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Wood, oil based exterior primer

Dmab

New Member
I am repainting a weathered exterior sign. I am using One Shot paint but can’t find the “Metal and wood One shot primer”. It is out of stock everywhere.
Can I used a different brand primer? Which one would be compatible?
 

rossmosh

New Member
Do you have to use One Shot? Their reputation has gone down so much over the last 20 years once they changed their formula.

There are a ton of good latex paints out there that work great.
 

Dmab

New Member
I have all the paints to use except for the primer. Therefore I would probably want to use it since I have the money invested in it already.
I’m stuck…. I just want to find a good oil based primer that will be compatible.
 

Gino

Premium Subscriber
A good water-based primer will be just fine. However, you need to get ALL of the paint off down to bare wood, in order to prime the old wood again. You shouldn't prime over old paint whatsoever.
 

Dmab

New Member
A good water-based primer will be just fine. However, you need to get ALL of the paint off down to bare wood, in order to prime the old wood again. You shouldn't prime over old paint whatsoever.
Gino, if I used an oil based, would I still have to get all the old paint off? Of course I will sand off the best I can, but in the nooks and crannies of the carvings I won’t be able to get everything off. I will do the best I can.
Attached is what I am repainting.
 

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Gino

Premium Subscriber
Basically, yes. You'll need to strip all the paint off. What will happen is simple. The old paint will continue to let go and peel, even with new primer and paint over top of it. In fact, when introducing new paint to old paint, there is a chemical reaction gonna take place, especially in oil-based paints to create tooth for them to knit to each other. The old paint becomes worse and let's go even more so, than doing nothing to it.

It's a nice sign, and I can't tell what kinda wood it is, but once you strip it, it will need to be filled and a good thick primer would be advisable and water-based will be alright. Don't get a primer & sealer all in one, just primer.

Oh, and same goes for the birds. A tooth brush or small wire brush will work to get in all the feathers and stuff.
 

Dmab

New Member
I will sand off everything I can. It may be hard in the carved lettering. If the wood is lifted and feathered up from exposure, do you think I will need to fill that? If so with what. Priming with water base under oil makes me nervous. I know other sign painters agree with water based and others say no…. But I’m afraid the oil will also take a long time to dry. Will 24 be enough?
And bringing the sign in to dry-out sufficiently is another dilemma. How will I know it is thoroughly dried out to begin working on it.
I painted signs several years ago and am repainting simply because I painted for the creator of this sign. He typically used redwood for smaller signs. I’m not certain on the larger signs.
 

Gino

Premium Subscriber
I said strip, not sand. You'll need to use paint stripper. Sanding will never get in all those relief areas. You can take a chance, but after working in this field all these years, what I already said works the best.

No idea what drying out a sign is, but there are methods to restoring signs, especially carved or sandblasted. If ya cut corners ya really take a chance of things going wrong. So, whether this is your sign or a customers....... it's up to you to do your best.
 

Johnny Best

Active Member
Kilz or Zinsser bullseye makes an oil base and a waterbase primers. Put a couple coats on and you will be good to go. I prefer the waterbase because of the easy cleanup.
 

geb

New Member
prime with Zinsers water based, go over with oil base enamel, let it dry according to directions on can, certain colors take longer than others to dry. Doing this outdoors may have other challenges, temp, weather, etc.
 

Billct2

Active Member
Very nice sign. Are the birds' legs metal? As Gino says the best way to refinish is the completely strip the old paint. I would take it down and do it in the shop. We did something similar with a carved colonial "Bellringer". After stripping we hit all suspect areas with a marine wood rot stabilizer. Then patched with a marine patch kit. Primed with Zinzerrs and painted with One Shot. That being said I have also done the down dirty and cheap on site repaints, like painting a house. Wire brush, sand, wash, prime, paint. But it will look like that's how it was done and not last nearly as long.
 

visual800

Active Member
A good flat paint is also good for priming instead of using a so called primer. I sure wish you wouldnt use One Shot crappy paint on top of it thought but thats neither here nor there
 
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