Moisture (Green) MDF Wood tp be painted in bathroom - what to use

[David Smithz]

Hi there,

I have just had my bathroom fitted and stupidly said to the plumber that I would paint the wood to try and save some pennies. So I need to get it done as already as my new shower screen is a bit to small, it currently gets quite wet, so it is now a job I need to do ASAP.

Want to be sure of the process as a newbie DIY'er, and in particular, what types of paint / undercoats should I use. The items I have bought I can take back so please feel free to recommend alternatives.

I'm going to sand the wood and the polyfilled holes with a fine sandpaper-

240 I am going to use one coat of some Dulux Primer and Undercoat for wood.(quick dry) After drying, I will sand it down once more with the same fine sand paper Then I will give it another undercoat with the same stuff. Then I will use the Pure Acrylic Matt, New England Paint I purchased from B & Q which says it is suitable for Wood metal and Radiators (as well as walls and ceilings) After this drives I will give it another coat (Was assuming no need to sand in between last three coats)

that will be the wood parts done. Then I need to paint the copper pipes that run to the new towel radiator I had fitted. For these I was just going to find a suitable copper undercoat- give it one coat, and then use the same B&Q paint mentioned before (as this said suitable for Radiators also)

For the record the rest of the bathroom is tiled completely and the reason why I choose the B&Q New England Paint is because it had a very good colour match to my tiles.

Can anyone confirm that I am taking the right steps, and anything else that I should be doing.

If so I will get ready to crack on and all I have to worry about now is the silverfish I have noticed since the tiles are in place.

Cheers

Dave

[Stuart]

I'm sure someone will be along soon to give you a fuller answer but if the wood is getting wet when not painted then it will still be getting wet after being painted so i think that is going to be a problem and you should try and resolve that situation first .I presume that some of the area is tiled so can you not extend the tiles over the wooden area ? ....I think the philosiphy should be " If it's going to get wet then tile it" Did you consider chrome tails for the radiator which would have avoided any need for painting them and would probably have looked better .?

As for the silverfish...Pass..I don't think the tiling has created that problem other than them not having somewhere to hide .!!

Stuart

[David Smithz]

Underneath the sink there are some cuboard doors that were custom built. Also the concelaed cistern could not be tiled in for the toilet, but the rest of the bath room is tiled. Trust me, if I could have tiled it, I would have done. The way I see it, it is properly treated, surely it will be OK, even if it gets splashed on after each shower. At least that is what my plumber indicated too and the fact that one can have treated wood outdoors.

The actual radiator is fine, there is just small area of pipes coming out from the boxing in which is exposed and might as well be painted the same colour as at present they are coper pipe.

They probably were there all along on the digusting carpet that was present when I moved in. Just now I can see them and there is always about 4 when I go in at night. I'm in a flat and there is a shared soil stack pipe runnign through. Think they come in through here.

Thanks for your input. Still hoping for more input regarding painting the moisture resistant mdf.

Cheers

[Pete C]

Hi,

If the primer covers the MDF well and gets close to the final colour, it's probably OK to leave out the undercoat.

AFAIK undercoat is generally used to give a colour change between the underlying paint and topcoat.

Also if water might get down the hidden edges or back of the MDF, seal them with primer if you can, as paint doesn't hold so well to wood if it gets damp. Also wood may rot if it stays damp for a long time.

If filling screw heads with filler I'd record where they are or make a tiny dimple in the filler, to make it easier to find them just in case...

cheers, Pete.

[David Smithz]

OK, Do you mean it's OK to leave out the 2nd coat? I got a bit confused there. In any case, the area of wood is not massive, so I was thinking that better to give as much protection as possible rather then risk rotting wood.

Yeah, plumber told me to take the doors of and paint, as well as the backboard he made. To really seal everything well.

Good point cheers. Plumber has already filled the screw hole heads, but I know where they are right now, now when painted.

Thanks again.

[Pete C]

I misread your post there, thinking you had separate primer and undercoat. If it's combined then just a coat of that and the topcoat should be fine.

cheers, Pete,

[Andy Dingley]

MDF? You're screwed.

Best paint choice is a primer, then a coat of metallic aluminium paint, then paint over that. But MDF and bathrooms just aren't a happy combination - if there's shower overspray involved then it really will not survive.

Valchromat is a _much_ better option than MDF, even if you're painting it. It's a self-coloured MDF with extra resins in it - usefully moisture resistant.

[chris French]

In message , Andy Dingley writes

I had MDF (just the standard stuff) bathroom cupboard doors for a number of years (until we moved out) they were painted with acrylic primer, undercoat and Dulux satinwood oil based paint. Never a hint of problem

got normal spalshes, etc. in bathroom, but not sprayed on by shower - I agree about that point.