Advice please ,in LAYMENS terms ! I would like to paint a solid oak table, which has a polyeurethene finish, in a WHITE SATIN FINISH. I have been told that a lacquer paint gives a durable finish? This will be a breakfast room table. I am happy to sand this down so it will be ready to finish but not sure what the best paint to use? I do have a Wagner 120 sprayer but have no idea which way to go from there. Latex, Enamel or Lacquer? Do I need to cover it with something like Kilz first, can I use that in a sprayer? Or do I just need some sort of a sealer before doing the paint? HELP, all you experts out there!
On 14 Mar 2005 18:25:02 -0800, the inscrutable "barrie snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com" spake:
You have a LOT of work ahead of you. To get a paint to stick to it, you'll have to strip the table down to bare wood. (even poly doesn't stick that well to poly) Doing that with polyurinestain is a real chore. Do it outside with old clothes, THICK nitrile gloves (it'll eat latex), and a carbon filter/organic canister respirator on. Use an aircraft-type stripper, one with methylene chloride in it. Make sure to keep it off your skin, it burns intensely. DAMHIKT. If the table has a veneer layer on top, you may lose it.
Yes, use the proper sealer for the type of paint you buy. Ask your local paint store manager what they'd use, or get quotes from furniture refinishing shops in the area, asking what they'd use and why. Lacquer and enamel are gloss paints by nature, so you'd have to degloss them for a satin finish. After you've sprayed the table, take a week away from it, at least. Let the stuff harden and cure. Do NOT let your wife talk you into putting it back in service any sooner or you'll both regret it, with you taking the blame. I've seen that happen dozens of times. Look at the cure times for the paint you use and add at least a week to that for a table. Don't touch it or set anything on it for that time.
Or take it to a refinisher and let them deal with it all. It may be the best bet for you. G'luck!
Sanding is going well so probably will not have to use the stripper and it is a solid oak table. What about the other option of using a latex paint and finishing with a satin polyeurothene? I guess I am looking for advice on the finish that will stand up to everyday abuse best since WHITE is NOT a very practical color for a breakfast table, but got to please the wife!! Thanks for the help
If this table was commercially made, it is highly unlikely to have a polyurethane finish, which may actually be a good thing for you.
Either way, start by preparing the surface. Clean it really well using something like a capful of Dawn in a gallon of warm, not hot, water and lots of clean cloths. Rinse with fresh water and dry immediately with clean cloths. Clean it again with paint thinner, mineral spirits, or naphta. Again, use lots of clean cloths. Carefully sand any severe roughness down and then go over the whole surface with some fine sandpaper to just barely provide the next coating with a slightly roughend surface. Prime and seal the surface with BIN. This is a white pigmented shellac. It will stick quite well. As for a topcoat, pigmented lacquer is the best followed by acrylic latex or oil. The acrylic latexes of today are rivaling the oils. There are obvious advantages of waterborne finishes over oils. Do NOT use a vinyl latex as these will be too soft for a table top.
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