At 14,680 square feet, this home in Austin, Texas was definitely not your typical residential painting project. Plus, with a multitude of wood paneling, custom trim work, and other custom painting details, it would take the right company to do the job right.

That company was BLS Painting, founded in 1995 by Benito Luna and today one of Austin’s most reputable residential painting firms.

“We have worked for the builder, Brian Bailey Homes, for many years,” says Erick Luna, Benito’s son and co-owner of BLS Painting. “He brought us into this project because he knew we had the experience to meet with homeowners and designers to help them select the best wood types to paint or stain. The builder also selected us for the way we present samples, color matches, and our experience with products.”

Size (of company) also mattered. “While painting the interior of this home we had up to 12 painters on the job site at one time because we were on a tight timeline and needed to meet it so that homeowners could move in,” Luna says. “Having a large team always helps us in all of our projects.”

Products for a Texas-sized job

Erick Luna of BLS Painting Luna relies on Sherwin-Williams for their large selection of products and finishes. On this job he used:

Exterior paint

• Resilience® Exterior Acrylic Latex: “Resilience is our go-to paint product because we can apply it pretty much every day in Texas. Some mornings are extremely foggy and humid and this product performs like it would under normal conditions. We like its color retention and the durability it offers.”

Interior paint

• Duration Home® Interior Acrylic Latex (walls): “This is our go-to matte or satinfor walls. Our customers love the durability of this product. It is important that when we go back for our one-year warranty our homeowners tell us how much they appreciate the paint product we put on their walls. We also like this product because it blends in very well even on smooth walls.
• ProClassic® Alkyd Enamel Satin (painted trim and cabinets): “This is the only paint we like to use on trim and cabinets because it is a smooth, durable, and thick product. Even when you brush out this product it does not require thinning to achieve a great finish.”
• Builders Solution® Interior Latex Flat (ceilings): “This is our go-to flat because it blends in. Doesn’t matter if we painted the surface two hours ago or two years ago – it touches up.”
• Builders Solution® Surfacer (primer): “We use it on every wall that gets a matte or satin sheen or when the walls are a level five smooth texture. We really like how thick the product is and how it helps cover some of the sand marks or pinholes from the drywall contractor. This product makes our finishes look better!”

Wood finishes

• Sher-Wood® Stain System: “We love the Sher-Wood BAC Wiping Stain because it is a very translucent stain that is not muddy, and the longer you let it sit before wiping the darker it gets. We have also had to mix dye stains with Sher-Wood to make richer colors and it has worked great without bad outcomes like we have with other stains. We also like how fast it dries and is ready to be topcoated. We like the Pre-Cat Lacquer topcoats because they get catalyzed and after we catalyze them, we have 30 days to use. The finish is very durable, non- yellowing, and great in controlled humidity. We have tried spraying different lacquer topcoats on the same day, and it seems like the Sher-Wood topcoats did not trap moisture like others do.”

This article was originally published in the Spring 2020 issue of PPC magazine. Story by Mike Starling, PPC Editor. Photography courtesy BLS Painting. Read about other successful, high-profile projects in the PPC Digital Archive.