusion
I’m very happy with the performance of the paint. The only standing negative thing I can say about Mythic is that it is pricey. It’s almost twice as much compared to your big box stores. But I’ll certainly pay the premium if it means non-toxic air for Mary, Jagger, and I to breathe. I give Mythic both thumbs up for the 6 year research they put into the paint. They definitely brought a great product to the market.

Read part 1 for primer application images and thought: Mythic Paint Hands On Testing – Applying Primer

I’ve started painting our basement this weekend using paint from the Mythic, who promote their brand as a non-toxic, ultra low odor paint. I have to admit that they have kept their promise on that end, but how well does its application really perform? Read on as I give my thoughts on the performance of this paint in my two part review.

Mythic’s Interior Drywall Primer can be applied to both bare drywall and painted walls. It is available in 1 or 5 gallon buckets. My basement is approximately 14×40 and I used roughly 4 gallons — 3 coats on the walls and 2 coats on the ceiling.

The First Coat The drywall is clearly visible after the first coat of primer. I was expecting a less opaque layer, but this is my first time ever applying primer to drywall, so I can’t fairly make a comparison to other brands. But at roughly $50 a gallon, multiple coats will get expensive.
The Second Coat The wall appears to be much more even. Up close the drywall is barely visible, if not at all. This is closer to the surface that I want before applying color, But there is still traces of (as the pro’s call it), photographing or joint banding — Meaning that the mud is “showing” through due to the difference in texture between drywall paper and joint compound, as well as the different absorption rates between the two. It’s not as visible head on, but it’s evident at low angles. There are some solutions to this, but at this point I’ll chalk it up as lesson learned.
The Third Coat Not much of a difference from a distance. Here the white color is much more solid than the second coat. There is still some joint banding in some areas, but I suspect that the this is partially caused by the mud being slightly uneven.

Afterthoughts
In hindsight, I think I should have tried skim coating the drywall. This involves covering the entire surface with a thin coat of joint compound, leaving a film thick enough to fill imperfections in the joint work, smooth the paper texture, and provide a uniform surface for decorating. Another option is to use specially formulated paints that act in the same manner as skim coating. But that would defeat the purpose of my no VOC painting.

As an added note to support Mythic’s claim to no odor, my father was over recently and was surprised that I had only painted a few days before and that there was no odor.

Continue with top coat application review: Mythic Paint Hands On Testing – Final Coat

The office construction has reached the point where it’s ready to be primed and painted. I was originally going to use the Harmony paint brand from Sherwin Williams, but Mary was concerned about the fumes that could be dangerous to both her, the baby, and Oreo. (Nobody cares if I breathe it in right?)

She suggested looking into Mythic Paint which is branded as a non-toxic, ultra low odor paint that does not have any off-gassing VOC’s and cancer-causing toxins that emit compared to other paints. A trip over to my nearest dealer and $500 later I’m ready to roll some paint. Stay tuned for results.

EDIT: My thoughts on the primer application can be read here.