How to paint outdoor wood

Whether you choose a colour to blend in or stand out from your garden’s landscape, painting your outdoor wood is a great way of refreshing the look of your garden. Follow these steps below for the best possible outcome when painting your exterior wood.

Surface: Exterior Wood

The following advice is applicable to unpainted wooden exterior surfaces such as fences, sheds, flower beds, treehouses, playhouses, trellis’, plant pots and garden furniture. If you are unsure if this advice is applicable for your project, please contact our technical team at hello@colourtrend.ie or our online chat for advice.

We have outlined two alternative painting methods for you to choose from. The first, using Colourtrend Wood Coat, an extremely durable coating resistant to scuffing. The second, using your choice of Colourtrend Trim finish, designed using advanced alkyd resin technology suitable for both interior and exterior woods.

1. Colourtrend Wood Coat

Surface Preparation:

Proper surface preparation is crucial to maximise finish performance. The durability of a product can be impaired by an unsound or poorly prepared surface. Allow new wood to weather for about 6 weeks before first application, but no more than 8 weeks. Wood that is exposed to weather for a longer period will require sanding before application to remove loose wood fibres.

Application of Primer:
Unpainted hardwoods require priming in advance of topcoat application. All Colourtrend primers can be applied by brush, roller or spray.

• For unpainted hardwoods such as teak, mahogany or cedar, 2 coats of Colourtrend Prime 1 or Prime 3 are recommended to prevent the bleed of oils and tannins through the top coating.
• Colourtrend Prime 1 is touch dry in 20 minutes and is suitable for recoating in 60 minutes. Colourtrend Prime 3 is touch dry in 1-2 hours and is suitable for recoat in 4-6 hours depending on drying conditions.
• For very oily substrates and knots, leave the first coat to cure for 24hrs before applying the second coat.

Application of topcoat:

• Apply two coats of Colourtrend Wood Coat in your chosen colour.
• Wood Coat will be touch dry within 1-2 hours depending on the film thickness and drying conditions.
• Re-coat after 4-6 hours.

Note: Full paint properties do not develop for a minimum of 7 to 10 days after application. Do not apply below +5^oC.

2. Colourtrend Trim Finish

Choose between Colourtrend Eggshell, Satin or Gloss in your desired colour.

Surface Preparation:
Proper surface preparation is crucial to maximum finish performance. The durability of the product can be impaired by an unsound or poorly prepared surface. Surfaces must be clean, dry and sound before painting.

• Clean the wood with degreaser cleaner such as sugar soap and allow to dry.
• Sand well with fine sandpaper to create a key on the surface and wipe the wood down with a lint free cloth to remove any dust.

Application of Primer:
All Colourtrend primers can be applied by brush, roller or spray.

• For unpainted hardwoods such as teak, mahogany or cedar, two coats of Colourtrend Prime 1 or Prime 3 are recommended to prevent the bleed of oils and tannins through the top coating. For unpainted plywood, one coat of Prime 1 is recommended.
• Colourtrend Prime 1 is touch dry in 20 minutes and is suitable for recoating in 60 minutes. Colourtrend Prime 3 is touch dry in 1-2 hours and is suitable for recoat in 4-6 hours depending on drying conditions.

Application of Topcoat:

• Apply two coats of Colourtrend Eggshell, Satin or gloss in your chosen colour.
• Apply two light coats rather than two heavy coats to achieve a more durable finish.
• Each coat will be touch dry in 2-4 hours depending on film thickness and drying conditions.
• Re-coat after 6-8 hours.

Note: Full paint properties do not develop for a minimum of 7 to 10 days after application. Do not apply below +5^oC.