Re paint

[gilbert]

Hi can any one tell me the best primer to use on a bondwood van I went to bunnings they are saying water base, then another paint shop said always use oil based primers on wood , and what is the best brand .

[King Fisher]

From our research you should only use water based as it's more elastic and will allow for the movement in the wood. The main problem with oil based pints/primers on wood is that because they are harder they get tiny cracks which allow the moisture into the wood underneath and can cause rot. We used Taudmans endure 3 in 1 undercoat and Taudmans endure top coat on our van, both are water based.

[sutcac]

Sic'em Reddo!!!

[Franklin1]

Gilbert, I think you'll find that acrylic primer paints these days are able to be used under both acrylic and oil-based topcoat paints. You can buy pre-primed timber for house-building, such as for verandah railings, or fascia boards for guttering, etc., and then apply whatever type of topcoat you wish over the top of the primer. The ongoing discussion on this forum seems to be whether the topcoat should be water-based or oil-based.

Dulux 1-Step Acrylic Primer, Sealer & Undercoat can be used under any topcoat (water or oil based). See the Dulux website here.  Also see the Dulux Exterior Preparation webpage. I think you'll find the same sort of information applies to the other major brands of paint as well.

Have a look at all the photos posted of the vans at the recent Nationals. See if you can tell from the photos which bondwood vans have been painted with acrylic topcoats, and which ones got oil-based.

cheers,
Al.

[cobber]

G'day gilbert,

After you've looked at that link Al gave you, also look at this link on the same site and notice the bit about "Choosing enamels or acrylics for exterior use"

Sic 'em Reddo   


Cobber.

[Franklin1]

It is good that this forum is about to celebrate its 10th year, because we can now get concrete scientific proof of how paint coatings have performed on vintage vans that were fixed up 8, 9, or 10 years ago. People who joined the forum back in the early days can tell us exactly how well the paint has performed on their vans over the years since.

Nothing like getting some facts to support the opinions...

cheers,
Al.

[brucenan]

I have done 3 back yard paint jobs on vans 2 fiberglass, 1 bondwood. I use a water based primer, sealer undercoat, 2 rolled coats, with a long nap roller, with a sand between each coat. Top coats are oil enamel with hardener, with a sand after the first coat. A short nap roller is used for the top coat, The oldest paint job done on fiberglass is now 5 years old and and still looks fresh. The van is used often but when not used is stored in a shed in dry conditions.

[cobber]

AL ! ! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE ?.... THIS COULD NOW BECOME THE LONGEST THREAD IN THE 10 YEAR HISTORY OF THE FORUM there will be more 'facts' to support every contention than you ever dreamed of 

Cobber.

[Franklin1]

cobber, I was actually thinking you could be one of the people who could give factual information about the paint coating on Driftwood. You would have painted him/her a fair few years ago, wouldn't you? What type of paint did you use, and how is it performing all these years later?


I'm guessing we won't get too many people that have evidence older than 5 years. A number of people from the early days have moved on. A number of others painted their vans and then sold them, and the new owners repainted them. Some others painted their van every couple of years, or when another major event was about to happen (I'm thinking of you, Fugly   ). Lots of people can tell us about their paint over the last 5 years, but how many can tell us about their paint for 8, 9, or 10 years? That's the sort of time period that would be meaningful to me, I reckon.


If you used a vintage van for a total of 3 months per year, then after 5 years you've used it for 15 months, and 15 months of exposure and wear-and-tear is not a lot of time, to my mind, for assessing the performance of paint coatings produced these days. I'd prefer to see some long-term evidence to convince me that painting with one type of paint is significantly inferior to another type.

cheers,
Al.

[cobber]

Al,

When I was young and had no sense I took my van behind the fence ....... and painted it with oil based enamel 

This was back in 1993 when I got Driftwood. There was no forum, or Internet to inform me   

Since then technology has advanced, we now have the internet AND....advanced water based acrylic paint technology   water based acrylic paints ain't what they used to be, and they're getting better all the time, not quite as shiny as oil based enamels yet but they're getting there.

What I find amazing is the characteristic they have of not letting moisture pass in one direction but.... if moisture does get under the paint it breaths and allows the moisture to escape.  
Diodes do it with electricity so, don't tell me such things are impossible  

No point comparing water based acrylics of ten years ago... or five years ago with what is available today, it's getting better every year.  

I've been patching up the enamel paint on Driftwood for donkeys years, it's never flaked but it has always tended to crack in various places.

Driftwood has always been under cover when not being used although, for some time one side was exposed to the late afternoon sun, that side really did crack and fade compared to the rest of it.

Remember...... I only advocate water based acrylic for exterior plywood, so do the plywood manufacturers and, the paint manufacturers. I know nothing but they must know something 

Cobber.

[gilbert]

I went in to paint shop today re primer, he said water based primer absorbs moisture, where oil based primer seals the plywood.i also googled on the net here is what they say.
If you’re using plywood where it’s likely to come in contact with water at all, such as on the exterior of a house, you should use latex-based paints. Unlike oil-based paints they’re very durable and will expand and contract with the wood and won’t crack.You need to apply a thin coat of latex-based primer to the wood. Give it plenty of time to dry and then sand it down lightly. You should only sand just enough to roughen the surface a little. Doing this will let the paint make a good strong bond with the primer. Remove all the sawdust with a tack cloth before you go ahead and begin to paint.

[Franklin1]

...you should use latex-based paints

Interesting idea, gilbert, although I'm not sure why you would want to paint plywood with the paint that is used on Halloween or monster masks. Also not sure why you don't trust the information given on Australian paint manufacturers' websites, but will accept what is given on American websites ("latex" is/was a generic term used in the US for acrylic paints; in the UK they use the term "emulsion").

cheers,
Al.

[Gypsy 10]

Read This link
vintagecaravans.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=photo&action=display&thread=9935&page=6

It works because I used the same method and I've had no problems yet.

Have to admit its only been 3 months since the paint went on.

[cobber]

Always LOVE regurgitating all this paint stuff over and ...... over and ......over again... where are you Reddo    ?

Ian, that link you gave us takes us to page 6 of king fishers thread, can't see much about paint on that page, so we don't know what method you used that works ?

Did you mean to link to this post of his on page 4 ?

When I talk about regurgitating. . have a look ( anybody who isn't sick of this subject yet ) at this post of mine on the same page of king fishers thread, but please click on the hyperlinks in that post to go to some EXPERTS on the subject of painting EXTERNAL PLYWOOD !!

Anyway..... Don't know why I'm bothering with all this again, if you want to use oil based paint do it..... won't hurt.... just don't use cow poop, it attracts flies

Cobber.

[Don Ricardo]

May 28, 2014 12:21:55 GMT 10 Franklin1 said:

Lots of people can tell us about their paint over the last 5 years, but how many can tell us about their paint for 8, 9, or 10 years? That's the sort of time period that would be meaningful to me, I reckon.

Hi Al,

I've been painting our caravan for 32 years. Does that count?

Based on that experience, I agree with Cobber:

May 28, 2014 17:17:13 GMT 10 cobber said:

Al,

When I was young and had no sense I took my van behind the fence ....... and painted it with oil based enamel 

This was back in 1993 when I got Driftwood...

I've been patching up the enamel paint on Driftwood for donkeys years, it's never flaked but it has always tended to crack in various places....

That's been my experience with the Don. I've found that the paint lasts about 6 years before it needs re-doing (remembering that when not out on the road, our van has always lived in its own garage/sheltered carport). That means i've painted it around 5 or 6 times over the 32 years (lost count exactly), but normally fine cracks begin to appear where there are joins in the timber/ply after only a year or 18 months.

So if that's the case why have I stuck with oil-based paint?

• In the early days, water based paints didn't have a terribly good reputation, at least as far I was aware.
• Later I was told that you couldn't mix oil and water-based paints, although as discussed here, I don't think that's a problem now.
• The work involved in taking the paint off the van back to the ply on a Don is horrendous - ask MarkT or Austin125, who've done it!
• I like the shine high gloss enamel gives.
• Oil-based enamel is in keeping with the originality of the van - I'm surprised that point isn't enough to cause Cobber to foreswear acrylics, but there you go!

However, although I've stuck to oil-based, I'm quite prepared to accept Cobber's argument about why people should consider using acrylic in this day and age.

Don Ricardo

[gilbert]

Thanks Don, exactly what the old man at the paint shop said, Acrylic absorbs water , oil base seals the ply straight away, and you wont get any where as near a shine with acrylic as you would with enamel.

[Surf Tragic]

If only I knew what type of paint is on all the door knobs & catches,; drawer handle- catches we would have a winner, it sticks like the proverbial , must be 20 years old
ST

[penny61]

I'm not sure how long ago exactly Cruz painted Penny but at a guess its probably 8 or 9 years ago now... and its time to re do it. The paint was about 5 years old when I got her... I believe its enamel... and it was already starting to crack in some places. Not badly but just fine little cracks mostly with some bigger ones where the ply bends. While in Tanunda 12 months ago we sprung a leak or two so Penny is now with Larry at Roadmaster Caravans in pieces getting repaired.... and I still don't really know which paint to use :/ He has suggested a rubber based one... unless its actually the latex one mentioned above..... and my boyfriend has suggested polyurethane... Penny is always in a shed when I'm not using her so this time I want to do it once and then forget about it for a while...

The paint on the door and the cupboards inside I believe is original. Much of the ply is still I suspect its something lead based. Unfortunately the stuff on the door is flaking off and has to go to protect the wood underneath. ..
Vanessa and Penny...

[humpynvan]

I just redid my teardrop with a marine enamel, the acrylic I put on 2 years ago had gone yellow and dull,
now its all shiney and looks good again, at $60 bucks a litre im hoping this lasts a bit longer

[gilbert]

I am going Enamel seals the minute you put it on,i phoned a tradesman painter today he said on plywood put enamel primer sealer same as pink primer only white, lightly rub it with some fine sand paper wipe it down must be very clean then top coat it with Enamel, that;s what they do on weather board houses he said and they never have a problem.