How to Correct Priming Mistakes on Oak?

[wendi]

How do I know if I'm done with priming? I spray primed my previously stained and clear coated oak doors. Here are what I have observed....

1. Areas around grain are thick and opaque, as for the open grains and the grooves, the primer didn't get into them. The result is a primed surface with pits and dimples with no prime. I might have thinned the primer too much. I tried to sand it down and level the surface.

1. Some areas, the primer is translucent, I can still see little bit of wood color coming through. Is that good enough? Or, I have to make the primer completely opaque?

2. Dust particule got on surface while drying. Again, I tried to sand it off with 220 grit. Do I have to completely sand off the entire surface? Or, I can just sand off selective areas and the next coat of primer will melt into whatever is left of the previous coat (primer)?

-thx in advance

[m Ransley]

This is maybe your 50th question, last post you said you did it in Latex.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Sorry to hear that. Next owner of your house will probably be paying someone to stip them down so the beautyof the wood is visible.

Here are what I have observed....

Did you sand before priming? With clear coat, it is important to knock down any gloss nad smoth it out. There are also primers that are better suited for filling the grain.

If you want a really good finish, yes sand and re-coat.

Sand until smooth, recoat, repeat. Maybe repeat again. The better the primer, the better the finish.

[John Willis]

On Wed, 21 Jul 2004 18:25:47 -0400, "wendi" scribbled this interesting note:

As has been mentioned previously if you want a really good finished product you need to sand, clean, prime, sand, clean, prime, sand, clean, prime, sand, clean, finish coat, sand, clean, finish coat, sand, clean, last finish coat.

Also, as has been mentioned previously, there is no substitute for elbow grease...that means you need to lightly sand the entire surface to be painted each and every time, the entire surface, between every coat of paint.

-- John Willis (Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)

[wendi]

I did my experiments with latex/acrylic paint. I tested everything out with scrapes first. As for the actually cabinets, I'm still priming.

[wendi]

Hi John,

Yes John, but how much? Before priming.... some areas, I sanded a little too much thus exposing the raw wood, and some area I didn't sand enough. And, there're areas that naturally splits (nature of oak??) and the split edges seem a little bit raised. After priming the first coat, all the defects revealed. I'm not sure if I have to sand them down completely and start from scratch or just level it out. And, the next coat of primer should amalgate with whatever primer is left from the sanding.

To make things even more complicated, some doors got a complete uniform coverage (even in the pores, grains, and splits); but the coverage although complete and uniform is a little translucent. So, do I have to make a thick coat (completely opaque)?

Hm... I think somebody else mentioned that if you paint within a certain window, the next coat would melt into the previous coat. Hence, no sanding required between coat.

thx

-wen

[nospambob]

[John Willis]

On Thu, 22 Jul 2004 01:23:30 -0400, "wendi" scribbled this interesting note:

After the each coat of primer you want to sand until the surface feels smooth to the touch...no more. The key here is to knock down any high spots. The first coat of primer will cause the grain to stand up on any exposed wood and it will feel very rough. Sand a little, run your fingertips across it, if it is still a little rough, sand a little more...until it is smooth.

Remember how I just said you are knocking down the high spots with the sanding? Well, each coat of primer is filling in the low spots. That's why more than one coat is really recommended if you want a high quality paint job. Even on the areas with a uniform coverage, albeit a bit thin, I'd say sand lightly and shoot one more coat of primer...just to be sure. Remember the old adage, you can do it right or you can do it over. All it takes is time, right?

You might be able to get away with this, but I never shoot another coat of paint (or varnish or poly or lacquer) on interior wood work projects without at least a very light sanding first. Why? Because as mentioned the sanding is lowering the high spots and the primer is filling in the low spots until you achieve a smooth surface. Do this enough and the end result can be smooth enough to look like glass... Sanding is also making certain there is no gloss on the previous coat which is essential if you are re-painting a previously finished surface or if you are between finish coats (and each sanding process is also helping to smooth out the surface just that little bit more!:~)

-- John Willis (Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)

[nospambob]

[Phisherman]

Carefully follow the manufacturers recommendations, especially in the preparation steps.

A light prime coat should be enough.

Not good. It is better to use a low dust environment for just about all finishes. Do not sand and finish in the same room.

[John Willis]

On Thu, 22 Jul 2004 12:02:49 -0400, " [e-mail]" scribbled this interesting note:

Because when I'm doing a bit of painting on woodwork, especially if it is for me and I have the luxury of plenty of time, I want a finnish that is a close to perfect as I can get it. Just because there are no dust nibs does not mean the surface is as smooth as it can be with just a small bit of block sanding. Yes, it adds time, yes it takes a little more effort, but if I spend the time to custom build a set of shelves (or anything else for that matter) that I want to look as good as possible and last as long as possible, I'll take the time to spray, sand, and clean as many times as needed to get a surface that is smooth enough to satisfy me. Priming enough to fill in the low spots and sanding enough to knock down the high spots so that the surface is smooth and there is no wood grain visible is what I aim for...if I have the luxury of time, and if I am painting. Stain and varnish is another matter, although not entirely. I find it takes more effort to get a top notch paint job than to get a top notch stain and varnish job. (Or other variety of clear coat you may wish to use.)

-- John Willis (Remove the Primes before e-mailing me)

[nospambob]

[Baron]

This is a common surface tension related problem. Sometimes, you just have to use a brush although there are some tricks found on Jeff Jewitt's website that may work for you. A light sanding followed by a second coat MIGHT help.

As long as there is some primer on the surface, the paint will adhere and will cover the surface. Primer is not really intended to hide what is beneath it unless you are using a hiding / stain blocking type like Kilz or one of the Zinsser types.

This happens when there is dust in the vicinity or when the coating is slow drying. Lacquer dries very quickly and waterbornes dry fairly quickly. Oil based are the slowest. When I paint furniture, I sand the raw wood if required. With a hard wood, this is to 220 grit. Then, I prime with BIN if it is an interior piece. I then sand the entire surface lightly. I go up one grit so in this case, I would use 240 grit. This knocks down any wood fibers that may be sticking up and removes any dust nibs that may have settled onto the surface before drying, although shellac dries quite quickly. It is important that the entire surface be sanded so that the entire surface will be uniform. I then apply an acrylic latex, let it cure at least twenty-four hours and then sand very lightly over the entire surface, this time with 280 grit. Now, the final coat of paint is applied. There is no sanding done. The purpose of the sanding at each step is to create a smooth surface. The idea is to not sand so hard that the last applied coat will be completely removed. It is easiest to see this on the primer coat. If you sand through the primer coat, there is an excellent chance that the wood surface color will bleed through the first paint coat.

Do not sand selected areas, lightly sand the entire surface and apply a coat to the entire surface. The primer will only burn into the previous coat if it is shellac based although some waterbornes might do so as well.

Good Luck.