WHAT PAINTS AND STAINS DO PART 2

WHAT PAINTS AND STAINS DO - PART 2

This is part 2 of a 2 part series of articles on paints and stains.

Take The Headache Out of Finding Interior Paints Coatings for Every Job

Did you ever wonder about the difference between interior and exterior paints? I once used exterior paint on an indoor ceiling, reasoning that it would last longer. It could endure longer, but as I found out when I was required to touch up the ceiling only 2 years later, exterior paints will discolor on an interior surface. Exterior paints contain special additives designed to withstand the outside. Interior paints have additives that help the paint dry to a durable, uniform finish.

A lot of the advances in painting technology have been with latex. Actually, latex has overtaken oil-based paint in a number of areas: toughness and elasticity, as well as ease of application, clean-up, and disposal. Latexes have fewer VOCs than oil-based paints. Some, like the Pristine lines created by Benjamin Moore, are made with no VOCs in any way. Today's latexes are made with higher quality pigments and binders that give them more body, so each goes on thicker.

Latexes enjoy quite a lttle bit of popularity for interior applications, specifically for walls and ceilings. Alkyds stay the professionals' choice for trim work because oil based paints are easier to paint on detailed surfaces like molding and hardwood trim. However, that traditional approach is slowly changing as better latexes, including Pratt & Lambert's Accolade Interior Acrylic Semi Gloss, come on the market.

Exactly What You Are Looking For - Exterior Paint Coatings

Moisture can be an important concern for exterior paint selection. Each day a family of four will generate several gallons of vaporized water inside a house.

Coupled with naturally occurring humidity, this may mean a a large amount of moisture moving through the surfaces and siding. Dampness is highest in the baths and kitchen. If these rooms aren't sufficiently ventilated, water will migrate through the wall surfaces. Vapor barriers help to contain wetness, but vapor always seeks to leave. The structure of a residence, the sort of vapor barrier it has, ventilation, and dampness all make selecting the right paint critical.

In wetter climates you require a paint that will let moisture pass through the wood, so water doesn't get trapped under the paint and cause blistering and peeling. Latexes are porous and let water pass through, unlike alkyd paints, which form a waterproof seal. Alkyds also don't flex with surfaces that expand and shrink, as wood will, especially in colder climates. Latex paints have more elasticity, allowing better adhesion.

I favor using latex on all exterior surfaces, including wood siding, stucco, and concrete. Latexes resist fading much better than most oil-based paints, and they will cover either oil-based or latex primer (most oils have to go on top of an alkyd primer).

Latexes do a great job of covering concrete. Despite its hardness, concrete is very porous, and oil-based paints don't always adhere well. For very best durability, I would recommend latex enamel.

In general, if I know of a latex product that will provide superior performance, I'll choose it over an oil-based product that must be cleaned with a thinner.

Latex only requires water. Thinners add one more expenditure, are hard to dispose of, and usually finish up spattered on my skin or clothes, no matter how careful I am.

How to Stain Interior Surfaces

You could spend a life time studying stains and sealers, but there's nothing mysterious about them. The bottom line in figuring out which stain to make use of is to become acquainted with the product lines available. Scan the label, along with any product information you can get, and speak to the personnel at a professional paint shop.

Exterior stains come in oil based, varnish, polyurethane, and water-borne solvents. Stains have less colorant than paint and much more solvents, giving them greater wood penetration. Waterproofing is a priority with exterior stains. Most come with built-in sealants to add durability and help maintain the wood. The colouring in stains can be pigments, dyes, or both. A semi-transparent stain has more dye for grain penetration. A solid stain has more pigment for surface coating. Pigment is a finely ground coloring that doesn't penetrate the grain as deeply as a dye. That's why a pigmented stain is definitely used along with a sealer such as urethane or varnish.

Some high quality interior stains have dyes to penetrate and pigments to draw out the richness of the grain. Others contain only pigments, which are simpler to apply, combine, and touch up. Pigmented stains are lighter in color and bring out more of the wood grain. If you're looking for darker results, a dyed stain will provide what you want in one coating (make sure to use a conditioner on porous wood, such as pine and birch wood, to avoid splotching). Dyed stains are almost impossible to touch up. Every coating eventually will need touching up, so make sure to consider the ease of maintenance in your selection of stains. You'll receive the best results by using better stains such as Minwax, Pratt & Lambert's Tonetic, Pittsburgh's Rez, or Wood-Kote.

If you want to avoid the watery nature of stains, get a gel stain, which has had almost all of the water solvent removed. Gels are simple to use. They spread on, dry out fast, and cover evenly. Because they're colored with pigment, gel stains don't penetrate that well. They're a great choice for porous woods that are hard to cover evenly with out a toner. Gel stains do a excellent job of bringing out the grain on embossed metal or composite surfaces. I don't recommend using them for hardwoods, which need a good dye stain to emphasize the depth and beauty of the grain.

How We Improved Our Painting With Sanding Sealers

Sanding sealers are interior primers that both penetrate and seal wood. You can use them under clear coats or over stains as sealers. Sanding sealers are different from a sealer like polyurethane, which is not made to prime. They're similar to varnish, but diluted with solvents to allow better penetration for priming. The hardness of varnishes and lacquers inhibits them from soaking in to the wood pores. Sanding sealer can provide a better bond for clear coats.

Shellacs are often put into sanding sealers to strengthen the resin and provide an instant drying agent. In addition they add an amber tone, so if you're using a sanding sealer with shellac, make sure it won't affect the stain. Shellacs have a tendency to yellow aver time and contain toluene, that has a very high VOC content. Shellacs are slowly supplying ways to new sanding sealer formulas with lower VOCs and better performance.

Alkyd resin sanding sealers likewise have high VOCs, although less than their shellac based cousins. Pittsburgh Paints makes a slow drying out alkyd resin sanding sealer without shellac called Rez 77-1. This particular primer/sealer is wonderful for both interiors and exteriors. Pratt & Lambert's Latex Sanding Sealer has very low VOCs, but is purely for interior wood and must not be used under a water based polyurethane.

Oil-based sanding sealers can also be utilized to seal outside wood, especially decking, which is continually subjected to sun and water. For color regularity in areas like decks, it's best to completely coat, or back prime, the wood before it is in place, using the same sealer or stain. Olympic Water Guard, Messmer's UV Plus, Behr's, and most top quality deck stains are excellent water repellent sealers that can also be used for priming exterior wood.

No-Fuss Wood and Stain Sealers for Interior Wood

Sealers, including varnishes, lacquers, urethanes, and shellacs, are added to the stain itself, applied as a top coat on top of a stain, or used as a clear coating on unstained wood trim. They can be used for any type of wood trim, including windows, doorways, and the casing around them. Although you can purchase stain/sealer combinations, they tend to yellow, are difficult to keep up, and don't endure as long as separately applied stain and sealers.

Varnishes contain oils such as Tung oil, a very hard, durable sealant that can be brushed on and dries slowly. Varnishes are easy to completely clean and keep maintaining with soap and water followed by a wiped on varnish, which usually keeps a wood surface looking great for years. Make sure there's no wax in your cleaner, because wax clogs wood pores. I prefer making use of Hope's Tung Oil varnish for a wipe-on maintenance overcoat. Lacquer is a quick drying sealer that almost always must be sprayed, since it becomes tacky almost immediately.

Polyurethanes do almost everything shellac can do, but they're much easier to maintain. While shellacs act like paint, polyurethanes act more like a clear coat that permeates the wood instead of resting on it. Polyurethanes brush on and dry out quickly, with little smell and VOCs. They have more or less replaced shellacs as a clear sealer. Another reason urethanes have become such popular sealers is that they don't really require sanding sealers.

The smells associated numerous paints and stains can become more than just offensive, they can be toxic. Solvent based varnishes, lacquers, and shellacs give a very hard covering but contain very high VOC levels. Water based sealers, like the stains, match the performance of many solvent based sealers, with fewer VOCs. The VOC content of water borne sealers such as Sherwin Williams Kern Aqua Lacquer average about 250 grams per liter, or 2 pounds per gallon, half the most common VOCs of oil-based lacquers. The ethers in water borne sealers aren't combustible, another advantage, but they still have sufficient VOCs to warrant a respirator.

Although they resist yellowing, water borne sealers such as acrylic latex polyurethanes do tend to raise the grain. They will also set up or "flash off" quickly at temperatures higher than 60°F. The best working temperature for most water based acrylic latex polyurethanes is between 50°F and 60°F, which lets them flash a bit more slowly. In this case, flashing-off simply means that the solvent evaporates and leaves the resins to finish the drying process. A contractor I knew once used water based latex polyurethane sealer that flashed off so fast he could only put it on between 5 A.M. and 9 A.M. Anything later than that was too warm.

Minwax makes very good water based polyurethane, as do Pittsburgh, Pratt & Lambert, Benjamin Moore, as well as others.

Amazing Stains and Sealers for Exteriors

Because of their better penetration and sealing power, most exterior stains sold today are oil-based. However, oil-based solid stains peel off as they get older, making them more challenging to maintain. A solid stain is similar to paint: It coats more than it penetrates. A latex solid stain peels less and is also much easier to maintain as it ages. However, I prefer oil-based products for semi-transparent stains. Added oil solvents let them penetrate deeper. Some of the better stains on the marketplace include Pittsburgh Solid Color Latex Stain, Messmer's U.V Plus, Moorwood Solid Color Exterior Stain, Sherwin Williams Woodscape stains, Pittsburgh Semi-transparent Exterior Stain, Rez Deck Stain by Pittsburgh, and the Sikkens Cetol system.

Deck stains usually have more solids than a typical exterior stain, which will make them more durable. I would recommend buying a high-end stain that is semi-transparent or what is called a trans-oxide. Until recently, the significant problem with outside stains was their low UV resistance, but newer trans-oxides have finely ground metal mixed in for greater protection. A higher end deck stain won't need a separate sealer overcoat, although you can add one (such as Olympic Water Guard) if you believe extra protection is needed to battle wetness and sun exposure. Better deck stains retail for about $35 a gallon and cover 300 to 400 sq. ft.

Stay away from deck stains which contain silicone. Despite their attractive price, they are not a good deal. Advertisements for silicon stains and deck sealers often show beaded up water over a deck, and many people are fooled into thinking that this is actually the indication of an effective coating. However, silicone breaks down quickly, usually in a matter of months, producing a discolored, waxy coat that is a pain to eliminate. The broken down silicone also ceases repelling water.

"High build" coatings such as Sikkens and Messmers work remarkably well on exterior siding, nevertheless they are too soft to be utilized on your deck. Eliminating these coatings can take gallons of wood cleaner and way too much work.

Water borne exterior stains, such as Sherwin Williams Woodscapes, combine the advantages of oil-based and latex coatings. They run and drip less than oil based stain, and dry faster, enabling two coatings the same day. Water borne stains possess the resilience and overall flexibility of any latex stain, giving them stamina. They're a good choice for some applications. However that clearing up water borne stains takes work. You can find a couple of oil components in the solvent which may have to be cleaned. First use soap and water, then alcohol. Ask your supplier for specific cleaning directions for water based stains, and read the label.

Ask Questions When In Doubt

If you still have questions about which paint or stain to use, don't hesitate to ask people in the know. An experienced, knowledgeable salesperson can clear up any questions you might have. Look for a paint store with personnel having at least 10 years of experience in the business. Ask them what has worked best for your unique application and ask to read a spec sheet on the merchandise in question.

The answers you get will be based upon whom you ask. A paint store will attempt to sell you one their own products, after all, that's why they're running a business. Painting contractors might not be impartial, either. They have to sell their experience. I get plenty of cell phone calls from people hoping for assistance with their painting problems. Most painters, including myself, don't mind giving one hour of time, but if you need in depth answers, consider finding a contractor for a professional analysis. Rates vary, but I charge about $60 for a written and oral analysis, depending on the driving time included. A paid analysis will tell you whether you should paint, stain, or re-side, as well as which coating might be best for your project. Each painting job has unique conditions that require specific answers.

Sound Quality Painting

824 90th Dr SE suite B

Lake Stevens WA 98258

(425) 512-7400

Sound Quality Painting