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Do You Have to Strip Old Furniture Before Refinishing It? · Repcolite Home Improvement Show

0:02
Speaker 1: Hey everyone, thanks for tuning in.
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Speaker 2: You're listening to Home in Progress by Repco Light Paint,
0:06
Speaker 2: sponsored by Benjamin Moore. And I want to jump straight
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Speaker 2: in with something that I think is an absolute game
0:12
Speaker 2: changer in my own life.
0:15
Speaker 1: And it's funny because it's one of those ideas that
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Speaker 1: comes from our kids.
0:20
Speaker 2: Or it actually, it becomes, it comes about because of
0:23
Speaker 2: our kids, I guess I should say. You know, lots
0:25
Speaker 2: of great innovations come about this way. Think about Depends,
0:29
Speaker 2: you know.
0:30
Speaker 1: Adult diapers.
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Speaker 2: Somewhere, someday in the past, somebody was changing their baby's
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Speaker 2: diaper and they thought.
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Speaker 1: Hey, wait a minute here.
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Speaker 2: You remember that incident Grandpa was talking about at Thanksgiving,
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Speaker 2: about his little mishap at the grocery store? What if
0:46
Speaker 2: we had adult versions of these things? Wouldn't that be
0:49
Speaker 2: a real game changer, a real problem solver? You know
0:52
Speaker 2: somebody was thinking that.
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Speaker 1: That's how it happened. I'm 100% convinced, and if you
0:56
Speaker 1: know different, I don't want to know about it.
0:58
Speaker 2: I'm happy with my version of things. Another one, and
1:02
Speaker 2: this is the one I was specifically thinking of. This
1:05
Speaker 2: is the one, I should have said that sooner. This
1:07
Speaker 2: is the one that's the game changer in my own life.
1:11
Speaker 2: Not the Depends. That's a game changer for future Dan.
1:16
Speaker 2: Future Dan's gonna be thrilled to death to have those.
1:20
Speaker 1: Current Dan doesn't need them. Nope, doesn't need them yet.
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Speaker 2: Unless he's really giggly, but even then, even then he's
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Speaker 2: probably okay. The game changer for me right now Is this,
1:32
Speaker 2: have you, you know, how many times, I guess let's
1:34
Speaker 2: start it this way. How many times have you dressed
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Speaker 2: your toddler in little jeans and thought, man, I am
1:39
Speaker 2: so grateful for this little elastic waistband, right?
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Speaker 1: It's so handy.
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Speaker 2: It gets around the diaper, all their weird, weird shape things.
1:47
Speaker 2: You know, kids are bulky sometimes with all the gear
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Speaker 2: they've got to wear.
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Speaker 1: And the little waistband goes right around them. It's perfect.
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Speaker 1: It's so handy.
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Speaker 2: Gets around that diaper. It grips their little waist. They
1:57
Speaker 2: don't need little toddler belts.
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Speaker 1: It's perfect.
2:00
Speaker 2: Well, you know, somebody was looking at that and thought, whoa,
2:04
Speaker 2: wait a minute. Why don't we have these things for grownups?
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Speaker 2: And now we do.
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Speaker 1: And let me tell you, it is life altering. I've
2:11
Speaker 1: got a couple pair of jeans. Maybe we all do.
2:14
Speaker 1: I'm sure most of us do.
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Speaker 2: Maybe they don't even make non-elastic waistbanded jeans anymore.
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Speaker 1: I don't know.
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Speaker 2: But a few of my jeans have these stretchy waist
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Speaker 2: and it's so accommodating. It's always comfortable. Covers a number
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Speaker 2: of size changes as I go about my year. And
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Speaker 2: I'm always feeling good. You know, so kudos to the
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Speaker 2: elastic waistband person who put them on jeans. And anyway,
2:40
Speaker 2: that flexibility is the perfect lead in to this first
2:44
Speaker 2: topic for today.
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Speaker 1: Believe it or not, it is. See, I ran across
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Speaker 1: an architectural phrase recently that I really like.
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Speaker 2: It goes back to British architect Alex Gordon in the
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Speaker 2: early 1970s, and he argued that good buildings should have
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Speaker 2: three qualities. They should have long life, loose fit, and
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Speaker 2: low energy. Now, long life, pretty obvious. Build something that
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Speaker 2: physically lasts. Low energy, pretty straightforward too. Create something that
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Speaker 2: doesn't require ridiculous amounts of energy and resources just to
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Speaker 2: keep it functioning. Those are fine. Those are interesting. But
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Speaker 2: it's the middle one that I really want to spend
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Speaker 2: some time on.
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Speaker 1: Loose fit.
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Speaker 2: Because I think that idea translates beautifully to our genes,
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Speaker 2: but also to our homes. Now, originally, Sir Gordon, because
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Speaker 2: he was a knight, Sir Gordon originally meant loose fit
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Speaker 2: to denote something that works well for the life happening now,
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Speaker 2: but which isn't so tightly built around one particular use
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Speaker 2: that it can't become something else later.
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Speaker 1: You know, like the jeans.
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Speaker 2: I bought the 32-inch waistband, but I'm convinced I have
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Speaker 2: pushed those guys easily into the 36-inch range on occasion.
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Speaker 2: And they always come back. They're always accommodating. They're always comfortable.
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Speaker 2: So anyway, my greater point is this. Loose fit in
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Speaker 2: the design vocabulary of Sir Gordon means leave room for
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Speaker 2: change in your design. And that's important because people change, right?
4:10
Speaker 2: Families change. Technology changes. How we entertain people in our
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Speaker 2: homes changes. How we use a room changes, right? So
4:18
Speaker 2: with all of that change, a building, a house, a room,
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Speaker 2: a space in your home, all of those things should
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Speaker 2: be designed or renovated with the idea that what we
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Speaker 2: need from the space is going to change over time.
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Speaker 2: So if you're doing some renovations or some remodeling at home,
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Speaker 2: a really smart thing is to preserve the possibilities. You know,
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Speaker 2: maintain the adaptability of your space. And I want to
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Speaker 2: be clear here. However you hear what I'm going to say,
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Speaker 2: this isn't meant as an argument against customization. You know,
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Speaker 2: your house should work for you. If you've always wanted
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Speaker 2: a home theater, build it. If you love cooking outside,
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Speaker 2: build the outdoor kitchen. If you want a gym in
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Speaker 2: the home, make one. But the question I would ask
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Speaker 2: is how permanently do I need to customize this space
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Speaker 2: to get what I want out of it? And that's
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Speaker 2: the loose fit question. You know, take a home theater,
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Speaker 2: for example. You could build, and I know people who
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Speaker 2: have built permanent risers, fixed seating, built-in equipment, you know,
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Speaker 2: cabinetry designed around one particular screen.
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Speaker 1: Or one particular use in the room. And it's fantastic.
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Speaker 1: It's absolutely fantastic.
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Speaker 2: But 15 years from now, when the kids are gone
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Speaker 2: and movie night isn't really a thing anymore, what happens
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Speaker 2: to that room? Can it become an office, a bedroom,
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Speaker 2: a hobby room, a gym? Or does changing its purpose
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Speaker 2: require tearing half of it apart? Because you can really
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Speaker 2: create a pretty amazing theater with dark paint, blackout shades,
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Speaker 2: great seating, lighting, speakers, rugs, and removable acoustical panels, it's
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Speaker 2: still very specifically your theater, but underneath all of that,
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Speaker 2: it's still basically a normal room as well. And I
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Speaker 2: think that's one of the best lessons of loose fit.
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Speaker 2: You can make a room incredibly specific without necessarily making
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Speaker 2: the architecture incredibly specific. Same idea with a garage. You know,
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Speaker 2: garage conversions, turning a garage into extra living space. They've
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Speaker 2: become more and more popular because they're an obvious source
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Speaker 2: of bonus square footage. And for some families, you know,
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Speaker 2: completely converting the garage into living space makes perfect sense.
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Speaker 2: But it's also a really good example of tight fit,
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Speaker 2: the opposite of what we're trying to talk about here.
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Speaker 2: If you remove the garage door, frame in the opening,
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Speaker 2: add permanent walls, plumbing, flooring, all the rest, you've made
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Speaker 2: a really serious commitment there. You're not going backwards. But
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Speaker 2: if what you really needed was a gym, what about insulation, heat, lighting?
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Speaker 2: some flooring and removable equipment, could that get you there
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Speaker 2: without permanently eliminating the fact that it's a garage? You know,
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Speaker 2: keeping your possibilities open for the future. Outdoor kitchens, one
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Speaker 2: other example. Big difference between a patio with great lighting,
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Speaker 2: power and a grill and a movable prep space. Big
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Speaker 2: difference between that and a massive masonry kitchen with permanently
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Speaker 2: installed appliances, plumbing and cabinetry. You know, both may work
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Speaker 2: beautifully today. but one is going to leave you significantly
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Speaker 2: more options in the future. This whole idea applies to
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Speaker 2: small projects, too. I almost built one of those elaborate
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Speaker 2: mudroom locker systems a few years back.
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Speaker 1: I'm sure you've seen them.
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Speaker 2: Built-in cubbies, shelves, spaces for backpacks and coats. It would
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Speaker 2: have been great for exactly what my family needed at
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Speaker 2: the time. But life got in the way, and I
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Speaker 2: never got around to building it. And thank you, procrastination,
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Speaker 2: I'm looking at it now, just a few years later,
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Speaker 2: and I don't even need that. If I had built
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Speaker 2: exactly what I'd planned, I'd right now be trying to
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Speaker 2: figure out what to do with this really permanent, specific
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Speaker 2: solution to a problem that I no longer have. That's
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Speaker 2: where adjustable shelves, movable hooks, flexible storage, all of that
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Speaker 2: makes a lot of sense. Today, if that's what you need,
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Speaker 2: it can hold your backpacks, but later it can be
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Speaker 2: adjusted for sports equipment, maybe dog supplies. than something else
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Speaker 2: completely different.
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Speaker 1: You get the idea.
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Speaker 2: Whether you're doing a major remodel or just building shelves
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Speaker 2: in a closet, build loosely where you can. Keep the
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Speaker 2: possibilities open for the future. You're giving your space the
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Speaker 2: opportunity to change as your needs change. You're basically giving
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Speaker 2: it more than one future. All right, so far we've
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Speaker 2: been talking about preserving possibilities in terms of the space itself,
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Speaker 2: but there's another side of loose fit that's just as important,
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Speaker 2: maybe more important, to people my age and up. Sometimes
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Speaker 2: we're not trying to preserve the possibility of a different use.
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Speaker 2: We're trying to preserve the possibility that we can keep
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Speaker 2: using the space even as we change. Basically, I'm talking
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Speaker 2: about aging in place here. Maybe the room never changes
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Speaker 2: purpose at all. The bathroom's still a bathroom, hallway's still
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Speaker 2: a hallway, the kitchen's still a kitchen, but the person
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Speaker 2: using those spaces may be older, less mobile, You know,
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Speaker 2: dealing with weaker grip strength, different vision, or different physical needs.
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Speaker 2: So loose fit can also mean building in a little
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Speaker 2: flexibility for that future version of yourself. You know, take
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Speaker 2: a bathroom remodel, for example. The walls, let's say, are
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Speaker 2: already open. So even if you don't need grab bars now,
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Speaker 2: adding blocking behind the shower walls gives you that option later.
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Speaker 2: A curbless shower works the same way. Looks great today,
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Speaker 2: but it may be much easier to use someday if
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Speaker 2: mobility changes. Even little things like lever-style door handles can help.
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Speaker 2: You know, they're convenient now and easier to operate later
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Speaker 2: if your grip strength changes. And this applies all through,
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Speaker 2: you know, pretty much any remodel you do, any renovation
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Speaker 2: that you do. Don't just think about different ways you
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Speaker 2: may want to use a space someday. If you plan
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Speaker 2: to stay in the home, think about different ways you
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Speaker 2: may eventually need to use the space. And then do
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Speaker 2: what you can to build that flexibility into the project
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Speaker 2: wherever possible.
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Speaker 1: Now, one last.
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Speaker 2: thought on loose fit. Don't just preserve possibilities when you're remodeling.
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Speaker 2: Look for possibilities in what you already have. You know,
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Speaker 2: we get attached to labels.
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Speaker 1: That's the dining room. That's a dresser.
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Speaker 2: That's a china cabinet. But maybe the dining room becomes
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Speaker 2: an office for a few years. Maybe the dresser works
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Speaker 2: better in the entry. Maybe the china cabinet becomes game storage.
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Speaker 2: Sometimes lasting value comes from simply letting a room or
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Speaker 2: an object change jobs. And speaking about giving old things
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Speaker 2: a new job, let's shift gears. If you've got an
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Speaker 2: old dresser, table, cabinet, whatever, that you want to refinish,
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Speaker 2: there's a big question to answer before you start. Do
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Speaker 2: you actually need to strip that old finish all the
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Speaker 2: way down to bare wood? Well, sometimes you do, sometimes
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Speaker 2: you don't. And we'll sort it all out right after this.
10:43
Speaker 2: Home in Progress is brought to you by Repco Light
10:44
Speaker 2: Paints and Benjamin Moore. You know, people often think of
10:47
Speaker 2: paint as just another line item on the project supply list.
10:51
Speaker 2: But here's the thing. Everything you do, every hour of prep,
10:54
Speaker 2: every stroke of the brush, all comes down to the
10:56
Speaker 2: quality of the paint. The paint is the project. Make
10:59
Speaker 2: sure it's the best.
11:01
Speaker 1: And we're back.
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Speaker 2: You're listening to Home in Progress by Repco Light Paints,
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Speaker 2: sponsored by Benjamin Moore. And over the last few weeks,
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Speaker 2: we've been talking about refinishing old furniture.
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Speaker 1: You know, dressers, tables, cabinets, buffets, whatever. Whatever you found
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Speaker 1: at an.
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Speaker 2: Estate sale, a thrift store, or a Facebook marketplace, you know,
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Speaker 2: a garage sale, whatever.
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Speaker 1: We've been talking about that.
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Speaker 2: On the first week that we broached this subject, we
11:27
Speaker 2: talked about how to know if what you found at
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Speaker 2: that garage sale, you know, is worth taking home and
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Speaker 2: working on in the first place. How do you know
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Speaker 2: that it's worth the effort?
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Speaker 1: Talked about that.
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Speaker 2: A couple weeks ago, we briefly talked about some safety
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Speaker 2: concerns with lead-based paint, which could be all over the
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Speaker 2: piece that you bought.
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Speaker 1: That was a couple weeks ago.
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Speaker 2: Today, let's say that you found something and lead-based paint
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Speaker 2: isn't present. Now it's time to get to work, and
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Speaker 2: we all know, you know, that feeling of anticipation, right,
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Speaker 2: of getting started.
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Speaker 1: At least I do. I just want to get moving
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Speaker 1: on it. I want to see what I've got.
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Speaker 2: And for a lot of us, me included, getting started is,
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Speaker 2: usually or often can mean stripping the piece down or
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Speaker 2: sanding it down to get it to bare wood. You know,
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Speaker 2: that's what we think we need to do. Get it
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Speaker 2: to bare wood. It seems like the ideal starting point.
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Speaker 2: And doing that is usually a really fun process. You know,
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Speaker 2: until about 20 minutes in, that's normally when things change
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Speaker 2: for me.
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Speaker 1: I am super pumped. I am Mr.
12:25
Speaker 2: Excited for that first 20 minutes as I'm sanding or
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Speaker 2: scraping or applying stripper or whatever I'm doing.
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Speaker 1: First 20 minutes, I'm I'm golden. And after about 20.
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Speaker 2: Minutes, I realize that the finish isn't coming off quite
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Speaker 2: as easily as I'd hoped.
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Speaker 1: And that is the point where, you know, I'm not Mr. Math.
12:44
Speaker 1: You know, I'm not bad at math, but I'm not Mr. Math.
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Speaker 1: But in situations like this, it's crazy. I'm like a savant.
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Speaker 2: Somehow at that point, I can look at the piece
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Speaker 2: and in moments, in seconds, I can assess that 98.4%
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Speaker 2: of the piece still has its old finish on it.
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Speaker 1: And the little bit that I took off took 20 minutes.
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Speaker 1: And so if you do the math, it's going to be.
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Speaker 2: Six days and seven hours and 27 minutes before I've
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Speaker 2: got the whole thing down to bare wood. Somehow I
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Speaker 2: can do all that math in just the span of
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Speaker 2: a few seconds. At that point, and it's a very
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Speaker 2: depressing moment when I realized I've started something that I'm
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Speaker 2: going to regret for a long time.
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Speaker 1: Have you been there?
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Speaker 2: You know, I can't think I'm the only one. So
13:29
Speaker 2: before you strip it down, you know, strip this furniture
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Speaker 2: piece down or sand it down to bare wood, just
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Speaker 2: pause for a second. Do yourself a favor. Do future
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Speaker 2: you a favor and ask yourself, does that old finish
13:41
Speaker 2: actually need to come off? Because in a lot of situations,
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Speaker 2: it really doesn't. And to help you figure it out,
13:48
Speaker 2: you know, and know whether you've got to go through
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Speaker 2: that work or not, the place to start is, of course,
13:53
Speaker 2: to decide what you want the piece to look like
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Speaker 2: when you're finished. So you get it in the garage
13:57
Speaker 2: or you get it home. You've got to decide what
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Speaker 2: do you want it to look like when you're done.
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Speaker 2: You know, are you going to paint it? Or do
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Speaker 2: you want the wood to remain visible? That's what I'm
14:05
Speaker 2: getting at. It's not rocket science here. You're not figuring
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Speaker 2: out colors or anything like that. Are you going to
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Speaker 2: paint it or do you want the wood to remain visible?
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Speaker 2: You know, those two choices can send you down very
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Speaker 2: different paths. And what you decide at this point is
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Speaker 2: going to really, you know, determine which path you need
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Speaker 2: to go down. So let's start with the easier one
14:23
Speaker 2: of those two choices. Let's say you want to paint it.
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Speaker 2: You know, maybe you've got an old stained and varnished
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Speaker 2: dresser that you picked up. but the wood is deeply stained,
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Speaker 2: you know, water stains or other damage, something like that,
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Speaker 2: that you don't.
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Speaker 1: Think you can get out. Or maybe the graining, you know,
14:37
Speaker 1: isn't all that great.
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Speaker 2: You look at it and it's kind of, that doesn't
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Speaker 2: look the best.
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Speaker 1: You know, I think I should paint it.
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Speaker 2: Maybe the piece that you've got is already painted. You know,
14:47
Speaker 2: whatever your reasoning, if that's the situation, you know, you
14:50
Speaker 2: want to paint it, you most likely don't need to
14:53
Speaker 2: strip it down to bare wood. You don't have to
14:56
Speaker 2: do that. If the old coating is whether it's paint,
14:59
Speaker 2: whether it's a clear coat, if that old coating is
15:02
Speaker 2: firmly attached. You know, it's not peeling, it's not flaking,
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Speaker 2: it's not bubbling, it's not coming loose. If it's in
15:08
Speaker 2: good shape, you can normally leave it right where it is.
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Speaker 2: You just need to do all the right prep work.
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Speaker 2: You know, clean it thoroughly, lightly scuff sand it, prime it,
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Speaker 2: and then paint it. And when I say lightly scuff sand,
15:19
Speaker 2: I mean exactly that. You're not trying to sand through
15:21
Speaker 2: the finish here. You're just knocking down the gloss to
15:24
Speaker 2: give your primer a better surface to bond to. You know,
15:27
Speaker 2: I'd probably use, you know, a 180 to 220 grit
15:30
Speaker 2: sandpaper for this and just go a little bit easy.
15:33
Speaker 2: And doing that, you know, going easy on this scuff
15:36
Speaker 2: sanding step is really important if the piece is veneered.
15:40
Speaker 2: You know, a lot of old furniture isn't made from
15:41
Speaker 2: solid walnut or mahogany or whatever beautiful wood you're seeing
15:45
Speaker 2: on the surface. You know, it may have a very
15:47
Speaker 2: thin layer of that wood glued over a less expensive core.
15:50
Speaker 2: And if you get really aggressive with a power sander,
15:53
Speaker 2: you can go right through that veneer. And once you've
15:55
Speaker 2: done that, you've kind of created a bigger problem, you know,
15:59
Speaker 2: a bigger project at least than the one that you
16:01
Speaker 2: started with. So go gently with the sanding, but don't
16:04
Speaker 2: skip it. It is an important step. So do that
16:07
Speaker 2: light scuff sanding. But before you do any of those things,
16:11
Speaker 2: any of those prep things that I talked about, a
16:14
Speaker 2: couple of tests should be run depending on what you're
16:17
Speaker 2: working with. First off, if the piece is painted, as
16:20
Speaker 2: we mentioned a couple weeks ago, you need to test
16:22
Speaker 2: for lead-based paint. You know, the kits are inexpensive, they're
16:25
Speaker 2: available online, and they're really simple to use. Test all
16:29
Speaker 2: the layers that are on the piece as well as
16:30
Speaker 2: you can, and if you determine that there's no lead-based paint,
16:34
Speaker 2: you know, present on the piece, then you can proceed
16:36
Speaker 2: to the cleaning, the scuff sanding, and so on. Now,
16:39
Speaker 2: a second test that you would want to run would
16:42
Speaker 2: apply if the piece is clear-coated. Get some denatured alcohol.
16:46
Speaker 2: We've got it at the store.
16:48
Speaker 1: Get denatured alcohol.
16:49
Speaker 2: Find a hidden spot, you know, inside the back of
16:51
Speaker 2: a leg, underneath the top, somewhere inconspicuous, and then put
16:55
Speaker 2: some of that alcohol on the old clear finish. Let
16:58
Speaker 2: it sit for a little bit and then assess what's
17:00
Speaker 2: going on with it. If nothing has happened, you know,
17:02
Speaker 2: the finish underneath stays hard. It's really not affected by
17:05
Speaker 2: the alcohol. Then that finish is probably a lacquer, a
17:08
Speaker 2: polyurethane or something else. And all of those can be
17:12
Speaker 2: cleaned and scuff sanded, primed, and painted over. No big deal,
17:15
Speaker 2: all right? Just do a good scuff sanding. Use a
17:18
Speaker 2: good bonding primer like Styx from Inselex. Absolutely love that stuff.
17:23
Speaker 2: Styx from Inselex, S-T-I-X. It's a waterborne acrylic urethane bonding primer.
17:28
Speaker 2: It's designed to stick to difficult, glossy, complicated surfaces, and
17:33
Speaker 2: it cleans up with soap and water.
17:35
Speaker 1: That's Styx. Love the stuff.
17:37
Speaker 2: You can go with all of that if the alcohol
17:40
Speaker 2: had no effect on that clear coat. Again, do all
17:43
Speaker 2: the prep work, use the primer, and then you can
17:45
Speaker 2: go to your finish paint. If the denatured alcohol softens
17:49
Speaker 2: that old clear coating, if it makes it sticky or
17:52
Speaker 2: begins dissolving it, then you're really likely looking at shellac
17:55
Speaker 2: on the piece. And shellac matters because traditional shellac naturally
17:59
Speaker 2: contains a small amount of wax. And that wax can
18:03
Speaker 2: create adhesion problems for certain coatings. So if you determine
18:06
Speaker 2: that you've got a shellac down, I'd still do all
18:09
Speaker 2: of the usual prep, but I'd switch primers, you know,
18:12
Speaker 2: if you're painting it. Instead of sticks, I'd use something
18:14
Speaker 2: like Zinsser Bin, B-I-N. It's a white pigmented shellac.
18:19
Speaker 1: Now, Bin, it's not my.
18:20
Speaker 2: First choice for absolutely everything. You know, you could use
18:24
Speaker 2: it in a lot of different situations. You could use
18:26
Speaker 2: it in place of sticks, even if it's not shellac
18:29
Speaker 2: down on the surface. But I'm not recommending it because
18:33
Speaker 2: it's alcohol-based. You know, it's a shellac. There's a strong
18:36
Speaker 2: odor to it. Cleanup isn't as convenient as a waterborne primer.
18:40
Speaker 2: It's just not as pleasant to work with as something
18:43
Speaker 2: like sticks. But in this situation, with old shellac down
18:46
Speaker 2: on the surface that you want to paint, bin is
18:49
Speaker 2: exactly the kind of product that makes sense for that.
18:51
Speaker 2: It's going to bond to the shellac, even if there's
18:53
Speaker 2: wax in it, and then your finished paint can be.
18:56
Speaker 1: Applied over that.
18:57
Speaker 2: So that's the path or the thought process if you're
19:00
Speaker 2: painting the piece. But now let's take the other path.
19:03
Speaker 2: Let's say you don't want to paint the piece. You
19:05
Speaker 2: want to see the wood. That's going to send us
19:08
Speaker 2: down a different path. And we'll cover all that ground
19:11
Speaker 2: right after this. Home in Progress is brought to you
19:14
Speaker 2: by Repco Light Paints and Benjamin Moore.
19:16
Speaker 1: Think about it.
19:17
Speaker 2: You spend hours prepping, sanding, taping, and then finally painting.
19:21
Speaker 2: Don't throw all that work away with an inferior product.
19:24
Speaker 2: The paint isn't just another supply. The paint is the project.
19:27
Speaker 2: Make sure it's the best.
19:29
Speaker 1: And we're back.
19:30
Speaker 2: You're listening to Home in Progress by Repco Light Paint,
19:32
Speaker 2: sponsored by Benjamin Moore. And we're talking about refinishing furniture.
19:36
Speaker 2: You know, you found something really cool, really amazing at
19:40
Speaker 2: a thrift store or an estate sale. But maybe, maybe
19:43
Speaker 2: it just needs a little bit of work before you're
19:45
Speaker 2: ready to put it in your own home, right? Because
19:47
Speaker 2: you have standards, you know, certain standards that you need
19:50
Speaker 2: to meet. And anyway, we started talking about that. And
19:53
Speaker 2: last segment, I mentioned that the first thought a lot
19:57
Speaker 2: of us have who haven't done this before, and some
20:00
Speaker 2: of us who have done a lot of this before,
20:02
Speaker 2: sometimes the first thought that we have is that we
20:03
Speaker 2: need to sand or strip the piece down to bare wood.
20:06
Speaker 2: in order to get to a good foundation, you know,
20:08
Speaker 2: that we can work from. That's a lot of the
20:11
Speaker 2: times what I think, you know, I know I can
20:13
Speaker 2: do some scuff sanding, but I love getting it down
20:15
Speaker 2: to bare wood. And, you know, that is a good
20:18
Speaker 2: foundation to work from. If you can get it down
20:20
Speaker 2: to bare wood, that's pretty great. You know, you've removed
20:23
Speaker 2: all the previous coating and you've got kind of a
20:25
Speaker 2: blank slate.
20:26
Speaker 1: To work on. So, you know, that's a good starting point.
20:30
Speaker 2: But getting to that point It's often a lot more
20:33
Speaker 2: work than we anticipate. You know, even people who do
20:36
Speaker 2: this for a living get caught off guard sometimes with
20:39
Speaker 2: how much work it is. I ran across a number
20:42
Speaker 2: of videos recently, the last few weeks, and all of
20:45
Speaker 2: the people that were in the videos, I think there
20:47
Speaker 2: were three or four videos that I ran into and watched,
20:50
Speaker 2: and all of those people in those videos talked about
20:54
Speaker 2: how a job that they thought was going to take
20:56
Speaker 2: a to get the finish off, turned into a two-day
21:00
Speaker 2: or a full-day sanding project. You know, they didn't regret everything,
21:04
Speaker 2: but they didn't enjoy it at all. So yeah, stripping
21:07
Speaker 2: the piece or sanding down to bare wood, that can
21:09
Speaker 2: be great, but it might be a lot more work
21:11
Speaker 2: than's really necessary for, you know, let's say a dresser
21:15
Speaker 2: that's going to see minimal wear and tear in a
21:17
Speaker 2: guest room. You know, you don't want to do too
21:19
Speaker 2: much work or more work than's necessary. You know, that's
21:23
Speaker 2: what we're trying to talk about here. That's what we're
21:24
Speaker 2: trying to help you see so you can determine how
21:27
Speaker 2: much work you need to put in to get good results.
21:29
Speaker 2: So last segment, we talked about, you know, a piece
21:31
Speaker 2: that you might want to paint, and we helped you
21:34
Speaker 2: figure out how you can decide if you need to
21:36
Speaker 2: strip it and sand it down, or if you can
21:38
Speaker 2: just do some prep work and apply a new coat
21:40
Speaker 2: of paint.
21:40
Speaker 1: You know, that was the easy situation, you know, something
21:43
Speaker 1: that you wanted to paint.
21:45
Speaker 2: Now let's talk about a piece that you don't want
21:47
Speaker 2: to paint. You know, you want the stained and finished
21:49
Speaker 2: wood look, and that's what you're after. Now, if that's
21:52
Speaker 2: the case, Do you need to strip it down? Well,
21:54
Speaker 2: first off, if it's painted, this isn't even in my notes,
21:58
Speaker 2: but yes, that's pretty obvious. You're going to have to
22:01
Speaker 2: take the paint off.
22:02
Speaker 1: All right. So that's the first one. That's the easy one.
22:05
Speaker 1: But let's say it is already, you.
22:07
Speaker 2: Know, clear coated and you're trying to decide, do I
22:10
Speaker 2: need to strip it all the way down to bare
22:12
Speaker 2: wood to start over? Or can I just do something
22:14
Speaker 2: on top of this clear coat that's already there? Well,
22:17
Speaker 2: before we can answer exactly what you need to do,
22:20
Speaker 2: you've got to decide one more thing. You know, you've
22:22
Speaker 2: already decided you want to see that wood look. The
22:25
Speaker 2: next thing you need to decide is do you like
22:27
Speaker 2: the color of the wood that's there now? And that's
22:29
Speaker 2: important because if the answer is no, you know, if
22:31
Speaker 2: you've got a light oak piece, let's say, and you
22:34
Speaker 2: want it to be dark walnut, or if there's an
22:37
Speaker 2: old orange stain on it that you just can't stand,
22:39
Speaker 2: you can't.
22:40
Speaker 1: Tolerate that look. Well, if that's the case.
22:43
Speaker 2: you're probably heading towards getting it down to bare wood
22:46
Speaker 2: so you can apply a new stain, you know, one
22:48
Speaker 2: that you like, and let it soak into the wood
22:50
Speaker 2: and color the wood in the direction you want to go.
22:52
Speaker 2: So you probably need to strip it all the way
22:54
Speaker 2: down to bare wood if that's the case, if you
22:56
Speaker 2: don't like the color. Now there is one exception worth
22:59
Speaker 2: mentioning to this. And some of you are probably shouting
23:02
Speaker 2: it at the radio right now. Gel stains. You know,
23:05
Speaker 2: they're thicker stains. They're made to be applied over, you know,
23:09
Speaker 2: unique situations. You know, sometimes they're used, a lot of
23:12
Speaker 2: the times they're used on like fiberglass doors, to give.
23:15
Speaker 1: Them a wood-grained look.
23:17
Speaker 2: It's a stain that you can put over that surface,
23:19
Speaker 2: and it will bond, and it will do a good
23:21
Speaker 2: job and hold up.
23:22
Speaker 1: You can also put them over an existing finish that's
23:25
Speaker 1: in good shape.
23:26
Speaker 2: Basically, when you put it over something that's already stained
23:29
Speaker 2: and varnished, it's going on like a translucent color coat.
23:33
Speaker 2: More like that, anyway, than a traditional stain. It's not
23:35
Speaker 2: going to penetrate anywhere. It's just laying on that surface,
23:39
Speaker 2: and you're seeing through it, and it's altering the color
23:42
Speaker 2: that's underneath. So if your goal is simply to darken something,
23:46
Speaker 2: gel stains might be an option. But gel stains are
23:49
Speaker 2: a little bit tricky, you know, because you're layering translucent
23:53
Speaker 2: tones and sometimes that top color that you need to
23:56
Speaker 2: override or alter that existing bottom color isn't what you
24:00
Speaker 2: would expect. And I've seen this plenty of times at
24:02
Speaker 2: RepcoLite where we start working on something like this, trying
24:05
Speaker 2: to get to the right color to help the customer
24:07
Speaker 2: get to you know, what they want the end result
24:10
Speaker 2: to be. And the color that we start with that
24:12
Speaker 2: we think is going to be the color on top
24:15
Speaker 2: ends up not being at all what we need to
24:16
Speaker 2: do because there's so much other color coming from, you know,
24:19
Speaker 2: the color that's already there in the wood and you
24:22
Speaker 2: need to override that. So it can be a little
24:24
Speaker 2: tricky coming up with the right color to get to
24:26
Speaker 2: the result that you want. And also, you know, that
24:29
Speaker 2: added layer of stain that you're putting on begins to
24:31
Speaker 2: hide the wood grain a bit more. So you've got
24:33
Speaker 2: to keep that in mind. And one last thing, sometimes getting...
24:37
Speaker 2: gel stains applied evenly, you know, without any noticeable streaks
24:41
Speaker 2: or thick spots, that can be a little tough. So
24:44
Speaker 2: gel stains aren't perfect. You know, they're not a perfect,
24:47
Speaker 2: simple solution, but I do want to mention them because
24:49
Speaker 2: they're out there. And if you're thinking about going that route,
24:53
Speaker 2: just stop by your closest Repco light and ask about them.
24:55
Speaker 1: We'll walk you through it. You know, we'll help you
24:57
Speaker 1: get a.
24:57
Speaker 2: Handle on what you're doing, how you would use them
25:00
Speaker 2: and what you need to know. But overall, if you
25:02
Speaker 2: really want to change the color of the wood itself,
25:04
Speaker 2: show off the grain, or just get a clean, predictable
25:08
Speaker 2: staining result, stripping back to bare wood is still going
25:11
Speaker 2: to be the better route. So that's when stripping starts
25:14
Speaker 2: making sense. Strip the old coating off or sand it off.
25:18
Speaker 2: Clean up everything that's left behind. Let it all dry.
25:21
Speaker 2: Sand carefully as necessary. And again, be especially careful around veneer.
25:26
Speaker 2: And then once you've done that, you can stain or
25:28
Speaker 2: color the wood and choose whatever clear finishing system makes
25:31
Speaker 2: sense for that piece.
25:33
Speaker 1: So, there you go.
25:34
Speaker 2: One potential scenario that could play out, you don't like
25:37
Speaker 2: the color of it, you gotta strip it down, or
25:39
Speaker 2: you've gotta come up with some kind of solution, like
25:42
Speaker 2: with a gel stain, to get where you wanna go.
25:43
Speaker 2: But let's say you look at it, and you say, no,
25:46
Speaker 2: I really love it. You know, the color's great, the
25:48
Speaker 2: wood looks great. The finish, though, is just dull and scratched.
25:51
Speaker 1: It looks tired.
25:52
Speaker 2: Now, if that's the case, you may be able to
25:55
Speaker 2: clean it up without going through all the sanding and
25:57
Speaker 2: stripping process.
25:59
Speaker 1: You do want to make sure that you remember to
26:00
Speaker 1: do that test.
26:01
Speaker 2: We talked about a test last segment with denatured alcohol,
26:04
Speaker 2: you know, to figure out at least to get an
26:07
Speaker 2: idea if you're working with a shellac finish on this piece.
26:11
Speaker 2: If you put denatured alcohol on the piece in an
26:14
Speaker 2: inconspicuous spot, and if it softens the finish, then it's
26:18
Speaker 2: a shellac. You're dealing with a shellac and you're gonna
26:20
Speaker 2: have to take steps appropriate to that. If it doesn't
26:24
Speaker 2: do anything to the finish or you know, that little
26:26
Speaker 2: bit of denatured alcohol that you put there doesn't soften it,
26:30
Speaker 2: doesn't make it a little gummy, does nothing to it,
26:32
Speaker 2: then you're looking at, you're probably working with a polyurethane
26:35
Speaker 2: on there, a lacquer, something like that. If that's the case,
26:39
Speaker 2: all you need to do is clean it extremely well,
26:42
Speaker 2: scuff sand it appropriately so your new coating has something
26:44
Speaker 2: to bond to, to bite into, to grab onto, and
26:48
Speaker 2: then apply your new coating, you know, your new finish
26:50
Speaker 2: in an inconspicuous.
26:52
Speaker 1: Area first, you know, just to make sure it bonds well.
26:54
Speaker 1: without issues. You know, I'd use a polyurethane, an oil-based poly,
26:58
Speaker 1: but I would put it on a few small spots
27:00
Speaker 1: that are inconspicuous, let it dry according to the label,
27:03
Speaker 1: you know, the directions on the label, and then just
27:06
Speaker 1: see once how it's held up. Make sure it bonds.
27:08
Speaker 1: It should be okay, but it never hurts to make sure.
27:11
Speaker 2: But again, I'd like to use in this situation, you know,
27:14
Speaker 2: if the alcohol test didn't soften it, didn't do anything
27:17
Speaker 2: to the finish, I like to use an oil-based polyurethane.
27:21
Speaker 2: I think that's the most obvious option for this. especially
27:24
Speaker 2: in a DIY sense. If you've got a wood shop
27:27
Speaker 2: and the ability to spray and all of that, maybe
27:30
Speaker 2: there are other options. But for a DIY application, I
27:34
Speaker 2: think that's the way to go, the oil-based poly. I
27:36
Speaker 2: think it's easier to apply than a water-based poly. It
27:39
Speaker 2: just stays wet a little longer. It flows out a
27:41
Speaker 2: little nicer. It self-levels a little better. It's going to
27:44
Speaker 2: bond better. to most surfaces, and it's capable of standing
27:48
Speaker 2: up to really heavy use. We use oil-based polys on
27:51
Speaker 2: wood floors, so that should tell you the durability that
27:53
Speaker 2: you'll get from something like this. So that's if the
27:56
Speaker 2: denatured alcohol had no effect on the finish. If the
27:59
Speaker 2: denatured alcohol did soften the finish, then you're going to
28:03
Speaker 2: need to go a different route. That means that you've
28:05
Speaker 2: got a shellac on the piece, and shellac is going
28:07
Speaker 2: to give us a number of interesting choices. First off,
28:11
Speaker 2: Shellac isn't a bad finish. That's probably the first thing
28:14
Speaker 2: to say here. It's kind of gotten a bad reputation
28:17
Speaker 2: sometimes as this incredibly fragile, old-fashioned coating, and that's not
28:22
Speaker 2: really fair. It is an old-fashioned coating. I mean, coatings
28:25
Speaker 2: don't get much more old-fashioned than shellac, but it can
28:29
Speaker 2: make wood look absolutely beautiful. It's got wonderful clarity, wonderful warmth.
28:34
Speaker 2: It dries very quickly. And one of the greatest advantages
28:37
Speaker 2: of shellac is that it's extremely repairable. Unlike a polyurethane
28:42
Speaker 2: where each cured coat essentially becomes its own layer, fresh
28:45
Speaker 2: shellac is going to soften the previous layer of shellac
28:48
Speaker 2: and it's going to integrate with it. So that means
28:51
Speaker 2: an old shellac finish that's dull, lightly scratched, or just
28:54
Speaker 2: tired is most likely repairable without removing it. You just
28:58
Speaker 2: put a new coat of shellac right over top and
28:59
Speaker 2: the two will kind of meld together and there you go.
29:02
Speaker 1: It looks good. The big downside with shellac is durability.
29:07
Speaker 2: You know, I said it's got a little bit of
29:08
Speaker 2: a bad rap, but it's more durable than you probably
29:14
Speaker 2: think it is, but it isn't as resistant as polyurethane
29:17
Speaker 2: is to alcohol, to heat, to prolonged moisture, and to
29:20
Speaker 2: heavy wear. So when it comes to figuring out how
29:23
Speaker 2: to proceed at this point, if you've got shellac on
29:25
Speaker 2: your piece, the furniture itself is going to really help
29:28
Speaker 2: you make the decision. You know, is it an old
29:30
Speaker 2: dresser in a guest room, maybe a display cabinet, an
29:34
Speaker 2: occasional table that mostly just holds a lamp. If that's
29:37
Speaker 2: the case, Shellac might be excellent. It might be the
29:41
Speaker 2: perfect choice for that. Just clean it up properly, make
29:44
Speaker 2: the necessary repairs if there are any, and then just
29:47
Speaker 2: refresh the shellac.
29:48
Speaker 1: You know, call it done at that point.
29:49
Speaker 2: That finish, that shellac finish is perfectly suitable, entirely appropriate
29:54
Speaker 2: for the job that furniture piece is doing. But Let's
29:57
Speaker 2: say it's your kitchen table or a coffee table where
29:59
Speaker 2: people are constantly setting down drinks or snacks of some kind.
30:04
Speaker 2: Maybe it's a desk that gets used every day. Now
30:07
Speaker 2: you're asking the finish to do a lot more than
30:09
Speaker 2: just a guest room dresser. And in that case, you
30:12
Speaker 2: need something more durable. And since we're talking DIY here, again,
30:16
Speaker 2: I'm right back to polyurethane. Oil-based poly, that's the ideal.
30:19
Speaker 2: But if there's shellac on the piece, you can't just
30:23
Speaker 2: scuff sand and apply a coat of poly. Or at least,
30:26
Speaker 2: There's a potential concern if you do that. Remember earlier
30:29
Speaker 2: when we talked about shellacs, we mentioned that they've got
30:32
Speaker 2: a small amount of wax in them, and that can
30:34
Speaker 2: cause bonding issues with a polyurethane. So if that's the situation,
30:38
Speaker 2: you test it, the alcohol softens the finish, you determine
30:42
Speaker 2: that it's shellac on there, you most likely need to
30:45
Speaker 2: strip that old shellac off and get everything down to
30:47
Speaker 2: bare wood. Once you've done that, you've eliminated those compatibility questions.
30:52
Speaker 2: You're starting over. You've got a clean slate. From there,
30:55
Speaker 2: you can stain it if you want to change the color.
30:57
Speaker 2: Then you can build a polyurethane finish that's going to
30:59
Speaker 2: give you better water, chemical, and abrasion resistance for that
31:03
Speaker 2: piece that's going to see a lot of wear. So
31:06
Speaker 2: if it's shellac on there, it's going to get a
31:10
Speaker 2: lot of wear and tear, a lot of use. You're
31:12
Speaker 2: going to want to strip it down and go to
31:14
Speaker 2: a poly just so you've got something that's going to
31:15
Speaker 2: hold up to everything you throw at the piece. Now,
31:18
Speaker 2: there is one other option that I probably need to
31:21
Speaker 2: mention here. I feel like I'm just piling on at
31:24
Speaker 2: this point, and I feel bad about that. But Zinsser
31:27
Speaker 2: makes a product that we carry called Bullseye Shellac. And
31:30
Speaker 2: on their own product info, they recommend that if you're
31:33
Speaker 2: going to put a polyurethane over shellac, you need to
31:36
Speaker 2: first apply a coat of Bullseye Seal Coat. Now, Seal
31:39
Speaker 2: Coat is basically a de-waxed shellac. It's going to bond
31:43
Speaker 2: to that first coat, you know, the one that has
31:44
Speaker 2: the wax in it, and then you can put your
31:47
Speaker 2: poly directly over that Seal Coat barrier. with no problems
31:50
Speaker 2: because there's no wax in that one. So just be aware,
31:54
Speaker 2: seal coat could be a way to get away from
31:56
Speaker 2: stripping the piece down to bare wood if it's already
31:59
Speaker 2: coated in shellac and you want to go to a polyurethane.
32:02
Speaker 2: If that's the route or if that's what you're thinking about,
32:04
Speaker 2: just ask about it in the store. We'll walk you
32:07
Speaker 2: through what you need to know. So to sum everything up,
32:09
Speaker 2: if you've got shellac on a piece, you need to
32:12
Speaker 2: either coat it with more shellac or if you're going
32:15
Speaker 2: to go to polyurethane, you need to strip it down
32:17
Speaker 2: to bare wood or another option, you know, other than
32:20
Speaker 2: stripping it would be to seal it with a specific
32:23
Speaker 2: product like Zinsser seal coat and then go to your poly.
32:26
Speaker 1: All right.
32:27
Speaker 2: I know that's a ton of info and I don't
32:29
Speaker 2: mean for everybody to remember it. I know that's, that's
32:31
Speaker 2: not even likely. I don't know that I put it
32:33
Speaker 2: in the, the most easily digestible audio snippets this week.
32:39
Speaker 2: It's a lot to convey and I did my best,
32:42
Speaker 2: but who knows? My best is not always all that great.
32:45
Speaker 2: So if you want to revisit everything or some of
32:47
Speaker 2: what I said, just head to repcolite.com check out the
32:50
Speaker 2: show notes for this episode. And all of it's there.
32:53
Speaker 2: You can work through it at your own pace. The
32:55
Speaker 2: biggest thing I wanted to do is just mention you
32:57
Speaker 2: don't have to strip everything down to bare wood when
33:01
Speaker 2: you're refinishing it. There's a lot of situations where you
33:03
Speaker 2: can get by just by cleaning it up, scuff sanding it,
33:06
Speaker 2: and then going to a clear coat if that's the
33:08
Speaker 2: path you're going, or a primer and a finish paint.
33:11
Speaker 1: You don't need to always strip it down to bare wood.
33:14
Speaker 2: And one last thing. Since we're talking about this anyway,
33:17
Speaker 2: I'll just throw this out there. If you've got reason
33:19
Speaker 2: to believe that the furniture or whatever you found is
33:21
Speaker 2: a genuinely valuable antique, don't automatically strip anything.
33:26
Speaker 1: You know, we talked about it a couple weeks.
33:27
Speaker 2: Ago, but an original finish can be part of what
33:30
Speaker 2: gives an antique its historical and monetary value. So that
33:34
Speaker 2: beat up old finish that you think you're fixing may
33:36
Speaker 2: be something a collector desperately wishes you'd left alone. So
33:40
Speaker 2: at least weigh that before you jump in.
33:43
Speaker 1: All right.
33:43
Speaker 2: Remember, the info is in the show notes. Just go
33:46
Speaker 2: to RepcoLite.com, click the podcast tab on the homepage, and
33:49
Speaker 2: you can check it out. Episode 478 or stop out
33:51
Speaker 2: at any RepcoLite location. Tell us what you're working on,
33:54
Speaker 2: and we'll walk you through everything you need to know
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Speaker 2: to get where you want to go. Okay, fall weather,
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Speaker 2: it can be a great time to wrap up some
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Speaker 2: exterior paint projects, but you've got to know a few
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Speaker 2: things before you just jump in because you want the
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Speaker 2: paint to last, right? You want it to be looking
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Speaker 2: good 10 years down the road. Not just good for
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Speaker 2: the weekend, and then next weekend you're wondering if you
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Speaker 2: messed something up. We're going to help you get all
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Speaker 2: the info you need to tackle those fall projects confidently,
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Speaker 2: and we're going to do that right after this. You're
34:23
Speaker 2: listening to Home in Progress, where the projects are real,
34:25
Speaker 2: the mistakes, they're educational, sometimes painful, mostly educational, and the
34:31
Speaker 2: only thing more stubborn than that old wallpaper on your
34:35
Speaker 2: bathroom wall is your determination to get it fixed. proudly
34:39
Speaker 2: sponsored by Repco Light Paints and Benjamin Moore. Paint with
34:42
Speaker 2: a purpose, people who care, and everything you need to
34:44
Speaker 2: get the job done right.
34:46
Speaker 1: And we're back.
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Speaker 2: You're listening to Home in Progress by Repco Light Paints,
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Speaker 2: sponsored by Benjamin Moore. And every single fall, you know,
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Speaker 2: we usually spend a few minutes on the show here
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Speaker 2: talking about painting outside when the weather starts getting a
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Speaker 2: little questionable. And I know a lot of you have
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Speaker 2: heard the whole spiel before, but it is worth revisiting
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Speaker 2: because these are things that are really going to determine
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Speaker 2: whether the paint job that you do this weekend is
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Speaker 2: still going to be looking great, you know, years down
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Speaker 2: the road. And this fall in particular, we've had a
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Speaker 2: lot of wet weather. So if you're trying to finish
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Speaker 2: up an exterior project, there are really two questions that
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Speaker 2: you need to answer. First off, is it warm enough
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Speaker 2: to paint? And secondly, is the surface actually dry enough
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Speaker 2: to paint? And let's start with that second one. You know,
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Speaker 2: if it rained yesterday, how long do you have to
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Speaker 2: wait before you can paint wood siding?
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Speaker 1: Get that question all the time.
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Speaker 2: It rained yesterday. How long do I have to wait? Well,
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Speaker 2: the frustrating answer is there's really no, you know, no
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Speaker 2: surefire magic number. You can't automatically say four hours, eight hours.
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Speaker 2: Sometimes you can't even say 24 hours because wood doesn't
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Speaker 2: dry according to a clock. There's a lot more going on.
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Speaker 2: You know, a quick rain followed by sunshine, low humidity,
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Speaker 2: a breeze, and temperatures in the mid-60s, completely different from
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Speaker 2: an all-day soaking followed by cloudy, humid weather, right? And
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Speaker 2: then different parts of your house are they can dry
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Speaker 2: at completely different rates.
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Speaker 1: If you've got a.
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Speaker 2: Wall on the south side in the sun, that can
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Speaker 2: be ready while the north side of the house is
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Speaker 2: still holding moisture. So rather than guessing, here's the best approach.
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Speaker 2: Use a moisture meter. The moisture meters, you can find
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Speaker 2: them online. They're not particularly expensive. They can be, but
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Speaker 2: you don't have to buy a crazy expensive one. You
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Speaker 2: can get them for 27 bucks, 40 bucks, right in
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Speaker 2: that range.
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Speaker 1: They're easy to use.
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Speaker 2: And if you're painting exterior wood, They're a really, really
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Speaker 2: handy tool to own. And once you get one and
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Speaker 2: you measure the surface that you're painting, what you're looking
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Speaker 2: for is moisture content that's below 15%. Test a few areas.
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Speaker 2: If you're getting readings that say it's below 15%, you're
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Speaker 2: good to go. If it's above 15%, you really should
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Speaker 2: give it more time. And don't just check one spot and.
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Speaker 1: Call it good.
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Speaker 2: You've got to check several locations, right? Especially shaded areas,
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Speaker 2: lower areas, exposed end grain areas. repaired sections, check those,
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Speaker 2: or anywhere that water tends to collect. Make sure you
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Speaker 2: check multiple areas. Make sure it's all landing in that
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Speaker 2: 15% moisture content or less before you start painting. So
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Speaker 2: that's the first thing. Once you know the surface is dry,
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Speaker 2: now we need to talk about temperature. And at RepcoLite,
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Speaker 2: the recommendation here is pretty simple, 40 degrees and rising.
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Speaker 2: That's the ideal temperature to be working in. There are
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Speaker 2: Plenty of exterior paints that we carry that are rated
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Speaker 2: for application below that. But we like 40 degrees because
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Speaker 2: it gives you a little safety margin because we know
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Speaker 2: people push it.
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Speaker 1: Just a little bit.
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Speaker 2: And remember, when we're talking about temperature, we're not just
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Speaker 2: talking about air temperature. The surface temperature matters as well.
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Speaker 1: And like we all.
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Speaker 2: Know, a shaded wall, that can be way colder than
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Speaker 2: the air around it. So if you're pushing the edges
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Speaker 2: of the season, another tool that you probably want to
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Speaker 2: add you know, to your toolbox, to your paint kit,
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Speaker 2: is an inexpensive infrared thermometer.
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Speaker 1: Again, you can find them online.
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Speaker 2: You're talking $ 20, a lot of different uses, but it's
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Speaker 2: something that's going to help you read that surface temperature
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Speaker 2: and get an exact idea of where it's at, and
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Speaker 2: you'll know if it's time to start painting or if
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Speaker 2: you need to give it more time. Okay, one last
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Speaker 2: thing that we should talk about here is the dew point.
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Speaker 2: Dew point is basically that temperature at which moisture... starts
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Speaker 2: condensing out of the air onto surfaces. And the general
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Speaker 2: guideline is that the surface that you're painting should be
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Speaker 2: at least 5 degrees above the dew point. And that's
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Speaker 2: really important in the fall because the temperature starts dropping
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Speaker 2: quickly late in the day. And that's why your actual
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Speaker 2: painting window can be way smaller than you think. You know,
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Speaker 2: you may look outside and figure it's going to be
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Speaker 2: 55 degrees today, so it's perfect. And it may be perfect,
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Speaker 2: but at 8 in the morning... You know, everything is
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Speaker 2: probably still going to be covered with dew, so you're
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Speaker 2: going to have to wait a little bit. Then in
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Speaker 2: the afternoon, you're really not just asking, is it still
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Speaker 2: warm enough to keep going? You've got to be asking,
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Speaker 2: how much drying time do I have left before I
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Speaker 2: really should wrap this up? So to put numbers on
39:07
Speaker 2: it for a typical fall day, you know, I'd probably
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Speaker 2: start around 10 or 11 in the morning and wrap
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Speaker 2: up around, you know, probably 3 in the afternoon. Do
39:15
Speaker 2: that rather than try to squeeze every possible minute out
39:17
Speaker 2: of the day. One last thing I'll mention is that
39:20
Speaker 2: the ideal paint to use as you're painting late into
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Speaker 2: the fall is Benjamin Moore's Element Guard.
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Speaker 1: You know, it's rated for low temps, but it's also,
39:28
Speaker 1: this is its big.
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Speaker 2: Claim to fame, it's rain and moisture resistant in as
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Speaker 2: little as an hour after application. So let's say you
39:35
Speaker 2: put it on, a freak rain shower pops up. It's
39:38
Speaker 2: not going to hurt your finish if it's been on
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Speaker 2: the wall for an hour, you know, just an hour.
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Speaker 2: Element Guard gives you a safety net that most other
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Speaker 2: exterior paint products aren't going to do. So Element Guard
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Speaker 2: is Perfect fall paint.
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Speaker 1: Check that out. That's all the time I've got on that.
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Speaker 2: If you have questions about painting into the fall, call
39:55
Speaker 2: or stop out at any RepcoLite.
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Speaker 1: We'll help you out.
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Speaker 2: All right, I've got to wrap this episode up for
40:00
Speaker 2: the week. If you want to catch it again, you
40:01
Speaker 2: can find it online at RepcoLite.com. Whatever you do today,
40:05
Speaker 2: make sure paint's a part of it. Have a great weekend, everybody,
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Speaker 2: and I'll.
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Speaker 1: See you next week. For Home and Progress by RepcoLite Paints,
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Speaker 1: I'm Dan Hanson. Thanks for listening.