Harris Paints Leads Growth In Textured Finish And Continues To Innovate With New Finishes

Quality trowel-applied texture, reliably available locally

Originally developed to emulate the look of coral render, trowel-applied textured coatings have long been used in Barbados by those looking to add long-lasting beauty to their homes, especially when applying over rendered concrete surfaces. Harris Paints flagship trowel-applied product line, Troweltex, has been a leading option in the textured market thanks to its ease of application, excellent spread rate, and renowned durability.

Over the past few years, due to our investments in production capacity and our strength in being able to consistently supply the growing demand in Barbados, we have almost tripled our sales of textured finishes. We are proud to be the only textured finish supplier in Barbados able to supply all orders, regardless of size, finish or colour, within a few days at most.

New, modern Sandtex finish

As development and construction in Barbados has been growing the demand for textured finishes, we have heard from many designers, architects and homeowners that they are looking for new and more modern-looking textured solutions.

As a result, we have recently developed a new finish called Sandtex, which is a semi-elastomeric textured finish that has all the same properties of Troweltex, but provides a more consistent, non-swirled finish, very similar to those popular overseas. Available in Fine and Medium, and in colours ranging from White or Natural to custom shades, Sandtex costs only nominally more than conventional Troweltex. The product is also unique in that, unlike some of the international textured elastomeric finishes on the market, it can be applied over most concrete surfaces without the need to prime the wall prior to application.

The first project to use the new Sandtex Finish was the recently completed AZZURRO, a luxury condominium complex on the west coast built by Escape Developments.

Sandtex was in the final stages of development when the developers reached out to us for supply. It is initially available by special order with samples provided upon request.

“We had started the Azzurro project with a textured coating from overseas, but they were not able to give us all we needed, when we needed it.” said Alan Cox, Director of Escape Developments, “so we contacted Harris who told us they had a new formula in development that we could try. Within three weeks, they had completed samples on our site, adjusted the colour and formula to our liking, and produced and delivered enough for us to complete the project. This all happened between Christmas and the New Year which was really quite impressive”.

SANDTEX SHOWPIECE: Azzurro by Escape Developments, with exterior trowel-finish in Harris Sandtex Medium in Bright White.

Risk-reducing formulation improvements

One of the challenges affecting our industry over the past six months or so has been a shortage of local construction sand. This has led to the use of imported sands which, in some rare cases, have contained some organic contaminants. When inside the sand used to render over block walls, these bits of bark or roots release tannins that can leach out through conventional textured finishes, causing the appearance of “brown spots”.

Upon learning of these “brown spots” showing up on some projects around Barbados, Harris Paints undertook extensive research and testing and confirmed organic contaminants as the cause of this anomaly, to which all suppliers of textured finish on the island were potentially susceptible.

Although a fairly rare occurrence, Harris Paints immediately set out to find a solution and to offer the only Textured Finish in Barbados that would be unaffected by this issue.  

NO RISK OF BROWN SPOTS WITH HARRIS TROWELTEX: 
Organic contaminants in the render may cause brown spots to bleed through a textured finish, which Harris’ new formulation prevents from occurring.

Leaning on its network of global suppliers, Harris Paints was able to trial a variety of potential additives, finally locating one that was highly effective at stopping the bleed through of the contaminants, without altering the colour, flow or durability of the product. This additive is now already being included in every batch of textured finish we make.

Though this additive adds substantial cost to our product, we have not raised our pricing to our customers, as we view this formulation adjustment as an investment in ensuring our customers have less risk, and a better overall project result, when they use our Harris products.

We wish to thank all the developers and contractors in Barbados who have helped us grow so much in our textured sales over the past few years, for inspiring us to continue to innovate and remain close to their needs. We are proud to be a leading local manufacturer, and proud of the benefits that this allows us to provide to our customers.