Painting shelves, gritty finish - advice needed

[itisisit]

Hi all,

Been a long-time reader of the boards, first-time poster. I'm currently painting up some new shelves and would really appreciate some advice.

The shelves are solid pine. I'm painting them with solvent-base primer and solvent-base satinwood paint.

I prepped and primed the shelves, all fine. Put on the first topcoat of satinwood and left a day to dry.

Coming back to it today, the shelves are, well, gritty - quite a few specks in them, the odd hair etc. You can feel the bits and spots noticeably with your hands, so it's very far from a smooth finish!

Guess my painting area was dirtier than I thought (people were coming and going through it during the drying time, doesn't help!). I'm surprised it's been as bad though because the primer went on smooth and without problems, and that was done in the same environment.

It's not terrible but I'm pretty disappointed with the current finish and not sure what to do to improve it.

So my options as I see them are:

1) Paint a second coat now and hope the coverage conceals the imperfections and smooths things out a bit.

OR

2) Wait a month for the paint to fully cure, sand down with a fine-grit sandpaper or wet-and-dry to remove the imperfections, then re-coat with a new layer of satinwood (somewhere cleaner this time!).

I've only put one layer of topcoat on so far so obviously my original plan was to put another layer or two on now, but I'm worried about the gritty spots showing through and spoiling the finish. I'm also worried about the impurities affecting the grip of the paint. If I put on another layer I won't be able to sand the bits out as easily in the future either.

Advice on best way to go from here would be gratefully received. Cheers all!

 

[JohnD]

sand off

repaint

leave upside down to dry

 

[itisisit]

Upside-down, makes sense! Thanks.

Assume I will need to wait a month or so for the paint to cure before I sand it. Have tried sanding solvent-base wood paint a day after application before... did not go well!

 

[joe-90]

You should have used non yellowing acrylic - far better than oil based.

 

[itisisit]

So I have now heard, but at the time I bought the paint I wasn't aware of the issues with solvent-base.

Pretty ticked off when I found out, I must admit, wish I had gone with water-based. Not least because it takes so much less time to dry and it's easier to clean up. Solvent is such a pain to use, plus I've got kids and don't really like the fumes in the house.

But as I say, by the time I was made aware of the issues with solvent-base I had already started painting. So I can't really go back now, I'm stuck finishing the job in solvent.

I did consider waiting 'til the shelves are cured, seeing if they yellow, and if I am unhappy with them then maybe keying them up and putting on a final layer of a hard-curing acrylic. Don't know if that's possible.

That said, you then hear other people criticising the water-base stuff as not hard enough for shelves or for going on thin. So I end up none the wiser!

 

[dcdec]

Just wet abrade.
Dulux blue lid seems ok and sikkens in my own experience never had a problem re the yellowing but WB is the way forward.

 

[itisisit]

Thanks for the input. Have had a bit of a look round the net, Sikkens BL Satura seems to get recommended all the while. Tech data sheet says it can go on over old alkyd with a decent sanding.

Yeah, my tins of satinwood are Dulux, mixed at the local DIY shed in August 2011, white lids. I am (perhaps without justification) sort of hopeful because Dulux said everything from 2011 onwards is their new non-yellowing formula. But I anticipate my shelves will soon be yellow.

Since I'm stuck with it now, I guess I'll press on and see how they do. If they fade I'll get some of the Sikkens in and give them a last coat.

 

[craigpaterson]

go with second option.