Paint over Solid Color Stain?

[bensandi]

Hi! We recently hired a company to paint our house. It was built in the early 1990s and is brick and wood. My neighbor told me that it is currently a solid color stain and I shouldn't have them paint over it because it will just peel! I never asked the company if the house is stained or painted. How can I tell solid color stain from paint? Is it okay to paint over solid color stain? The company is going to powerwash, caulk, spray zinc oxide on the some nail heads, two coats of Sherwin Williams and a hardener. Any advice? Thanks!

[edee em]

No primer was mentioned in your list of things being done. Saw a primer for your application (over stain) yesterday at the home depot.

Check into that.

[Jim R]

As long as the substrate is clean and any bare wood has been primed - topcoating a solid stain (oil or latex) with a quality acrylic latex isn't a problem. If the siding is cedar, knots can be problematic - bleeding through to the finish coat, especially if you're going with a light color. Make sure the knots are primed with a stain killing primer first. Kilz and BIN dry fast but IME, don't adhere all that well. I prefer an alkyd, overnight dry primer for this app. Also, if I had my druthers I'd use Moore instead of SWP, but maybe that's just me.

What the heck is a hardener, and how, when and why do they apply it?

[Hopkins]

I'm with Jim R - there aren't any inherent problems with putting paint over solid color stain, though if the wood looks dry or neglected there can be.

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