Sherwin Williams Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel: An Honest Paint Product Review
This is our first paint product review as part of our new series:
A love letter to quality. Stay tuned for future paint and stain product reviews!
Bringing your perfect color vision to life requires cutting edge paint products and proven techniques. When it comes to doors, trim, and cabinetry, the smallest imperfections seem to be amplified as these surfaces serve as primary focal points. Furthermore, you want to create a finish that lasts, not one that only lasts for the instagram post. In Steamboat’s extreme environment, you need to use a paint that not only stands up to wear and tear (i.e. opening and closing doors, grabbing, cleaning, etc.) but a paint that stands up to sub zero cold, snow and ice build up, and extreme uv exposure due to the high altitude sun. That is why I’m sharing my honest feedback on some of my favorite paint and stain products that perform well for Steamboat home owners in my new blog series ‘Love Letters to Quality’.
Achieve Flawless Design Without Compromising Durability
Every product and project is going to have techniques and methods to follow to achieve the desired results. Achieving flawless doors, trim, and cabinetry that shows no lines, flashing, or dark/light spots requires the right conditions, the right tools, the right techniques and the right products.
Sherwin Williams Greenblack SW 6994. Perfect finish, no streaks or scuff marks which would be very noticible on such a bold color.
How to prepare your surfaces for Emeprald Urethane Trim Enamel
Painting preparation is key for every project but for a factory grade finishes you really can’t skip a step in prepping surfaces. Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel yields the best results when applied through fine finish spraying. That means that we like to work in a controlled environment. Since we are spraying, there is always going to be an element of overspray, or paint that does not make it onto the surface. That is why we take surface prep very seriously by using industry leading painters plastic and drop cloths to shield off work areas.
Furthermore, achieving the right spray pressure and using the appropriate spray tips is key to prevent overspray (or let’s just call it waste). Often times you see painter/how to videos that make spraying look really easy. Granted, I have it down, but that’s because I’ve been doing this for over 9 years.
In fact, if you don’t know the pressure or orifice size that is recommended to come out of the spray tip, or spray tip size you are going to be wasting a lot of time, paint and effort. Let’s also not forget that paint sprayers can be dangerous as they atomize paint and use pressure that can penetrate skin, so safety is always very important.
Once the surface is prepped, let’s get to application best practices.I always recommend at least a scuff sand and a reliable primer to help with adhesion. Now Emerald Urethane is a multi surface urethane meaning it dries hard and can stick to surfaces like wood, composite, even metal, but you should always factor in what was used on the surface prior to applying a new product.
For example, I’ve seen interior cabinets that were painted with a standard latex that would be most recommended for your walls. That’s why you need to get rid of the old by sanding it down before you apply a quality product. If you’re applying Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel over a surface with pealing or discoloration then you’ll experience the same issues since they were unaddressed, just masked over.
I always recommend a primer to help with coverage and further help seal the surface and block out undesired results like tannin bleed or heavy woodgrains coming through. This reduces the number of coats and promotes better adhesion. Some of my favorite primers are Sherwin Williams Premium Wall and Wood Primer.
This one should be used exclusively indoors and the reason I like it so much is that it sands nicely and provides excellent adhesion and surface protection. Next, I love Extreme Bond Primer which can be used both indoor and outdoor. This one doesn’t sand quite as well as Premium Wall and Wood, but it sticks to almost everything! Finally, in cases of extreme tannin bleed like on cedar I love Extreme Block Primer. Like the name suggests, it blocks out everything!
How to apply Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel
Ok so you have your paint area masked off, your paint surfaces have been prepped and primed, we are following the recommended recoat times found on the product labels, it’s time to paint! My go to method is through a high volume, low pressure spray (HVLP). However, if you are using Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel for a DIY project, you can use a microfiber mini roller. I recommend 4 ½” to 6 ½”. If you have a small furniture project, I’d recommend using these applicators.
By Spraying, you have the benefit of better controlling the even distribution of the coating so that way you are achieving better consistency throughout the painting surface. Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel sprays well at lower pressures and it is not as thick as a traditional latex meaning you don’t have to worry about thinning which saves time, promotes better adhesion and achieves a perfect consistency.
Bold, stunning colors and a finish that stands up to grabbing/pulling, cleaning, kitchen grease etc. Photo credit belongs to locally based Rumor Designs.
Final feedback and Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel product review.
Overall, this is a pretty solid paint and I think Sherwin knocked it out of the park with this one! However, there are a couple of items I wish were improved. First, just from working with clients and especially with current design trends, you essentially only get two paint sheen options: Satin and Semi-Gloss (I guess they do make a gloss but that’s not super popular anymore). Design trends and paint technology have developed Matte finishes that hold up well to wear and tear. For example, I’ve used Sherwin-Williams Gallery Series which offers a 10 sheen Matte finish. This isn’t a huge issue as it’s really never been a deal breaker with clients, but it’s always nice to have additional product offerings.
Long cure times :(
Ok this next point takes this product down a couple more pegs in my book and that is cure time. Cure time is the amount of time it takes for a paint to reach the maximum hardness, durability and resistance. The cure time for Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel is high, it’s usually around 30 days! This makes it hard to plan projects at times, as a home owner wants to be able to live in their space once I finish the job and clean up.
This leaves me to have those sometimes awkward conversations of ‘this is a really durable paint, but be cautious using this surface for the next couple of weeks’. For example, Sherwin Williams launched Gallery Series in 2023 and it has a cure time of around 24 to 48 hours.
If I’m painting an exterior front door with Emerald Urethane Trim Enamel in the winter time, I’ll need to leave the finished door protected in a heated inside environment for 30 days before we’d install it back on the home as the sub zero winter temperatures would interfere with proper curing. Sometimes this isn’t always possible so it just causes me a little extra project planning.
I’m giving Sherwin Williams Trim Enamel a 4 out of 5 stars, with 5 being absolutely perfect. I love the application and the factory finished looks that I’m able to provide, and I like that Sherwin Williams always has great product availability and offers this one in quarts for those rare moments where you’re just a little bit short. However, the cure time is a bit of a thorn in the side as it adds additional planning to my projects. Then again, nothing is perfect, but I always love using high quality products as my goal is to achieve that beautiful finish that pops on instagram, but lasts for years! Stay tuned for future reviews as part of my Love Letters to Quality Series!
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