A paint film dried in the cold can crack and even just dry to a powder. This is because the acrylic base needs some warmth to make the particles soft enough to stick together. There’s an intermediate set of temperatures between 5°C to 10°C where the film appears normal, but looks can be deceptive as the coating is likely to have much poorer than normal durability. The surface temperature of the substrate may be considerably colder than the ambient air temperature, which creates even more of a challenge for normal paints.

Designers can choose from Resene Wintergrade Hi-Glo (gloss), Resene Wintergrade Sonyx 101 (semi-gloss), Resene Wintergrade Lumbersider (low sheen), Resene Wintergrade Quick Dry and Resene Wintergrade X-200 (low sheen). And for larger projects, Resene can make Resene Wintergrade Roof Primer and Resene Wintergrade Summit Roof in batches of 200 litres.

Wintergrade products are the same price as the standard versions, so can be substituted for standard products without affecting the contract price for the project. Finishes of wintergrade products can differ slightly from the standard products, so Resene recommends using the same product consistently for a project. Wintergrade products are available for ordering from Resene ColorShops and selected resellers from April to August inclusive.