I’m working on some Adirondack chairs. I want them to be “relatively” low maintenance, so I’ve been using Behr’s exterior latex paint. Should I be sanding inbetween coats to get a better finish and coverage?
Thanks,
Darryl
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Replies
I wish you good luck. Using paint on a horizontal surface is usually a big no no. Maybe if you store your chairs indoors during the winter you can get away with it. In my experience even deck paint peels. Have you had any paint coming off on clothing?I've made hundreds of picnic tables through the years and the best luck I've had is with two products. Man O War marine varnish, clear or red, and Krylon tinted poly. Walmart used to have the Krylon. I've never seen it anywhere else.
Recently I've made some Adirondack furniture and encountered some finishing problems. You can see my reply to a post under finishing, lawn furniture. There I have a photo of some test sample I've left out to weather.
Bleu
There are more old drunkards than old doctors. Ben Franklin
What is Vin Rouge? Aren't you satisfied with that finish? I don't understand, all that work and now you're looking for a lasting finish?
I am building chairs out of Cypress and after much reading on this forum am going to use the Olympic paint base. Dries clear I understand.
Vin rouge = red wine, I think he's just referring to the color.
I would use an exterior enamel rather than a latex. I would prime them first with a sandable primer... pigmented shellac would work... and then sand them to smooth out the surface. After that I don't really see a need or use for sanding between coats unless there is further surface roughness that you want to remove. Enamel can wrinkle if sanded and recoated too soon (ie. under coat is not cured enough), whereas if it's not sanded it can be recoated without wrinkling. Granted, latex doesn't have such issues. But, latex isn't nearly as durable either.
I just recently painted 5 Adirondack chairs this way. Except that I used an automotive acrylic primer instead of shellac.
One thought on using exterior latex. While it's true that there is no such thing as a maintainance-free exterior paint... Going with a good quality acrylic latex and following the manufactorer's suggestions ought to yield a paint job that should not require any maintainance for a good decade at the very least. Except for wear of course. But, putting several good heavy coats on the contact surfaces should help compensate for wear issues.
Should keep in mind that exterior house paints are designed to slougth off over time to sort of keep in fresh looking. In other words, it chalks. This chalking can and will get on clothing.
Latex enamel trim paint should be OK.Howie.........
Really. Do learn something new every day.Gretchen
If you start with sanded bare wood and apply a oil based primer and then a good quality acrylic latex top coat it will last a long time. I have a garden bench that I did that way and the paint was still good after 6 years I then painted it again because the DW wanted it to match the new house colors. Before I painted it the first time It had been painted by a previous owner and that person did not prime it and you could peel the paint off like a sun burn. Remember no outdoor finish on wood is forever because the would will move over time and the finish will fail eventually.
Troy
thanks for the feedback. I know I can't expect them to last forever with the exterior paint, but I have sold a few and want to know what I can realistically expect with this finish.
I oil mine every Spring.
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