# Painting Douglas Fir 1890's Front Porch: What Paint?



## JLPicard (May 19, 2013)

I have an old victorian house with a front porch that had all the T&G flooring removed a couple years ago (painstaking process), remilled to new surfaces and replaced. It was back primed with an Oil Based paint, installed with wet Oil-Based paint applied to the T&G surfaces. Then the flooring was resanded a bit, cleaned and painted with an Oil-based Porch paint. The surfaces have held up pretty well, but the hardness of the porch paint has allowed the seams between the T&G to show thru. After the porch was initially painted, you couldn't detect any of the seams, but after going thru a couple of winters up here in Ohio the seams have opened up. I am not talking about gaping cracks, just hair-width really. After research I am thinking the Oil-based paint was too hard to allow for any expansion and contraction, and although the sheen is nice and shiny, and the wear is going to be pretty good, it couldn't move with the wood. 

Now I want to repaint the porch. It is in supreme shape, there are no areas of peeling, just the opened up seams. 

Question is: What water-based paint can I use to go over it? I figured I need to rough sand the surface, but I am not going to remove all the paint down to the wood surface unless it is absolutely necessary.

BTW the grain of the Douglas Fir was unbelievable when it was remilled after removing it when the work was done two years ago. It had to come from virgin growth forest, the grain lines were so tight you couldn't even count them in the wood. Every piece was quartersawn and there was no sign of warping or cupping.


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## CITY DECKS INC (Sep 4, 2012)

JLPicard said:


> I have an old victorian house with a front porch that had all the T&G flooring removed a couple years ago (painstaking process), remilled to new surfaces and replaced. It was back primed with an Oil Based paint, installed with wet Oil-Based paint applied to the T&G surfaces. Then the flooring was resanded a bit, cleaned and painted with an Oil-based Porch paint. The surfaces have held up pretty well, but the hardness of the porch paint has allowed the seams between the T&G to show thru. After the porch was initially painted, you couldn't detect any of the seams, but after going thru a couple of winters up here in Ohio the seams have opened up. I am not talking about gaping cracks, just hair-width really. After research I am thinking the Oil-based paint was too hard to allow for any expansion and contraction, and although the sheen is nice and shiny, and the wear is going to be pretty good, it couldn't move with the wood.
> 
> Now I want to repaint the porch. It is in supreme shape, there are no areas of peeling, just the opened up seams.
> 
> ...


go to sherwin williams. and post some dam picts.


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## jamestrd (Oct 26, 2008)

JLPicard said:


> I have an old victorian house with a front porch that had all the T&G flooring removed a couple years ago (painstaking process), remilled to new surfaces and replaced. It was back primed with an Oil Based paint, installed with wet Oil-Based paint applied to the T&G surfaces. Then the flooring was resanded a bit, cleaned and painted with an Oil-based Porch paint. The surfaces have held up pretty well, but the hardness of the porch paint has allowed the seams between the T&G to show thru. After the porch was initially painted, you couldn't detect any of the seams, but after going thru a couple of winters up here in Ohio the seams have opened up. I am not talking about gaping cracks, just hair-width really. After research I am thinking the Oil-based paint was too hard to allow for any expansion and contraction, and although the sheen is nice and shiny, and the wear is going to be pretty good, it couldn't move with the wood.
> 
> Now I want to repaint the porch. It is in supreme shape, there are no areas of peeling, just the opened up seams.
> 
> ...


I think your expecting way too much from any product on an outdoor material..paint over so cant see the seams?

I think the only way yu dream of that wold be an epoxy of some type..


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## Rustbucket (May 22, 2009)

This is something the customer has to live with. Wood is a natural material, and will expand and contract with the seasons. If you go with a water based, it may add a little flex, but will likely still crack at the seams. Plus, if it's that flexible, it won't wear well. I say live with it.


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## ArtisanRemod (Dec 25, 2012)

Wood that old and beautiful doesn't want to be painted


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## Metro M & L (Jun 3, 2009)

Abrade/degloss the surface, caulk with polyseamseal and two coats armorseal from Sherwin a waterbourne floor enamel. I used superpaint on the porch floor on my house and it has held up pretty well.


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## overanalyze (Dec 28, 2010)

jamestrd said:


> I think your expecting way too much from any product on an outdoor material..paint over so cant see the seams?
> 
> I think the only way yu dream of that wold be an epoxy of some type..


Well said. It has seams....that's why you can see them!!


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## deter (Apr 4, 2013)

Thats just the nature of the beast. You painted T&G, it is designed to expand and contract at the joints.


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## Caslon (Dec 15, 2007)

Look into Rust-Oleum Restore Deck Resurfacer. There's videos about this product at their site and on YouTube. It's thick enough that it should prevent future hairline cracks and splitting. Super durable too. If you try it, let us know. It's relatively new.

Addendum:

Found a user who relayed these tips when applying it.

"I researched this product online before I decided to buy. Read a lot of helpful hints. This is what you really need to know. #1. Go on you tube and watch the restore video. This is a must! #2. Get a 5 gallon bucket. Empty 1 gallon of paint scraping the sides. Add 1 to 2 cups of water to the paint can replace the lid and shake. Pour this into the bucket, and mix well. Repeat with 2nd gallon of paint. #3. Use the Restore BRUSH. If you don't trust me your deck will suck! Follow painting instructions and your deck will be brand new again.
We bought the color Beach an love how the color and feel turned out. Why didn't I give this 5 stars up. You waste a lot of paint that is being pushed between the slots. They need to make a brush that fits the size of your deck boards. If you have the time and want to save money over time then buy this stuff!"

You could probably use a mixer on a drill instead of shaking (water+product). Also, I wonder if this product is tintable so you can alter the colors somewhat to match your job colors better.


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## carzie (May 21, 2013)

I too would be interested to see if there is a product out there that would solve this. With the the variations in temperatures and humidity let alone the foot traffic moving moving the substrate it could be wishfull thinking. Might be better off sanding the finish off and going with a clear finish to highlight the natural wood.


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## Pete'sfeets (Mar 20, 2011)

you could always lay a sheet of duradeck vinyl over it,, everyone loves sarcasm !!


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## JLPicard (May 19, 2013)

Thanks guys. The house is historic. Everything is restoration here, not renovation. Even the double hung sashes are restored and work like they were just installed over 100 years ago (I did install PVC in the sash weight hollow and run the weight in the PVC instead of having it banging in there). The sashes can be lifted and lowered with your pinky finger. 
The porch floor has been restored to its original condition. The columns on the porch have been restored, rot filled with Restoration Epoxy (we did splurge on plastic molded column bases and capitals however). 
As I mentioned the seams are minute, maybe a hair width, but I am concerned that over time dirt and then moisture will gather in there. I believed it was possible to keep the seams closed with a flexible paint. 
As far as using caulking, maybe if they were installed with caulking instead of oil-based paint applied to the T&G, but there is no way you could force any caulking into the seams now. 
This is NOT a deck, it's a 100+ year old Victorian with a Douglas Fir T&G porch that had some rot on the ends.

EDIT: The problem I am having now is the damn government regulations taking Oil/Alkyd based products off the market, Sherwinn Williams in OHIO can't sell them to you, but I can head over the border to WVa and buy them. I guess I could get arrested by the paint police though /shrug.

EDIT: I looked at the Restore. Looks really nice, but would totally blow any restoration look for this property.


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