FEATURES OF STAINS AND PAINTS - PART II
This is part two of a 2 part series of articles on paints and stains.
Take The Headache Out of Finding Interior Paints Coatings for Each and Every Job
Do you ever wonder about the difference between interior and exterior paints? I once used exterior paint on an inside ceiling, reasoning that it could last longer. It may last longer, but as I found out when I had to touch up the ceiling only 2 years later, exterior paints will discolor on an interior surface. Exterior paints contain special additives designed to withstand the outside. Interior paints have additives that help the paint dry out to a durable, uniform finish.
Most of the advances in painting technology have been with latex. In fact, latex has overtaken oil-based paint in several areas: toughness and elasticity, as well as ease of use, clean-up, and disposal. Latexes have fewer VOCs than oil-based paints. Some, such as the Pristine series made by Benjamin Moore, are made with no VOCs whatsoever. Today's latexes are made with higher quality pigments and binders that provide them more body, so they go on thicker.
Latexes enjoy quite a lttle bit of popularity for interior applications, especially for walls and ceilings. Alkyds stay the professionals' choice for trim work because oil based paints are easier to paint on detailed areas like molding and hardwood trim. However, that traditional approach is gradually changing as better latexes, including Pratt & Lambert's Accolade Interior Acrylic Semi Gloss, are introduced to the market.
Problem Solved - Finally, Exterior Paint Coatings for Every Job
Moisture can be an important consideration for exterior paint selection. Each day a family group of four will generate several gallons of vaporized water inside a house.
Coupled with naturally occurring humidity, this may mean a lot of moisture moving through the surfaces and siding. Water is highest in the baths and kitchen. If these rooms aren't sufficiently ventilated, water will migrate through the walls. Vapor barriers help to contain wetness, but vapor always seeks to leave. The structure of a residence, the sort of vapor barrier it has, ventilation, and dampness all make choosing the right paint critical.
In wetter climates you need a paint that will let moisture go through the wood, so water doesn't get trapped under the paint and cause blistering and peeling. Latexes are porous and let water pass through, unlike alkyd paints, which form a waterproof seal. Alkyds also don't flex with surfaces that expand and contract, as wood will, especially in colder climates. Latex paints have significantly more elasticity, allowing better adhesion.
I prefer using latex on most exterior areas, including wood siding, stucco, and concrete. Latexes withstand fading much better than most oil-based paints, and they will cover either oil-based or latex primer (most oils have to go on top of an alkyd primer).
Latexes do a great job of covering concrete. Despite its hardness, concrete is very porous, and oil-based paints don't always stick well. For greatest durability, I would recommend latex enamel.
In general, if I know of a latex product that will provide superior performance, I will choose it over an oil-based product that needs to be cleaned with a thinner.
Latex only requires water. Thinners add one more expenditure, are hard to get rid of, and usually end up spattered on my skin or clothes, no matter how careful I am.
Amazing Way to Use Stains for Interior Work
You could spend a life studying stains and sealers, but there is nothing mysterious about them. The bottom line in determining which stain to make use of is to familiarize yourself with the product lines available. Read the label, along with any product information you can get, and talk to the personnel at a professional paint shop.
Exterior stains come in oil based, varnish, polyurethane, and water-borne solvents. Stains have less colorant than paint and much more solvents, giving them higher wood penetration. Waterproofing is important with exterior stains. Most include built-in sealants to increase toughness and help preserve the wood. The color in stains can be pigments, dyes, or both. A semi-transparent stain has more dye for grain penetration. A solid stain has more pigment for surface coating. Pigment is a finely ground coloring that doesn't penetrate the grain as deeply as a dye. That is why a pigmented stain is always used along with a sealer such as urethane or varnish.
Some high quality interior stains have dyes to penetrate and pigments to bring out the richness of the grain. Others contain only pigments, that are better to apply, blend, and touch up. Pigmented stains are lighter in color and draw out more of the wood grain. If you are looking for darker results, a dyed stain provides what you would like in one coating (be sure to use a conditioner on porous wood, such as pine and birch wood, to avoid splotching). Dyed stains are extremely difficult to touch up. Every coating eventually will require touching up, so make sure to consider ease of maintenance in your use of stains. You'll get the best results by using better stains such as Minwax, Pratt & Lambert's Tonetic, Pittsburgh's Rez, or Wood-Kote.
If you want to avoid the watery nature of stains, try a gel stain, which had most of the water solvent removed. Gels are easy to use. They wipe on, dry out fast, and cover evenly. Since they're colored with pigment, gel stains don't penetrate that well. They're a great choice for porous woods that are tough to coat evenly without a toner. Gel stains do a great job of showing off the grain on embossed metal or composite surfaces. I don't recommend working with them for hardwoods, which require a good dye stain to emphasize the depth and beauty of the grain.
Amazing Way to Use Sanding Sealers
Sanding sealers are interior primers that both penetrate and seal wood. You should use them under clear coats or over stains as sealers. Sanding sealers are different from a sealer like polyurethane, which is not designed to prime. They're similar to varnish, but diluted with solvents to allow better penetration for priming. The hardness of varnishes and lacquers prevents them from soaking in to the wood pores. Sanding sealer provides a better bond for clear coats.
Shellacs are often put into sanding sealers to strengthen the resin and offer an instant drying agent. In addition they add an amber tone, so if you are using a sanding sealer with shellac, make sure it will not influence the stain. Shellacs tend to yellow aver time and contain toluene, that has a very high VOC content. Shellacs are slowly providing ways to new sanding sealer formulas with lower VOCs and better performance.
Alkyd resin sanding sealers also have high VOCs, although significantly less than their shellac based cousins. Pittsburgh Paints makes a slow drying out alkyd resin sanding sealer without shellac named Rez 77-1. This specific primer/sealer is wonderful for both interiors and exteriors. Pratt & Lambert's Latex Sanding Sealer has suprisingly low VOCs, but is purely for interior wood and shouldn't be used under a water based polyurethane.
Oil-based sanding sealers can also be utilized to seal outdoor wood, especially decking, which is constantly subjected to sun and water. For color reliability in areas like decks, you need to completely coat, or back prime, the wood before it is in place, using the same sealer or stain. Olympic Water Guard, Messmer's UV Plus, Behr's, and most high end deck stains are excellent water repellent sealers that can also be utilized for priming exterior wood.
Wood and Stain Sealers for Interior Wood – Safely
Sealers, including varnishes, lacquers, urethanes, and shellacs, are added to the stain itself, applied as a top coat over a stain, or used as a clear coating on unstained wood trim. They can be used for any type of trim, including windows, doors, and the casing around them. Although you can buy stain/sealer combinations, they have a tendency to yellow, are difficult to keep up, and don't endure as long as separately applied stain and sealers.
Varnishes contain natural oils such as Tung oil, a very hard, durable sealant that may be brushed on and dries slowly. Varnishes are easy to completely clean and maintain with soap and water followed by a wiped on varnish, which usually keeps a wood surface looking ideal for years. Make sure there is no wax in your cleaner, because wax clogs wood pores. I favor making use of Hope's Tung Oil varnish for a wipe-on maintenance coating. Lacquer is a quick drying sealer that almost always needs to be sprayed, since it becomes tacky almost immediately.
Polyurethanes do almost anything shellac can do, but they're better to maintain. While shellacs act like paint, polyurethanes act more like a clear coat that permeates the wood instead of sitting on top of it. Polyurethanes brush on and dry quickly, with little smell and VOCs. They have more or less replaced shellacs as a clear sealer. Another reason urethanes have grown to be such popular sealers is that they don't require sanding sealers.
The odors associated with many paints and stains can become more than simply offensive, they can be toxic. Solvent based varnishes, lacquers, and shellacs provide a very hard finish but contain very high VOC levels. Water borne sealers, like the stains, match the performance of several solvent based sealers, with fewer VOCs. The VOC content of water based sealers such as Sherwin Williams Kern Aqua Lacquer average about 250 grams per liter, or 2 pounds per gallon, half the usual VOCs of oil-based lacquers. The ethers in water borne sealers aren't combustible, another advantage, but they still have enough VOCs to warrant a respirator.
Although they resist yellowing, water borne sealers such as acrylic latex polyurethanes do have a tendency to raise the grain. They will also harden or "flash off" quickly at conditions greater than 60°F. The very best working temperature for nearly all water borne acrylic latex polyurethanes is between 50°F and 60°F, which lets them flash a bit more slowly. In cases like this, flashing-off simply means that the solvent evaporates and leaves the resins to finish the drying out process. A contractor I knew once used water borne latex polyurethane sealer that flashed off so fast he could only use it between 5 A.M. and 9 A.M. Anything later than that was too warm.
Minwax makes very good water based polyurethane, as do Pittsburgh, Pratt & Lambert, Benjamin Moore, among others.
Method for Stains and Sealers on Exteriors
Because of their better penetration and sealing ability, most exterior stains sold today are oil-based. However, oil-based solid stains peel off as they grow older, making them more difficult to maintain. A solid stain is similar to paint: It coats more than it penetrates. A latex solid stain peels less and it is simpler to maintain as it ages. However, I favor oil-based products for semi-transparent stains. Added oil solvents let them penetrate deeper. A number of the better stains on the marketplace include Pittsburgh Solid Color Latex Stain, Messmer's U.V Plus, Moorwood Solid Color Exterior Stain, Sherwin Williams Woodscape stains, Pittsburgh Semi-transparent Exterior Stain, Rez Deck Stain by Pittsburgh, and the Sikkens Cetol system.
Deck stains will often have more solids when compared to a typical exterior stain, which will make them stronger. I would recommend buying a high-end stain that is semi-transparent or what is called a trans-oxide. Until recently, the significant problem with outside stains was their low UV resistance, but newer trans-oxides have finely ground metal mixed in for higher protection. A high end deck stain won't require a different sealer coat, although you can include one (such as Olympic Water Guard) if you believe extra protection is needed to battle dampness and sun exposure. Better deck stains retail for approximately $35 a gallon and cover 300 to 400 sq. ft.
Avoid using deck stains that contain silicone. Despite their low price, they are not a good deal. Advertisements for silicone stains and deck sealers often show beaded up water on a deck, and many people are fooled into thinking that this is the indication of a successful coating. However, silicone deteriorates quickly, usually in just a matter of months, producing a discolored, waxy coat that is a pain to remove. The deteriorated silicone also stops repelling water.
"High build" coatings such as Sikkens and Messmers work remarkably well on outside siding, but they are too soft to be used on your deck. Eliminating these coatings will take gallons of wood cleaner and a significant amount of work.
Water borne outside stains, such as Sherwin Williams Woodscapes, incorporate the features of oil-based and latex coatings. They run and drip significantly less than oil based stain, and dry faster, enabling two coatings the same day. Water borne stains possess the resilience and versatility of a latex stain, which gives them stamina. They're a great choice for most applications. However that clearing up water based stains takes work. You will discover a couple of oil components in the solvent which may have to be cleaned. First use soap and water, then alcohol. Ask your dealer for specific cleaning directions for water based stains, and scan the label.
When In Doubt, Ask Questions
In the event that you still have questions about which paint or stain to work with, please ask people in the know. An experienced, educated salesperson can clear up any questions it's likely you have. Choose a paint store with staff having at least a decade of experience in the business. Ask them what has worked best for your particular application and ask to read a spec sheet on the merchandise in question.
The answers you get will rely upon whom you ask. A paint store will attempt to market you one of their products, in the end, that is why they're in business. Painting contractors may not be impartial, either. They have to sell their expertise. I get tons of phone calls from people wanting aid with their painting problems. Most painters, including myself, don't object to giving one hour of our time, but if you need in depth answers, consider finding a contractor for a professional analysis. Rates vary, but I usually charge about $60 for a written and oral analysis, depending on the traveling time involved. A paid examination will let you know whether you should paint, stain, or re-side, as well as which coating might be best for finishing your project. Each painting job has unique conditions that warrant specific answers.
Sound Quality Painting
824 90th Dr SE suite B
Lake Stevens WA 98258
(425) 512-7400
