painting over semi-transparent stain

trw88

Greetings,

I'm sure this question has been asked before, but I did a search and couldn't find quite what I was looking for so here it goes:

I've got a wood fence that was stained with Olympic acrylic/oil stain two years ago. We're looking to paint the fence now with Dunn Edwards acrylic paint. If it matters, the stain is a light brown, the paint will be a darker brown.

What kind of surface preparation will we have to do?


In case it would help, here’s the back story. Several days ago, the fence was tagged in three large areas with graffiti. I didn’t discover it until late in the day. The police strongly recommend that we remove it or cover it up as soon as possible. Since the sun was going down and we were leaving the next morning for a couple of days, I hurriedly tried several things I had on hand, including some of the existing stain which went over the graffiti like water, a solid stain and other spray paint. Nothing worked. What finally worked was spraying some primer (all I had was interior no less) and covering it with some leftover Behr paint I had. Obviously, this is a temporary fix. I’d like to paint the fence now in case this ever happens again it’ll be a much easier fix.



In my naivete, I placed an order for the Dunn Edwards paint without realizing that painting over the stain could be a much bigger job than I thought. The Behr paint actually went on fairly well and has stayed on just fine despite the fact that I applied it at dusk and it rained in the middle of the night.



I would appreciate any suggestions and insights.



Thanks, Tim

jsheridan

In my humble opinion, don't put paint on a fence. Rather, use an acrylic solid stain. I can't see why any solid stain wouldn't cover, as you said. Did it cover and eventually bleed through? Maybe a sealer is necessary. Fences and decks are two things that shouldn't be painted. Paint and stain fail in different fashions, from a long term maintence perspective, stain is the easier of the two.

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trw88

Thanks Joe. I really appreciate it. I'm getting the uncomfortable feeling that I screwed up. But the solid I had on hand, which is an acrylic, really didn't adhere to the spray paint of the graffiti. Whereas the paint covered it right up. No sweat. My concern is that if I went with a solid stain and the fence got hit again with graffiti I wouldn't be able to stain over it.

jsheridan

I guess if they used a gloss spray, the issue would be adherence rather than bleed through. In that case, paint may not adhere long term either. The only paint I've ever seen adhere to exterior w/out prep is BM MoorGard Low Luster. Stuck to polished PVC handrail, no prep, no bonding primer. I couldn't hack the sample off with a scraper. Do what you got to do. Good luck with it. I would find NCPaint on here and private message him.

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NCpaint1

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Benjamin Moore, Sikkens, TWP, PPG, Airless sales and service

trw88

Thanks NCpaint1.

So, just to make sure I understand. I can prime the fence with an acrylic primer and then paint over it with an acrylic paint? Should I sand the fence before I prime it?

You're not the first one to tell me using a solid stain would be the best option. But I made the classic mistake of acting before I knew what would be the best thing to do. Since I already have the three gallons of expensive paint, I'm feeling committed to it. But it sounds like it will work -- with some extra work.

Tim

NCpaint1

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Benjamin Moore, Sikkens, TWP, PPG, Airless sales and service

trw88

Ok, great. Thanks again!

trw88

Just when I thought I had a plan, my wife came up with another possibility that has me going…hmmmm. Her thought is if it really makes more sense to stain the fence with a solid than paint it, maybe we would be better off setting aside the paint I bought for the fence for a workshop we’ll be building within a year or so. We’re not necessarily sold on this idea yet, so I thought I’d ask what you all thought.



Would it make more sense to stain than paint? Sounds like it would at least to some degree in terms of long-term maintenance? What about in the application process?


If the fence were hit with graffiti again, could we stain over it (solid over solid) as easily as we could paint over it (paint over paint)?



If we did stain it, what would we need to do to prepare the fence?
Would letting the paint we already bought sit unopened for let’s said a maximum of 18 months (just to be safe, but mostly likely it will be around a year) do any damage to it?



What would you do?


Just a quick recap: It’s 115 feet of wood fencing stained with Olympic semi-transparent stain exactly two years ago. Water still beads on the fence. Since I couldn’t cover the graffiti with the same semi-transparent stain, I had to paint over it. So, the fence is now about 90 percent stain and 10 percent paint. Which raises another question: Will solid stain cover the paint?



Sorry for all the questions. But we’re here for the long-term, I just want to make sure I do this right.
Tim

NCpaint1

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Benjamin Moore, Sikkens, TWP, PPG, Airless sales and service

trw88

Sounds like a solid stain has a few advantages, but they're not significant.

NCpaint1

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