Working with Wood and Wood Paint

It’s a widely accepted truth that the choices of paint for your home can be overwhelming. Paint colors aside, this variety in paint options may be due to the different kinds of substrates or surfaces in a home. For wood surfaces, these para sure tips when using wood paint should help.

Study the Conditions of your Surface

The general rule to picking the right paint applies: consider the conditions of your substrate or surface. Will you be working on an exterior or interior part of your home? Will the sun be directly hitting your surface? If so, then you should be using paint that can tough out the sun and other damaging exterior elements.

Did you know: Oil-based paints offer excellent durability for high traffic areas. Latex or water-based paints are easier to work with, but only a few are guaranteed to weather the elements.

Surface Prep is a Must

In anything with paint, remember that the first and most important step to getting a smooth finish is to work with a smooth and properly prepped surface. For wood, you’ll need to consider what type of wood you’ll be working with. Surface preparation will vary according to whether your wood is bare or previously painted.

SURFACE PREP FOR BARE WOOD

Sand with fine sandpaper until your surface is smooth. Then clean dust off with a cloth or a rag before applying a stain-blocking primer and finally, your paint of choice.

SURFACE PREP FOR PAINTED WOOD

Use Trisodium Phosphate or a non-residue cleaner to clean your surface. To help your coat adhere better, rough out your surface with fine sandpaper before using a stain-blocking primer.

Work with the Right Wood Paint

Especially when working on old furniture, you want paint that’s vivid and extra strong against everyday wear-and-tear. Island Premium Paints’s Colorquick Quick Dry Enamel is an alkyd based paint for wood and metal surfaces, lead-free and formulated to provide high gloss, weather-resistant coatings. It comes in an assortment of 30 pre-mixed and 240 special colors.

Read more about paints and plan your home improvement projects with para sure tips from Island Paints!