the painted surface

Painting Shutters

This beautiful home was built only a few years ago and already the exterior house shutters are in need of repainting or staining.

The original finish has failed prematurely. The color has faded, deminishing the looks of the home. The finish is peeling and cracking, exposing the wood to the weather.

My guess is that the original stain was thinned excessively or the product used was not intended for exterior applications.

These shutters can be brought back to an attractive appearance with a little bit of work and the proper exterior stain. The wood is in good shape with no rot or damage. As much of the old finish should be removed as possible to have a good surface on which to apply the new stain. Power sanding with a small vibrator type sander worked very well to remove the old finish. A 50 grit sandpaper was used. This low of a grit size will quickly remove the old finish and in this case left a surface that could be stained without further sanding. Depending on the type and quality of the wood, more sanding with finer grits may be required for a smoother finish. These shutters will be finished with a solid color stain which should penetrate the wood, so a slick surface is not needed, we want the pores of the wood to be open.

Each shutter was sanded on all exposed surfaces. Do not forget to sand the top and bottom. The end grain of wood is very porous and should definitely be sanded and stained. The sanding removed almost all of the old finish leaving bare wood to restain.

A solid color stain will be used to restain these shutters. Sherwin-Williams Woodscapes Solid Stain Ultra in the color of Pine Cone was chosen. The first coat was allowed to dry overnight and then a second coat was applied the next day. Both coats were applied full strength, no thinning was needed.

A semi-tansparent stain could have been used however the solid color stain is generally more durable. The solid color stain is opaque where as the semi-tansparent stain will allow the grain of the wood to show through. The differences can be seen on color charts from your paint dealer.

This project took two days from start to finish, the work being done by a professional painter. More time may be needed for the do-it-yourselfer. The appearance of the home has dramatically improved. This project is an example of the benefits of using quality products and proper application methods. The end result is well worth the effort and costs of doing a job right the first time.