Hi I’m painting my hallway, the stairs and door were varnished in mahogany. I’ve sanded everything down and I’ve been told to use an aluminium wood primer to make sure the dark colour doesn’t bleed through. The product is named Metal Color (No U) – However, throughout the article, I will default to my native spelling “Colour” unless I am specifically mentioning the product itself. Please feel free to berate me for the few instances I am likely to have gotten this wrong. Maybe wait until later in the year when hopefully the warping has reduced and apply more top coats? I’m confused about breathable paint like this – does it let water vapour in as well as out? (I was expecting it to behave like Gore-tex!) They sanded and applied Zinnser shellac followed by a white undercoat and then the gloss. It looked bad after 1 coat, slightly better after 2 and acceptable after 3. Unfortunately the door wouldn’t then close and after 2 weeks the paint hadn’t set properly. My plan is to use a fungicidal wash followed by a wood preservative, together with a wet rot wood hardener on the sills, and then to recoat with Sikkens as before.

If a matt white finish is what you are after I’d have a look at opaque wood stains rather than paint. This way you don’t have to worry about primers and undercoats. Primer usually comes in white or gray. Use either color as is without tinting it or have the primer tinted to a hue that’s slightly lighter than the top coat. Tinting primer, which requires buying a primer labeled “tintable,” generally achieves a deeper, richer, and more uniform final color but is particularly recommended in the following situations: What I would do is paint maybe the largest wall first with a coat of regular emulsion and then see the next day what the result is. If it is satisfactory you could go ahead and complete the job this way. It’s definitely worth a try. It may be that can get away with just spot priming a few stains here and there, or you may not even have to do this at all. This was completed about a year ago. Since then, we have reached the conclusion that a lighter, off white colour would look better than the rather yellowy cream it has become and also there are signs of the timber resin seeping through the finish. First, remove any loose paint around the chip before using the fine grit sandpaper to gently blend in the edges of the chip. Next, clean and apply a thin coat of undercoat with the one-inch brush.

Yes, you will be wasting your time adding another coat. The people at B&Q ought to refrain from giving advice on subjects they know nothing about.

For the new work, which I gather is isolated to the window sills, I would use the Weathershield preservative primer as originally intended. If there are any significant knots or resiny patches you can spot treat these with standard knotting solution. I saw before I decided to use the Dulux oil base gloss that the yellowing issue was sorted out. Do you have any views on why the areas getting no sunlight have yellowed / areas getting plenty of sunlight are still Brilliant White and glossy. So it makes sense that many of these paints are varients of “aluminium” since that’s what most planes are made of.Water based paints can react with traditional shellac knotting. This can result in staining that may be worse than the knotting stain you want to prevent, especially where the finish is a light colour, especially white. What sort of preparation and treatment do you recommend for interior and exterior? Could I go for a water-based treatment for the inside surfaces and an oil-based one for the (very exposed) outside? I have chatted to Dulux and to my paint shop and I’m getting different opinions on the best primer to use. The carpenter who put in the new sills has told me to use aluminium wood primer on the old oak. Dulux said that if I rub down resinous wood with meths and then see if their preservative primer soaks in to the wood to just use that and not bother with aluminium wood primer..

However after a few days the paint is beginning to chip off , could you advise me on how to fix this or a better primer / undercoat? Debbie If prepared properly, you can use almost any paint you want as the top coat. But it would make sense to use satin or gloss, or a variation such as semi-gloss or eggshell, to give a good, hard-wearing, long-lasting finish.

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Rub down between coats with a fine 220-grit sandpaper. If painting bare wood, first add a primer, followed by two coats of undercoat. Again, rub down gently between coats. There are two options when it comes to removing old gloss paint from woodwork: paint stripper or heat gun. Kilz 3 Premium interior/exterior primer is formulated to minimize problems caused by color changes, minor stains, surface textures, and porosity differences. This primer offers excellent adhesion, a mildew-resistant coating, and seals interior and exterior surfaces for a uniform finish.

Softwood is highly porous and, in this case, using a water-based system was probably not the best idea since, by their very nature, water-based paints have a high water content and this can cause some timbers to swell and disfigure out of shape. All wood fillers will fail eventually when used externally although Toupret tend to be one the better brands. The problem with getting the final colour to match is a common one although you could, maybe, opt for an opaque stain rather than a semi-transparent one? The terms often get mixed up and depending on where you are in the UK, you might use alternative terms. Just to confuse matters further, we also have primer/undercoats and primer/sealers, which do both jobs! In my experience I have found this is true to an extent but not 100% so. I think it’s always worth using knotting in cases like you’ve described. Using water based finishes over previously oil based finishes can often be problematic. If you want to still use the same paint it might be worth experimenting with a solution on a trial area?

But it’s an important note, if you spell Colour the way I do, you may not find this stuff on some of your favourite hobby stores if you search for it with a U! Vallejo Metal Color Review – Summary Water-based primer is best for walls and ceilings. Oil-based primer is primarily used for doors, windows, metal, woodwork, or over tough stains in well-ventilated areas. Q. Which is better: primer or paint with primer? Now the important part, the painting. Using a brush or mini-roller again, apply a first-coat of paint to the MDF nice and evenly to create an excellent undercoat for finishing. Leave this to dry completely as per the manufacturers instructions. The chances are you will require a second-coat of paint, which you should apply so that the MDF has a good paint film applied. You’re repainting a previously painted surface in the same color or going from a lighter to a darker paint color. There are a range of wood primers available, all with different qualities, and the choice can be confusing. Water Based Wood Primers