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Tikkurila Intact Review – Water-based Trim Paint

Posted Oct 8, 2023 | Paints, Product Review | 3 comments

Tikkurila Intact is available as a matt (Intact 8), or as a satinwood (intact 40), and is used on internal trim such as doors, skirting board, windowsills and more. It comes as a two-part system; you should use Intact Primer as your first coat to aid adhesion and create the perfect base on which to work.

 

Intact Primer

This is fully water-based and available online in white or pretty much any colour. You can use it to coat melamine, fiberglass, industrially paint coated surfaces (not PVDF), hard PVC plastic, tile, aluminium, zinc-coated sheet metal, and surfaces previously coated with oil-based paint.

You can apply this paint via brush, roller, or airless sprayer. It’s touch dry after an hour, you can recoat with Intact Primer after two hours, and you can recoat with Intact topcoats after five hours.

 

Intact 8 and Intact 40

These are also water-based products available online in white or just about any colour (including colour matches). Touch dry in two hours and recoat in four hours. Intact 8 and 40 can also be applied via brush, roller, or airless sprayer.

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My Tikkurila Intact Primer Review

 

Adhesion primers are ten a penny nowadays, but it’s always best, where you can, to use the primer that has been specifically developed for the paint system you happen to be using. You’ll already know this if you’re used to working with the Tikkurila Helmi topcoats, which always sit better on Helmi Primer than they do on anything else.

I find Tikkurila Intact Primer very easy to use on previously painted surfaces without the need to dilute the paint. The opacity is absolutely bang on, even in white, which is a quality not all water-based undercoats possess.

You’ll encounter very few brush marks or orange peel when using Intact Primer.

It all seems to blend nicely together, and leaves you with an awesome, flat base on which to apply your topcoats. The adhesion is brilliant too, which always gives me confidence that the finish will last.

The only minor downside I can find with it, is there is a grey tinge if you use this paint in “white”. This does help with opacity, so extreme colour changes can be achieved in fewer coats. However, it does mean that you will need to apply two coats of Intact 8 or 40 to achieve a solid finish.

Tikkurila primer review

My Tikkurila Intact Topcoat Review

 

I thought I’d review the Intact 8 and Intact 40 in the same section, simply because other than the sheen level, they’re basically the same paint. I’ll just refer to them both as “Intact topcoats” for now.

Intact topcoats are very easy to apply via brush. The paint feels like it has some ‘guts’, making it easy to manipulate via brush, and strike straight lines. Unlike some other water-based products, you seem to get quite a lot of ‘open time’ too. This basically means you can keep a wet edge or go back to a surface you’ve just painted and work it a little bit more with a brush. It doesn’t pull on itself or look stringy (I hope that makes sense).

I would suggest using a mini roller to apply Intact topcoats to large areas like flat doors, but I think that’s the same with basically any water-based trim paint. You’ll find it easier to achieve an even finish.

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There are three things that really impress me about Tikkurila Intact topcoats:

  • The first is how well brush and roller marks just seem to melt away. It all levels off very nicely, even when using the paint neat and without conditioner.
  • The second is how durable Intact is after a short period. Some water-based trim paints take several weeks to cure and harden up. Some never become durable at all. Intact topcoats are very durable after a few hours. This means it will easily stand up to the knocks doors, windows and skirting board naturally endures. Intact 8 doesn’t scuff like all the other matt trim paints I’ve used in the past.
  • The third is the overall finish. It doesn’t look cheap and plasticky like some other fully water-based paints do. It looks sharp and blemish-free.

The only real downside I can think of, is because ‘white’ Intact Primer is slightly grey, you always need to apply two topcoats in white to achieve a solid colour. This is standard with most water-based paint systems, but I feel like if the primer was just a little bit whiter, then the number of coats could be reduced.

Tikkurila satinwood review

Final Thoughts

 

Tikkurila Intact is one of the best trim paints I’ve used. It’s easy to apply, durable, and doesn’t take any great skill to achieve a good finish. I haven’t tried spraying it yet, so it’ll be interesting to see how that goes, but as a paint to brush and roll, it’s brilliant.

I have used a lot of Helmi in the past, which is another water-based trim paint by Tikkurila. I love Helmi, simply because it’s a very easy paint to apply with an airless sprayer. But I think via brush, Intact is far superior.

Tikkurila Intact Review – by Mike Gregory

Posted Oct 8, 2023 | 3 comments

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3 Comments

  1. David Crossman

    I agree with everything said in the review about the topcoat. Can’t comment on the primer as I’ve only used 40 – two coats over existing WB satin and it’s solid.
    On a personal note I find the tin lids a pain.

    Reply
  2. Mark Jerome

    I have been using Intact8 for a while now and I absolutely love it. On kitchen units it’s my go to paint, the finish is flawless and it’s as hard as nails.

    Reply
  3. Chris Curnow

    Absolutely agree with the undercoat colour, I’ve started using scuff X instead now, because 2 coats and its finished, but maybe the 3 coats of Tik, including the undercoat would be more durable in the long run.

    I found the undercoat never quite mixed properly and always had grey streaks in it.

    Reply

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