How To Make A Center Console Out Of Wood

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From the cabinets in your kitchen to a piece of piece of furniture to a fun arts and crafts, in that location are plenty of wood items you can pigment. And 1 of the best things most forest is that it accepts a variety of paints well, whether you opt for something that'southward acrylic or an oil-based formula. Painting woods is an piece of cake mode to change its look and give it some new personality, merely it's not always clear what paint to use for different projects and applications. Here's what you lot need to know about the right paint to use for wood.

What's Your Projection?

First, information technology'southward essential to figure out the nature of your project, meaning you'll demand to make up one's mind non only what yous're painting but also where it's located or going to be used. Are y'all painting shingles on the exterior of your home? Or are y'all painting an outdoor deck that'll come across a lot of pes traffic? How well-nigh kitchen cabinets that people will affect often, or a bathroom shelf that'll be exposed to high humidity from the shower?

Knowing things like whether or not it'due south going to get moisture, how frequently someone'due south going to employ it or touch information technology and what overall outcome or look you desire to achieve are all essential for determining what paint you should apply for the project. Wood accepts a very wide range of paints and stains, but each of those can have differing levels of immovability and protection. Some paints are better than others in certain situations, and you'll need to know your particular situation before you make your choice.

The great thing nigh woods is that, as long as yous apply primer to it in most cases, any type of pigment works well on it, depending on what function you need your project to serve. By and large speaking, paints to use on wood are water-based or oil-based. Acrylic and latex are the two most mutual types of water-based paints, while oil-based paints fall into two categories: constructed or natural. Each of these is better than others for specific applications.

Latex paint is quick-drying, easy to clean and better for the environment than other types. It's also less likely to discolor over fourth dimension. Nonetheless, it'southward not the near durable choice, every bit it tin scratch and chip easily. It's best for indoor wood items or surfaces that you won't impact or utilise very often, such as rarely used furniture, storage cabinet doors, stair spindles and picture frames. Latex pigment is often the nigh affordable type.

Acrylic pigment is ideal for home exteriors, although you can besides apply oil-based paint hither. If the outside is fabricated up of dissimilar materials, such as stone and wood, you're better off choosing acrylic. Materials like stone and masonry need breathable paint to let moisture and h2o vapor to pass through, and oil-based paint prevents this. Acrylic arts and crafts paints are too widely bachelor and easy to use and clean up if y'all're doing a simple DIY craft project using woods.

Synthetic oil paint, which is also called alkyd, is the all-time selection for applications where you lot demand a lot more immovability. Think everyday furniture that'll get used and jostled often, kitchen and bathroom cabinets, interior trims like baseboards and door frames that'll get kicked and touched often, and flooring indoors and out. Oil-based paints are more rigid than flexible, water-based types and then they're less likely to chip — even when people are walking on them — and they're also easier to wash clean considering of this.

Natural oil paint, chosen linseed, is best for craft projects on which yous want to create a warm, aged patina. It's typically much more expensive than the synthetic diversity, which is why it's best for smaller projects.

Prepping for the Projection

To aid the paint attach well and to ensure the finish looks its all-time when everything is dry, it's important to prep your wood to go it prepare. If you lot're painting an exterior surface or detail, requite everything a thorough wash to make sure at that place isn't any dirt, dust, moss or algae, all of which can keep the pigment from sticking to the surface. If you're painting wood deck furniture, a tabular array or something else for the outdoors that people will touch frequently, it's a wise thought to sand it earlier painting to requite the pigment something smooth to attach to. Splinters and cracks can also go on the finished product from looking its best, and they're uncomfortable to sit on. Allow the surface or or particular dry out fully earlier applying the pigment, and give it a few days to dry out and showtime curing before you use information technology. Information technology'south all-time to do outdoor wood-painting projects while the weather is nice.

If you're repainting an interior surface or furniture such as kitchen cabinetry or a dresser, take a wait at the existing paint or finish. If the item'southward current paint isn't chipped, croaky or bubbling, you can normally paint right over it; simply sand the wood areas briefly to give the surface more texture for the paint to stick to. If you don't demand to remove cabinet paint, it'southward all the same a proficient idea to clean the doors with a heavy-duty solution like TSP to eliminate all traces of grease and grime. If you practise need to remove a piffling bit of paint, such as a few chipped areas, you tin sand them down. However, you may need to use pigment stripper for items with paint that's very damaged. This is a product that softens the sometime pigment so you can scrape and wipe it all off.

A word of circumspection here: If your cabinets or other painted dwelling surfaces were last washed in the 1970s or earlier, they may incorporate lead-based paint. If you use a testing kit and make up one's mind at that place's lead in your paint, call the National Lead Information Eye or your local health department to find out how to proceed.