Sico 360 Paint Review

I definitely don’t always talk about paint brands, but considering that applying a fresh coat of paint is one of the tasks that my real estate clients will take on before selling their house, I thought it would be nice to shed some light on a project that my family just completed. 

Most of the time, when painting a room, we’re a sucker for Behr paints, but generally, will opt for the best paint for the task at the best price point. 

Given that the project we just completed was a little out of the ordinary, we splurged this time around. 

Here’s what you need to know.

Our Project: Painting Our Tile Kitchen Backsplash

If you had asked me even two years ago if I would ever paint over tile, I for sure would have said “NO.” 
It just doesn’t seem like something that is possible, or, perhaps more importantly - a good idea. Tile is so smooth. It’s a lot like melamine cabinets: a real challenge for any paint to adhere to, at least for any amount of time. 

But after quite a bit of browsing through Pinterest, and the numerous posts about how easy it is to paint tile…and even how durable it can be, my wife and I were inspired. We’ve hated our Tuscan style kitchen for a while now. It’s perfectly functional, but the clashing of patterns is almost audible. 

The red in the floor, combined with the busy granite PLUS the checkerboard style backsplash tiles was just too much. We needed to tone down the reddish orange and instil a bit of calm...at the very least.

After eight long years of living with it, we decided that even if a paint job only lasts a few years, there are worse ways to bridge the time between today and our dream kitchen renovation days.

So, we hit up our local Rona+ (formerly Lowes in Canada) and explained to the person working the paint desk what we were up to. She was reasonably sceptical. 

“I just keep thinking about… how will you clean it?” she said.

Backsplashes are inherently greasy, and have to literally endure a lot of heat. We had already selected a Pinterest approved primer (Zinsser Bull's Eye 1-2-3), but still needed a paint that could hold up to all of the beatings we put our kitchen through (we’re a family who cook constantly). 

We had picked a colour that we loved from the Sico line: Sable Evening. 

As she perused the paint aisle, our helper at Rona+ definitely went the extra mile to find the right kind of paint. In the end, she let us know that while she may have opted for the Sico bath and kitchen paint for herself, she knew that all of her coworkers would recommend Sico 360. By the pricepoint and the listed durability, it’s clear that this paint is top of the line. 

We paid about $40 plus tax for a quart (842ml). Normally, this is around what I’d pay for a full gallon, but in comparison to the expense of a new backsplash, $40 felt like a steal. 

Sico 360 Pros and Cons

Pros: This paint is made for tough projects

Overall, we love the paint and are definitely in love with the result of adding a single colour to our previously multicolour/busy backsplash. In completing the project, the pros we’ve discovered all pretty much match exactly what Sico says the paint will do on the label, including:

Extremely durable, hard finish: Now that it’s on our wall (tile), it’s clear that it is pretty tough. We’re not brave enough to go at it with any rough scrub pads, but we can wipe it clean without an issue and there’s no flaking or chipping.

Super-fast dry: According to the label, it’s 15 mins until it's dry to the touch and you can recoat in 60 mins. This was actually a huge plus for us, as we didn’t want to take our main cooking area out of commission for a long time, just to paint it. The fast dry time allowed us to complete the whole job (two coats of primer and two coats of paint) all in 24 hours. 

After one day of using the BBQ, we had our stove back!

Outstanding adhesion to difficult substrates: Is tile a difficult substrate? You betcha. Ours may have looked flat and porous from a glance, but it was actually quite shiny and smooth when looked at up close. 

We considered sanding it lightly, but figured that all of the times we’d hit that wall with TSP cleaner (so many we lost count!), and how highly rated our primer was, that we’d risk painting it without sanding. 

The result? So far, so good! It stuck right off the hop and my only critique was that we’d occasionally get a few drips when painting directly under the cabinets. But, honestly, I think that was more of an issue of applying a little too much paint and had nothing to do with the adhesion of the paint itself. In all cases, we were able to catch the drips.

A little goes a (surprisingly lot of a) long way

Besides purchasing a $5 sample, we bought the smallest can of paint that we could and we still barely made a dent, even after two coats. I also think that the only reason we had to put on two coats at all, is because we were going to such a deep, rich colour. Now, although we hope to never have to do touch ups, we have plenty of paint left over just in case.

Block resistance - the one claim we couldn’t test

One aspect of this paint that we couldn’t test, was the company’s claim of ‘exceptional early block resistance.’ In truth, I didn’t even know what that meant until now. 

According to , block resistance is: Block resistance is the capability of a paint, when applied to two surfaces, not to stick to itself upon contact when pressure is applied. For example, good block resistance helps keep a door from sticking to the jamb, or a window from sticking to its frame. Standard waterborne paints have poor block resistance. 

I could see this being a huge plus if you were using the paint for doors and trim, but obviously, this wasn’t the case for us! If you’ve tried this paint for that purpose and have feedback, feel free to add it to the comments below.

Cons

Expensive: This was one of the most expensive paints on the shelf, making it more of an investment. As a specialty paint, we saw it as worth the cost, but if we were painting a larger area

Over the top durability:  Unless you’re painting high-touch surfaces (doors, trim, cabinetry etc), or surfaces that take a lot of abuse (which of course, was the situation for our backsplash!), you likely don’t need paint that comes with all of this durability. 

Overall: Highly Recommend this paint for difficult projects (for now!)

We still need to update the switches and plugs, and add a runner to continue toning down the colour, but all-in-all, this kitchen is now much more 'us'.

This paint job and review are both relatively fresh. We’re absolutely thrilled with the result and are wondering now why we didn’t do this sooner. 

Unlike a lot of ‘easy’ projects on Pinterest, this one actually lived up to the hype.

So, if you’re thinking of taking on a project like this one too, I highly recommend opting for Sico 360, or any other, highly-durable paint you can get your little paws onto.

Over time, I’ll be sure to update this review with the good, bad and ugly of how it holds up. But for now, we’ve got our fingers crossed that it will do exactly what we hope it will do: last just long enough to get us to a mini kitchen remodel.