Painting SYMRA

Photo 1—The job begins by removing any hardware that’s easily taken off and later refastened, such as the bronze portlight bezels. To keep track of their wood-screw fastenings, I duct-tape them to the bezels. Painting without hardware in place undoubtedly creates a cleaner edge and keeps paint from building up in the corners, but removing hardware must be balanced against the time required to properly refasten it. Often, cutting a paint line to a piece of hardware, being quicker, is the way to go.

Photos 2 and 2a—The first step in preparing the surface is to chip away loose flakes and bubbles using a putty knife whose corners have been rounded to avoid gouging the wood. Those rounded corners can be used to “open up” an area of loose paint. Following up with a sharp scraper removes any paint that isn’t very well stuck to the surface. I use a teardrop-shaped scraper. Its flat edges work well on the wider expanses of the cabin sides, and if rotated, its radiused profile works nicely on the coved-out area where the sides meet the deck.

Photo 3—With scraping complete, I sand the entire surface with a square-pad orbital sander. I use coarse grits (100–120) for “feathering” the edges of bare spots, and finish the entire surface with 150–180-grit. I’m careful to not over-sand when feathering, as this will only dish-out the bare wood. Certain areas, such as where window glass meets the house sides, must be carefully hand-sanded so as not to scratch the glass.

Photo 4—Tidiness is critical to a good job. When the scraping and sanding stage is complete, I do a good cleanup before moving on to the next step.

Photo 5—In preparation for undercoating, all bare wood is wiped clean with a fast-evaporating solvent that does not leave a residue. Generally, the proprietary thinner you use with your brand of paint is appropriate for this.

Photos 6 and 6a—All bare wood is spot-primed with an appropriate undercoat. This serves a few purposes: it begins blending the bare wood’s color with the surrounding paint, and it provides a surface for the glazing, which will come next. Glazing fills in the “craters” created by the scraped-bare wood, whose surfaces do not match the level of the surrounding areas that are still built up with paint.

Photo 7—Here, the scraped, sanded, and primed areas are being glazed, or built up, to the same level as the surrounding painted surface. The choice of product is important at this step. I use Evercoat Polyester glazing putty with white hardener (not the blue hardener that comes with the can, as this would require additional undercoating to match the finish color) to avoid having to apply two coats of undercoat before painting. Evercoat is a super-smooth, non-shrinking, and easy-to-sand glazing compound that yields a very fine surface. Resist the urge to use Bondo here: it is hygroscopic, meaning that it absorbs water, which can lead to finish failure (at best) and rot (at worst).

Photos 8, 8a, and 8b—I use an orbital sander with a firm pad, fitted with 150-grit paper, to sand the glazed surfaces flat to match the surrounding areas. A round, random-orbit sander works here, too, but the square pad can come closer to intersecting surfaces without damaging them. Tight spots, again, must be hand-sanded. The coved-out base trim is hand-sanded with a sanding sponge. Note the areas of the previously glazed cabin sides around the portlight, which have been sanded flat. Once all glazed surfaces have been sanded smooth and fair, they receive a second coat of primer. This is then hand-sanded smooth with 180-grit paper. If this hand-sanding breaks through to bare wood in any areas, here’s a neat trick to quickly repair them: give them a light spray of an oil-based primer. I use Zinsser Cover Stain, which may be found in almost all paint stores. This will dry in a few minutes and can be painted over with enamel almost immediately.

Photos 9 and 9a—I keep several brushes on hand and select the right-sized one to “cut in” various areas while simultaneously keeping my wet edge advancing. The smallest brushes allow for delicate painting up to bronze hardware. Slightly larger ones—say, 1″—ease the job of cutting in against varnished surfaces or the deck; they hold adequate paint, but don’t dispense it so heavily that it ends up where I don’t want it. But, if it does, a knife point wrapped with a rag can be used to clean the deck or bronze hardware of unwanted wet paint (Photos 9b and 9c). Any drips or excess paint on glass can be scraped off with a razor blade when dry.

Photos 10, 10a, and 10b—While cutting-in the nearby edges, I also paint the flat expanses of the cabin sides. To properly load the brush, I dip it in paint about halfway up the length of the bristles, wipe one side on the edge of the paint pot, and then dab paint onto the surface in a criss-cross pattern next to the so-called “wet edge”—the advancing front of the new paint. I then brush out those criss-crosses to cover the entire section and blend it into the wet edge of the previously painted section. Long, flowing strokes parallel to the grain avoid sags and lead to smooth dried surfaces. Especially in warm weather, I use Penetrol, a paint additive for oil-based finishes; it helps maintain a “wet edge” as the painting progresses, and it helps the paint to “level”—that is, for the brush marks to disappear.

Photos 11, 11a, and 11b—For areas such as the cove where the cabin meets the deck, I first brush paint onto the center of the piece, and then lay a bead of paint along its bottom edge, next to polysulfide deck-seam compound. I then cut in the top using the intersection of the cabin side and trim-piece as a natural “edge” to be followed. Long, smooth paint strokes push paint up to the white cabin side. Note the orientation of the brush: it is skewed slightly, so only its very tip is working along the edge.

Photo 12—Here is the finished job, accomplished without the mess, waste, and potential damage of masking tape.