Wood finishes
Built for the spray gun.
Lenmar is the lacquer wall behind our counter: pre-catalyzed lacquers, sealers, wiping stains, and waterborne topcoats for cabinets, doors, and millwork. It is what the cabinet shops in this valley spray, and we tint the pigmented lines to order.
Pre-catalyzed lacquer, satin
Why
Wood gets handled. Wall paint was never built for that.
A cabinet door is opened dozens of times a day, usually by the same square inch. Lacquer cures hard enough to take that and sands to powder between coats. Straight nitro also melts each coat into the one under it, so a repair blends instead of leaving an edge; precat trades some of that for a harder film.
Pre-catalyzed means the catalyst is already in the can. No mixing, no pot life, no leftover kit going off on the shelf. It sprays, flashes in minutes and sands the same day. Shops on a schedule have standardized on it.
Lenmar has made wood coatings for more than sixty-five years: under Benjamin Moore from 2008, and under Gemini Industries since 2022. The lines are unchanged, and we still tint them at the counter.
Range
Four families of wood coatings.
Pre-catalyzed
UltraLaq
The standard. White precat tinted to order, and a water white clear that stays clear over light woods.
Nitrocellulose
DuraLaq
Straight nitro: sand sealers, primer-surfacer and clears. The traditional system, with full burn-in between coats.
Waterborne
DuraLaq-WB & Aqua Plastic
Low-odor topcoats and a waterborne urethane for occupied houses and site work. Water cleanup.
Stains
QuickStain
Fast-dry wiping stains, mixed at the counter. Wipe on, wipe off, seal within the hour.
Schedules
Three schedules for most jobs.
Painted cabinets
The shop standard
- 1Precatalyzed Primer: white undercoat, sands flat.
- 2UltraLaq White Precat: first coat, tinted at the counter.
- 3UltraLaq White Precat: second coat in the final sheen.
Scuff-sand between coats. Most painted kitchens in the valley are finished this way.
Clear over stain
The furniture schedule
- 1QuickStain Wiping Stain: wipe on, wipe off.
- 2UltraLaq Fast Dry Sealer: precat sanding sealer, sand at 30 minutes.
- 3UltraLaq Water White Precat: two clear coats.
Water white on maple and white oak; it will not amber the way standard nitro does.
Occupied house
The low-odor schedule
- 1DuraLaq Primer/Surfacer: or apply the waterborne topcoat directly to raw wood.
- 2DuraLaq-WB Topcoat: waterborne lacquer, dull or satin.
- 3Aqua Plastic WB Urethane: for tops and treads that take hard wear.
For finishing in place: less solvent in the air, water cleanup, same-day recoat.
Ledger
What we keep on the shelf. For five-gallon pails or anything unusual, call the counter a day ahead.
Counter
White or water white: which clear is right?
Standard nitro ambers as it ages, which flatters walnut and cherry. Water white does not. It goes over maple, white oak and anything pickled or pale. For wood that is light and should stay light, water white.
Can you tint it to a color I picked for the walls?
Yes. We tint UltraLaq white precat at the counter to the color on your order. A sprayed lacquer reads differently from a rolled wall in the same color: smoother, and usually a touch deeper. Screens vary as well, so spray a test door before the shop runs forty.
What does pre-catalyzed offer?
The catalyst is in the can, so there is no mixing, no pot life and no half-used kit hardening on a shelf. You pour, spray and sand within the hour. The trade-off is shelf life. Buy what you will use this season, and check the lot date on the can.
Can I brush any of this?
Not the solvent lacquers. They flash too quickly, and every stroke will drag. DuraLaq-WB and Aqua Plastic lay down acceptably by brush on small work. If the whole job is brush and roll, speak with the counter; another line may suit it better.
Is Lenmar still a Benjamin Moore product?
It was from 2008 to 2022, when Benjamin Moore sold the brand to Gemini Industries, an employee-owned wood coatings maker. The lines on our shelf are the same, we still tint them here, and support now comes through Gemini.
Next
Bring the door to the counter.
To match an existing finish, we need to see it. Bring a drawer front or a shelf, and the counter will work out the stain, the sealer and the sheen against it.
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