Hey guys.
I did an extensive remodel on a 1980's house recently (all baseboards, casing, doors and cabinets). It was all pine, solid and a "warm brown" color. I.e. - horrible in the wifey's eyes, so that is all that mattered!
This is the process I did for each "thing":
Baseboards:
- remove them from the wall
- pull nails out of the back to minimize holes on the face
- inspect for cracks, major defects, etc. replace or fix as necessary
- invest in some timbermate wood filler, you will thank me later.
- I sanded most of the faces of the boards down to bare wood or pretty close because of the horrible poly job they did. You don't need to sand to bare wood if you use the primer in my next step.
- buy Zinsser BIN shellac based paint. Buy a bunch of decent mini rollers and foam brushes. Depending on how much priming you will do, buy in bulk from Amazon or your place de jour
- BIN goes on like water, dries thicker than that (from the shellac), doesn't clean up well (have to use denatured alcohol, hence disposable brushes and rollers. It dries in about 10 minutes, I re-coat at about 15, and usually will do 2 on the baseboards to "take the abuse" when they go on the walls. I personally LOVE this primer but it does have a bit of a learning curve and some other "gotchas". (See that section below!)
- depending on the contour of your molding, you might be able to use the mini roller for all of it. If not, use the foam brush to fill in the curves, cracks and contours as necessary. Don't worry if it looks blotchy or lacking in certain spots. It is the bond you are really concerned with here.
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If you have never heard that "shellac sticks to anything, and anything sticks to shellac", you will understand why after using it.
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- again, 1-2 coats depending how the wood sucks the stuff up. Remember, this is not waterbased, so it will not "soak" into the wood. You will love it.
- after the primer is dry, use a 320 grit paper to knock off nibs and other things. If you want it super smooth, you might need to work a bit more with filler and primer. Don't overdo it, they are baseboards and are not at eye level. You want clean and durable above all else.
- I personally use all Sherwin Williams stuff. I am not a pro but I do love their paint. I have been using Pro Classic for years. It looks ugly sometimes when you lay it down, but levels out great. If you want to try it, they have a sale until 2017.02.04. If you stick with BM, I can't help you but if you want to do the PC, read on...
- roll on the PC with a mini roller just on the flats! Use a good velour roller and it will lay down great. 2 coats on this and you will be good to go. If you have too much orange peel after the first coat, the roller is hold the paint wrong. Get better rollers. You can sand in between coats if you want, but I rarely do.
- after the 2 coats, paint the crevices and curves with a high quality Purdy nylon brush designed for this type of paint. Again, lay it a little thick, don't over work it and try not to go back on drips. You will get used to working with it. I don't generally do 2 coats on the curves because I am laying it on well, but you might need to as you get adjusted.
- I let it dry for at least 48 hours before putting it back on the wall. Just a habit for me. I use 23g pin nails and adhesive and glue as necessary for outside corners. Use what you have or use it as an excuse to get a new gun! ;^)
Casing/trim:
- same products as above
- in my case, I had a strange door and window trim the the roller only method didn't work well. I used a lot of foam brushes to get the one and only primer coat on. It will look ugly but will bond like James!
- same 2 coats of PC on top, with touch ups as needed.
- I got really quick on my doors and windows. I could get 4-5 windows and doors completely primed and at least the first coat of PC on well within a day. YMMV
Cabinets:
- it is a lot of the same steps as above but for the doors and drawers, you will have to figure out what your paint workflow is. I made a bunch of craftsman style doors with raised panels and primed and painted the cracks crevices first. Let them cure a little (2+ days). Use a roller to paint the edges around the same time if you can. One the inlay and edges are dry (2+ days), I sand the faces where any overpaint ended up. Your RO 90 should be good here (use Granat). Then I roll on the face and backs. 2 coats all around. Be careful of drips along where the face meets the edges. If you want "practice", do the backs first to get good at it.
- some people will use some winded in the PC to act as an extender, others will also put poly in the paint to be a bit harder. I wouldn't use a latex hardner.
Once you do the above enough times, you will start looking at airless or HVLP machines... I speak from experience!!
Gotchas:
-BIN is great, but if you use caulk at all, it doesn't behave itself. Since the caulk is elastic, it can't bond as expected and as the seasons shift, the paint will crack like egg shells. I put caulk on last and touch up the paint as needed.
- protect any surface you don't want paint on. If you drop BIN on surfaces, it can be very difficult to get out. Carpet, anything porous, it is almost impossible. Be safe, not sorry later. Take the time to prep right.
- this paint ain't cheap. Expect to pay about 40.00 for a can of BIN and about the same for PC. It only hurts once.
Good luck in whatever path you take on this mate. And keep us posted to your trials and tribulations and of course the final results.
Cheers. Bryan.
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