Exterior Paint?

[Gerdo]

I will need to paint some of my exterior. What wood (Masonite, Luan, Burch, Oak, or plain plywood) paints best? An I'm thinking of using a thick Porch Paint. Are there better paints that are readily availably?

[doug hodder]

Just my opinion, but luan, birch, oak, or fir plywood will hold up a lot better in the long run if you are painting. Masonite is the least likely to use. It will give you a smoother finish on the paint, but won't hold up at all if any moisture gets to it. there's no structure to it. I think for strength in the long term, the plywood is the way to go. also the core on the luan, birch, or oak veneered materials isn't nearly as strong as the fir. you might want to coat out the fir with an inexpensive Varathane prior to applying the color coat, or a Kilz, Binz primer. Maybe others have different experiences. just for grins, paint a piece of masonite and leave it out in the yard and let the sprinklers work on it, see what happens. PS. having lived in Denver, I think that Austin Hardwoods on Santa Fe is going to have the best prices on your materials for ply goods, veneered stuff that HD won't have. Paxton is pretty pricy, and Centennial has the best deal on stick lumber, (hardwoods) They usually get killer 1/4 sawn white oak., not a lot of really exotic stuff though, Paxton has the best supply of wild woods.....Good Luck on your build, doug hodder

[Kevin A]

I'm planning to paint my trailer for now, with the possibility of adding an aluminum skin sometime in the future. Here's a link for the paint I'm looking at http://www.pettitpaint.com/catalog_browse.asp?ictNbr=45 Does anyone have any experience with it? It's a bit spendy at $30 per quart, but if it seals water out of the wood it seems like a small price to pay.

[Guest]

Mike swears by that epoxy paint... I think it's made by Rot Doctor.
I think Arne used it on his teardrop also... I seem to remember reading a post he did just after painting with it... mentioned something about how sticky the stuff was, even made him talk sorta funny or something like that...

[Marck]

I have a 1/4 moisture resistant luan outer skin, I will be painting using at least 2 coats of Fissners "bullseye" sealant, and then at least 2 coats of Kilz acrylic enamel. I plan to eventually do a nice fiberglass coat, but that will be probably next year or over the winter.
after talking with alot of "paint people" I decided to go this route as I can't afford the epoxy paint right now.
HOWEVER
after all the studying I have been doing... I would definatly go with the expoy paint Mike has posted about, made by Rot Doctor, if I had that option right now.

[Rocosil]

I'm planning to paint my trailer for now, with the possibility of adding an aluminum skin sometime in the future. Here's a link for the paint I'm looking at http://www.pettitpaint.com/catalog_browse.asp?ictNbr=45 Does anyone have any experience with it? It's a bit spendy at $30 per quart, but if it seals water out of the wood it seems like a small price to pay.

Kevin,
I've been using Pettit's Easypoxy on boats for about ten years now. It's an easy paint to work with that gives a nice, glossy finish, particularly if you roll it on and then lightly brush away the orange peel efect with the tip of a broad soft bristle or foam brush. It's very durable, and if it weren't for the nicks and scratches, I wouldn't need to repaint my boat in less than four summer seasons in a salt water environment. That said, however, it dries quite hard, and hard paints work best on a stable, hard base, like epoxy treated marine plywood - not fir. I've used some on a pine barndoor over conventional primer, and although after about eight years it's still presentable, it is cracking with the movement of the wood. If you are not going to epoxy-seal your tear before painting, I would suggest you go with a softer paint like regular marine alkalyd enamel or even a good quality house paint and save your money for that aluminum skin.
Cheers,
Bob

[ALAN GEDDES]

I've been quite pleased with the Behr paints. I use there best after two coats of their primer. If its supposed to last 30 years on a house exterior it should last a few on my tears.

[Arne]

The cpes primer from rot doc smells terrible.... then after about 5 minutes, it starts to smell pretty good... then, I couldn't wait to put on the second coat... luckily I ran out after the second coat or I might still be happily applying it..

I find the white uniflex255 top coat has stained from trees, travel, etc.... I called rot doc and they advised starting with some simple soap/water, etc.... I finally used scrubbin-bubbles, an excellent bathroom cleaner and got about 80% of the stains off.... using a scotch brite pad, which rot doc said would scratch the surface of the uniflex.... it is now sitting in the middle of the yard and I'll be finding some kind of polish/wax to apply.... hopefully, that will keep the surface in good shape...

If anyone knows of a really good, long lasting wax/polish, I'd appreciate comments and recommendations......

I do have enough uniflex left to do a 3rd coat but don't feel like putting it on right now.....