Hi Elizabeth,
We have been using mila wall for many years now. We did try using latex primer back in 2018 as an experiment with identical results. It was horrible. We have had the most success with Kilz all-purpose primer on the bare vinyl. You may need to do more than one coat, but after that's on the texture of the wall is much better and ready for your regular indoor paint. We tend to use Benjamin Moore eggshell finish paint, not sure if that makes a difference; it's just what we always have used.
As far as the seams go... not much to do about that in my experience. We do frequently cover over the primed mila wall with murals printed on Phototex, so that may be something to consider if you really want a more seamless look. Also, depending on your aesthetics and the particular needs of the exhibit, we have successfully used paint to create geometric murals which do help with distracting the eye from the seams, etc. of the mila wall.
Hope you are able to get some better results and best of luck! The mila wall is a great asset but can definitely be a beast.
Julia Fell
Curator of Exhibits
The Museum at Bethel Woods
Bethel, NY
jfell@bethelwoodscenter.org------------------------------
Robin Green
Registrar/Assistant to the Director
Museum at Bethel Woods/ Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
Bethel NY
rgreen@bethelwoodscenter.org------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 01-20-2022 11:39 AM
From: Elizabeth Greenberg
Subject: Problem with Mila walls
Hello colleagues –
My museum made a large purchase of Mila walls in October 2021 and we've had a terrible time trying to paint them. We're wondering if anyone else has had this issue? Specifically, normal latex paint (Benjamin Moore) bubbles and doesn't adhere within about 3 seconds of being applied. We have a few small sections of wall that we had to continue on because we had already started and needless to say it was extremely time consuming and tiring work, as the only way to get the paint to adhere was to keep rolling over the same section again and again as it dried. Each panel took between 30-45 minutes of strenuous rolling for the first coat. We immediately contacted Mila and have had a back and forth, but no resolution to the problem. Meanwhile our main gallery with the bulk of the walls sits unpainted with numerous seams showing; not the look we were going for. We also have no way of patching and painting, which will of course become a major problem as temporary exhibits go in and out.
We're wondering if there was a bad batch of vinyl coating applied to the walls and if anyone else has experienced this. Mila told us no one else has had a problem. Otherwise, we really like the walls, so this is very disappointing.
Any input appreciated.
Best,
Elizabeth
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Elizabeth Greenberg
Director of Exhibitions
Coastal Discovery Museum
Hilton Head, SC
egreenberg@coastaldiscovery.org
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