Advice

[John]

Are there many painters/decorators in this group???

cheers

[Mungo "Two Sheds" Toadfoot]

More than likely. I've done both.

Si

[John]

I am just at retiring age and will be giving my house the "final paint" before I get too old!!! Being quite handy I will be tackling this job by myself to keep me busy.

I have over 14 windows to paint and 3 doors that are wood with white gloss paint. The windows are in good conditions with not much flaking paint, some have a little bare wood showing. I would like to prime/undercoat these with 1 coat, then gloss with 1 coat, if this sounds right?

I was looking at dulux website and dulux trade and searching on newsgroups to find out the difference between oil, water and acrylic paint. Acrylic seems to be a good choice for primer/undercoat?

My question is, which product to buy from Dulux or Glidden I think?

Hope you can help me with some of this.

best wishes John

[meow2222]

The answer is an easy none of the above. Alkyd paints dont last well, a few years oudoors is common. Linseed based paints have a 15 yr life on wood, no contest really.

NT

[Dave Plowman (News)]

They might have a 15 year life in a *very* sheltered location, but no where near that when exposed to the elements.

[Weatherlawyer]

Both Dulux and Glidden are top notch. You use acrylic as a primer as it dries quickly and is easy to use. Then an oil based undercoat and then the finish. It is very straight-forward.

Chop out any cracked putty, prime and reputty. Inevitably the bottom rail needs some tickling. Check the mastic. Make sure any you re run is not too thick as it can (and does tend to) fall away.

The undercoat will dry in a few hours, the top coat is the slowest going off. Work your way around the windowsw ith the first job and go back to the first when it has dried and give that the undercoat. Then go to the second and so on until the first is ready for the finish. Actually you would be best to get on with the others that need primer.

Once they are all primed and undercoated you can paint the whole of the first window. Go over it with a cleaner then fine sandpaper to key it. Paint the beads and rebates first.

[meow2222]

have you been using it, or read thi somewhre?

NT

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Using it. The back of my house faces south and despite using the 'best' paints - as recommended in various places at different times, I've found deterioration after only a couple of years. I would happily pay near any money for a paint which lasted 15 years on wood, as an upper window needs scaffolding to access.

Incidentally, if you look at paint tests on Which, you'll not find any lasting anywhere near 15 years under arduous conditions.

[Weatherlawyer]

The idea of paint is that it takes the brunt of the wear and tear of sunshine and showers. Obviosly the sunshine and showers are going to affect one side of the house more than any others.

Which is why bloody ugly PVC has virtually taken over. It is the only really weatherproof alternative to paint. At least paint will not turn into something that looks like you used a box of cornflakes in syrup as would happen if you used varnish in a hot sunny spot.

A weakness in building designs is that windows stand directly over windows on multistory buildings. So you not only get a column of wek engineering but the water shed from the top story drips onto the one below.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Powder coated steel or anodised aluminium are also good, but more heat conductive.

So use drip boards..

[Dave Plowman (News)]

As a secondary as you obviously don't believe me, which paints would you use for a white finish on south facing exposed softwood windows - primer undercoat and gloss - to achieve this 15 year life?

[Pete C]

This might be worth a look:

Might not be breathable though.

Or a couple of coats of this:

Depends what they test...

cheers, Pete.

[meow2222]

Bugger. I even contacted a marine paints company trying to find something, but they said they had nothing suitable.

The one thing I've had that lasted well was some retaining woodwork, softwood, treated with 50/50 engine oil and paraffin. Despite being always damp it was in excellant condition years later. I've been tempted to use it on windows... but once you use this theres no going back, you cant paint onto engine oil.

NT

[The Natural Philosopher]

Probably two pack epoxy or polyurethane yacht varnish..the sort of stuff you paint cars with.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

There's still the problem of getting it to stick to wood which is continually on the move.