FEATURES OF STAINS AND PAINTS - PART TWO
This is part two of a 2 part series of articles on paints and stains.
Take The Headache Out of Finding Interior Paints Coatings for Each 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 could last longer. It could last longer, but as I found out when I was required to touch up the ceiling only two years later, exterior paints will discolor on an inside surface. Exterior paints contain special additives designed to withstand the outside. Interior paints have additives that help the paint dry to a durable, uniform surface 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: durability and elasticity, as well as ease of application, clean-up, and disposal. Latexes have fewer VOCs than oil-based paints. Some, such as the Pristine brand created by Benjamin Moore, are made with no VOCs in any way. Today's latexes are created with higher quality pigments and binders that provide them more body, so they go on thicker.
Latexes enjoy quite a lttle bit of level of popularity for interior applications, specifically for walls and ceilings. Alkyds stay the professionals' choice for trimming work because oil based paints are easier to paint on detailed surfaces like molding and hardwood trim. However, that traditional approach is gradually changing as better latexes, including Pratt & Lambert's Accolade Interior Acrylic Semi Gloss, are introduced to the market.
Take The Headache Out of Finding Exterior Paint Coatings
Moisture can be an important consideration for exterior paint selection. Each day a family group of four will generate several gallons of vaporized water inside a house.
Combined with naturally occurring humidity, this can mean a lot of moisture moving through the wall space and siding. Dampness is highest in the baths and kitchen. If these rooms aren't sufficiently ventilated, moisture will migrate through the walls. Vapor barriers help to contain wetness, but vapor always seeks to escape. The structure of a house, the sort of vapor barrier they have, ventilation, and humidity all make selecting the right paint critical.
In wetter climates you need 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 dampness pass through, unlike alkyd paints, which form a waterproof seal. Alkyds also don't flex with surfaces that expand and contract, as wood does, especially in colder climates. Latex paints have significantly more elasticity, allowing better adhesion.
I prefer using latex on most exterior surfaces, including wood siding, stucco, and concrete. Latexes withstand fading much better than most oil-based paints, and they'll cover either oil-based or latex primer (most oils have to go over an alkyd primer).
Latexes do a great job of covering cement. Despite its hardness, concrete is very porous, and oil-based paints don't always adhere well. For greatest durability, I recommend latex enamel.
In general, if I know of a latex product that provides superior performance, I'll choose it over an oil-based product that should be cleaned with a thinner.
Latex only requires water. Thinners add yet another cost, are hard to get rid of, and usually finish up spattered on my skin or clothes, regardless of how careful I am.
Improve Your Interior Staining
You can spend a life learning about 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 products available. Scan the label, along with any product information you can get, and speak to the personnel at a professional paint shop.
Outside stains come in oil based, varnish, polyurethane, and water-borne solvents. Stains have less colorant than paint and much more solvents, providing them with better wood penetration. Waterproofing is a priority with exterior stains. Most include built-in sealants to add sturdiness and help maintain the wood. The color 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 covering. Pigment is a finely ground coloring that doesn't penetrate the grain as deeply as a dye. That is why a pigmented stain is usually used along with a sealer such as urethane or varnish.
Some high quality interior stains have dyes to penetrate and pigments to bring out the richness of the grain. Others contain only pigments, that are simpler to apply, mix, and touch up. Pigmented stains are lighter in color and bring out more of the wood grain. If you are looking for darker results, a dyed stain will provide what you would like in one overcoat (be sure to use a conditioner on porous wood, such as pine and birch wood, to avoid splotching). Dyed stains are extremely difficult to touch up. Every coating eventually will require touching up, so make sure to consider 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 wish to avoid the watery nature of stains, try a gel stain, which has had almost all of the water solvent removed. Gels are easy to use. They wipe 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 challenging to cover evenly with out a toner. Gel stains do a great job of bringing out the grain on embossed metal or composite surfaces. I don't recommend working with them for hardwoods, which need a good dye stain to emphasize the depth and beauty of the grain.
Amazing Way to Use Sanding Sealers
Sanding sealers are interior primers that both penetrate and seal wood. You should 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 more like varnish, but diluted with solvents to permit better penetration for priming. The hardness of varnishes and lacquers inhibits them from soaking into the wood pores. Sanding sealer provides 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 are utilizing a sanding sealer with shellac, make sure it won't have an effect on the stain. Shellacs tend to yellow aver time and contain toluene, that has a very high VOC content. Shellacs are gradually offering ways to new sanding sealer formulas with lower VOCs and better performance.
Alkyd resin sanding sealers also have high VOCs, although less than their shellac based cousins. Pittsburgh Paints makes a slow drying alkyd resin sanding sealer without shellac named 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 shouldn't be used under a water borne polyurethane.
Oil-based sanding sealers can also be used to seal outdoor wood, especially decking, which is constantly exposed to sun and water. For color reliability in areas like decks, you need to completely coat, or back prime, the wood before it goes up, using the same sealer or stain. Olympic Water Guard, Messmer's UV Plus, Behr's, & most top quality deck stains are excellent water repellent sealers that can also be utilized for priming outdoor wood.
Wood and Stain Sealers Solution for Interior Wood
Sealers, including varnishes, lacquers, urethanes, and shellacs, are put into the stain itself, applied as a top coat on top of a stain, or used as a clear coat on unstained wood trim. They can be used for any type of trim, including windows, entry doors, and the casing around them. Although you can buy 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 natural 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 ideal for years. Make sure there's no wax in your cleaner, because wax clogs wood pores. I favor utilizing Hope's Tung Oil varnish for a wipe-on maintenance layer. Lacquer is a fast dry sealer that more often than not must be sprayed, since it becomes tacky almost immediately.
Polyurethanes do almost anything shellac can do, but they're easier to maintain. While shellacs act like paint, polyurethanes act more like a clear coating that permeates the wood instead of resting on it. Polyurethanes brush on and dry 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 require sanding sealers.
The odors associated numerous paints and stains can be more than simply offensive, they can be toxic. Solvent based varnishes, lacquers, and shellacs provide a super hard covering but contain very high VOC levels. Water based sealers, like the stains, match the performance of several 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 enough VOCs to warrant a respirator.
Although they resist yellowing, water borne sealers such as acrylic latex polyurethanes do tend to raise the grain. They'll also harden or "flash off" quickly at temperatures greater 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 little more slowly. In cases like this, flashing-off simply means that the solvent evaporates and leaves the resins to complete the drying process. A contractor I know once used water borne latex polyurethane sealer that flashed off so fast he could only apply it between 5 A.M. and 9 A.M. Anything later than that was too warm.
Minwax makes very good water borne polyurethane, as do Pittsburgh, Pratt & Lambert, Benjamin Moore, among others.
Amazing Stains and Sealers for Exteriors
Because of their better penetration and sealing ability, most exterior stains sold today are oil-based. However, oil-based solid stains peel off as they get older, making them more difficult to maintain. A solid stain is like paint: It coats more than it penetrates. A latex solid stain peels less which is 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 market 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 when compared to a typical exterior stain, which make them more durable. I would recommend buying a high-end stain that is semi-transparent or what's called a trans-oxide. Until recently, the significant problem with exterior stains was their low UV resistance, but newer trans-oxides have finely ground metal mixed in for increased protection. A high end deck stain won't require a separate sealer overcoat, although you can include one (such as Olympic Water Guard) if you believe extra protection is required to fight moisture content and sun exposure. Better deck stains retail for approximately $35 a gallon and cover 300 to 400 sq. ft.
Avoid using deck stains that contain silicone. Despite their attractive price, they aren't a good deal. Advertisements for silicone stains and deck sealers often show beaded up water on a deck, and many people are fooled into thinking that this is the indication of a successful coating. However, silicon breaks down quickly, usually in a matter of months, leaving a discolored, waxy coat that is clearly a pain to remove. The deteriorated silicone also stops repelling water.
"High build" coatings such as Sikkens and Messmers work remarkably well on outside siding, nevertheless they are too soft to be used on your deck. Eliminating these coatings needs gallons of wood cleaner and way too much work.
Water based outside stains, such as Sherwin Williams Woodscapes, combine the benefits of oil-based and latex coatings. They run and drip significantly less than oil based stain, and dry faster, allowing for two coatings the same day. Water based stains have the resilience and versatility of a latex stain, which gives them lasting strength. They're a great choice for some applications. However that clearing up water borne stains calls for 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 dealer for specific cleaning guidelines for water borne stains, and read the label.
When In Doubt, Ask Questions
If you still have questions about which paint or stain to utilize, don't hesitate to ask people in the know. A skilled, educated salesperson can answer any questions you might have. Look for a paint store with personnel having at least 10 years of experience in the business. Inquire further what has worked best for your unique application and ask to read a spec sheet on the product in question.
The answers you get will be based upon whom you ask. A paint store will attempt to sell you one of their products, in the end, that's why they're running a business. Painting contractors may not be impartial, either. They have to sell their competence. I get a lot of cell phone calls from people seeking assistance with their painting problems. Most painters, including myself, don't mind giving an hour of our time, but if you want in depth answers, consider finding a contractor for a professional analysis. Rates vary, but I charge about $60 for a written and oral evaluation, depending on the traveling time included. A paid evaluation will let you know whether you should paint, stain, or re-side, as well as which finish might be best for finishing your project. Each painting job has unique conditions that warrant specific answers.
Sound Quality Painting
824 90th Dr SE suite B
Lake Stevens WA 98258
(425) 512-7400
