STANDARD PAINT WANTED FOR NEW ZEALAND HOUSES

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 82, 6 January 1950, Page 6

STANDARD PAINT WANTED FOR NEW ZEALAND HOUSES

A new specification for readymixed paints to be used for painting outside woodwork, issued last year by the New Zealand Standards Institute, promises to check the frequent repaintings that have been found to be necessary on many houses in New Zealand. Under normal conditions a house should not need repainting under 1\ years, and on this basis the Paint Section of the Dominion Laboratory, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, has collected considerable data on thousands of houses in New Zealand. Before the last war, paint specifications for exterior woodwork varied, and during the war, through shortage of materials used in the manufacture of paint, an emergency specification was accepted that covered a lower grade of paint. The Paint Section gave assistance in the preparation of the new specification, and is responsible for the analytical check-tests of these paints. There is no upper limit of quality, but the specification lays down a minimum grade of the various paints suitable for undercoats and finishing coats. It is the minimum grade of the best quality acceptable to the painting trade below which the paint manufacturer, must not go if he wishes to sell the paint under the Standard Mark or under certification of conformity with the specification.