A client wants her heavy teak outdoor chairs painted (low lustre) white.
I asked Benjamin Moore what primer and paint they'd recommend I use.
They said that: "Due to the nature of teak being an "oily" wood, it has proven to be non-conductive for long term adhesion of paints. At the present time, we do not offer a primer and paint coating system that is recommended for painting teak."
Does anyone have a positive experience painting outdoor teak furniture that has borne the test of time? What primer and paint did you use?
5 years ago I painted a teak loveseat rocker and table on my front outdoor porch. Everyone advised me not to. It was a big job - cleaning, sanding, laquer primer and 2 coats of paint. It still looks beautiful I'm so happy I did it. Could be because the set was over 5 years old and had no or little teak oils left in it - but it is still gorgeous 5 years later.
Disregarding the potential dispute going on. I see the link to a website at the bottom of the original post. And agree that is uncalled for in a public forum. But back to the original post. Why would you paint teak? I think teak is naturally resistant to everything. So paint is not needed for preservation. Kind of like titanium for bicycles. Titanium when used to make a bicycle frame is usually left unpainted. Raw color. Which is kind of gray, gold color. But some frame makers do add accent panels with paint. Most of the frame is raw titanium with some small painted panels to add color and prettiness to the frame.
Why would you paint teak? If you don't like the dark brown, black color, then why did you buy it in the first place? That is teak's natural color. If you wanted a different color then you could go with cedar. Or furniture is made out of plastic, like that plastic decking that never needs staining or paint or anything. Paint does provide weather resistance. But teak already has that naturally. So why not go with something much much much cheaper if you want paint. If you want orange or red or yellow deck furniture, then buy something much cheaper and paint it. Kind of goofy to spend a thousand dollars on teak and then an extra hundred to paint it. Just spend a hundred on pine and a hundred on paint.
Back when the 4th Fighter wing was to change over to F 15s, they took all the tools and stripped them of chrome. Do titanium bike frames suffer from chrome causing corrosion.
Answer to why paint it is because she wanted to. I would have just used a teak oil over the greyed teak.
Perhaps the design of the piece fit the OP’s decor/desires but the color did not. The OP did not say that she built then painted the piece, she simply said that she painted it.
She also didn’t say that she spent thousands on it. Perhaps she inherited it. Perhaps it was a curb find or Craigslist/estate sale item. She did say that she cleaned/sanded it, so apparently it was not new.
We don’t know enough to suggest other options (plastic or pine) because we don’t why she painted it. Asking the question is fine…maybe we’ll find out, but I doubt it. Posts that are ported to the wRec from HOH by their automated system rarely have much follow up from the OP.
On Sunday, December 4, 2022 at 8:57:52 PM UTC-6, Markem618 wrote:
Concerning titanium, its inert to everything. So no practical reason to paint it. But some frames are painted. Usually with accent panels on the frame. Add some color. Titanium in its raw form is kind of grayish. Not a real exciting color. Titanium is used for bicycle frames for its corrosion resistance, and lighter weight than steel. And sort of extra strength. I say sort of because titanium is weaker than steel. But its lighter weight than steel. So you can use more titanium volume, but end up with less weight, and equal to steel in strength. Or even stronger strength. And end up with a good bike. Titanium is also a lot more expensive too. Plusses and minuses. BUT, if you want to paint titanium, then its better to use aluminum. Which is much lighter weight, and cheaper. And if you use enough aluminum to get the same strength as steel or titanium, it will still be lighter weight. Everyone paints aluminum. Although I guess you might not need to since aluminum is also anti corrosion. But aluminum does oxidize. So everyone paints aluminum. And everyone paints steel too of course. But it does not make sense to paint titanium. Except smaller panels for accents. Add some prettiness to the dull gray titanium color. There are cheaper and lighter and easier to work with alternatives to titanium if you want to paint the frame. Titanium is also very difficult to weld and bend.
Kind of like teak. If you want to paint teak, then why not just use a cheaper wood to begin with and paint it. Or kind of like a Rolex watch. If you keep your Rolex locked away in a safe and unseen by human eyes and only wear your Timex, what is the point of buying the Rolex. Or you buy every single tool in the Festool, Mafell, Fein, and Lamello catalog. But keep them locked away in the basement because you don't want to get them dirty. Why buy them?
Regarding the chrome causing corrosion. I would say no since there are chrome bolts holding the water bottle cages on and chrome clamps/bolts around the seattube, and chrome quick releases holding the wheels on. All touching the titanium frame. No corrosion in any of these places.
Could you restore the teak to its natural color/finish by using paint stripper to remove the paint? Is teak immune from harm by paint stripper? Then you would probably need to re-sand the whole thing, and then apply oil to bring back the natural teak look. Would that work?
I should also add I am vaguely aware of how paint stripper works. You wipe it on, let it sit for awhile, then use a putty knife, scraper, wire brush, to rub and dig the paint off the wood. Paint stripper does not automatically make the paint disappear. Wipe on, wipe off, and everything is sunny and happy in the world. Paint stripper requires lots of hard work to use.
All above would help to remove the paint but I highly suspect that the sanding that was done before painting did not get into all of the cracks, the paint covered that.
But restoring a natural finish the paint will be difficult to remove from all of the cracks.
The OP was pleased with her painted teak chairs. That's really all that matters, regardless of opinions about painting teak (or cherry, for that matter).
But we can still argue the logic and rationale behind the choice to paint teak chairs. One of the hallmarks of teak is its immunity to water and rot. As well as its look. Teak is very expensive and looks expensive too. When you see teak wood in its natural state, you say "that's expensive". So painting teak is illogical. Its already immune to water, so painting teak to protect it from water makes no sense. And paint covers up the fact its teak.
Kind of like if you plane a piece of wood with your super duper sharp smoothing plane and take a translucent shaving. And then sand the wood with 220 grit or even 320 grit sandpaper. Why? The wood was smoother off the plane than after the paper.
While a typical woodworker might be aware that teak is expensive (dalbergia nigra is _very_ expensive), the average homeowner isn't. And in this case she wanted to paint an old chair. Who are you to decry her choice?
Once it turns silver-grey, it's a lot of work return teak to its original "expensive" appearance and given any solar exposure, that's going to be an ongoing routine. Let her have her painted chair.
There is no accounting for taste. On either side.
(I have teak deck & porch, and have replaced the slats in an old cast iron bench with natural teak, so I'm familiar with the labor required to keep it "pretty" in an area with 300+ sunny days annually).
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