Play shed - paint or stain

[C0RAL]

We have a garden play shed for our children. Two years ago we painted it pale green and white ( with exterior gloss ) and it started to flake off in less than 12 months .

A Painter friend suggested that we had done it while it was damp and to redo after a period of dry weather. So we did , and after 12 months it looks terrible.

So three questions please

1. What are we doing wrong? None of our other external woodwork needs done every year.

1. Should we stain instead of paint ?

1. If so, who makes wood stain in pretty colours ( not brown or dark green ) ?

Thank you

Photos

I'm not sure If painting over gloss would affect any other paint.

But if not, I use Cuprinol garden shades. In fact I've just repainted mine today after 4 years. One coat and it's as good as new.

It stands in full sun and the colour had faded but none of the peeling and flaking like you have.

paint is waterproof. So it stops damp wood drying out. External wood in sheds and fences is pretty well impossible to keep dry.

Sheds and fences are usually treated with a breathing stain which allows the wood to dry out. These are usually water-based, very cheap, and leave a waxy film on the surface which repels water. If you throw a bucket of water at a recently-treated fence you will see the water beads up and rolls off without wetting it.

These stains are widely available in an attractive variety of browns, but garish colours are also available. They are not opaque so the wood or any previous stain tends to show through, especially over time as the coating weathers away.

Thanks Oreo. As you can see the white paint is peeling off to the bare wood. It would be very easy to sand it back completely and start again. Sigh.

I would be quite content if it lasted for four years, it's not like I expect it to last forever. Just not 12 months. And TBH it's looked pretty poor over the winter too, so it probably looked good for 6 months 😭

Cuprinol Garden shades would be ideal if it lasts as there's such a good range of colours .

PigletJohn - thnaks for your post.

Are you saying that there's no point in painting at all as the wood will never be dry enough ?

So should we sand back to the bare wood and stain ?

I am at your two options of " brown " or "garish " . My children are brown haterz.

p.s.

If you want to get that peeling paint off, a jetwasher/powerspray will do it. It tends to raise the grain, but that's OK on garden woodwork. If there are any areas where it adheres firmly, use a hot-air gun and metal scraper.

Looking at the peel, especially on the door, it looks like the primer didn't take. Aluminium wood primer is very durable, but damp wood is a very poor substrate for a paint system.

Cuprinol products are good, I'd use Ducksback, or the Ultimate preserver which is expensive but protects against rot and woodworm. It gets darker with additional coats. I have not used Garden Shades.

pps

yes, I'm saying don't try to use a paint on outdoor softwood.

Even a well-prepared front door gets shabby if it is not protected by at least an open porch. I have some teak and other hardwood joinery, and have been trying linseed oil.

If I breath on it too hard it will fall off, I'm telling ya.

If I use a power washer it will make the wood wet. I though wet was bad?

I don't mind paying for a more expensive product as its taken a lot of time already and still looks crap. But ultimate preserver comes in brown and dark green . Which is a problem . It's quite a big shed in a prominent place in our garden and I don't want it to look like a big brown fence .

😰😭😱😨😢😪😥

The front of the shed faces the prevailing wind, it's very exposed. And it rains a lot here.

I have no idea why the white paint is worse than the green ( same brand ). The green is pretty much intact on the sheltered side and rear.

a power washer will make it wet, but it will soon dry with a few sunny days. Say a week. And you are going to treat it with a breathing waxy stain which is flexible and allows the wood to dry out. The reason fences don't rot much is that although frequently wetted by rain, they are exposed to the air and quickly dry; so apart from wood in contact with the ground, they are mostly either too wet or too dry for rot to thrive. Fenceposts rot away a few inches above ground level where they are ideally damp.

I did a gate last year with the green preserver. With one coat it was pale grass green, after six it is like a Christmas tree. Hasn't fallen off, though.

I SHANT < stamps feet > treat it with a waxy stain unless I can't find a non brown / green one .

< throws self on floor and has tantrum >

Shed has no rot BTW, it's on joists and well above the ground.

I'd be interested to hear if the linseed oil works on the teak ( Just remember to dispose of the rags in a bucket of water or they can go on fire) .

I have only one wooden bench which is teak and so far I'm ignoring that it's faxed to grey. The other bench is plastic fake wood which looks great and I can highly reccommend. We've had it 3 years, out all year and zero maintanance < looks severely at shed >.

I don't know anything about these things but just wanted to add that I used Cuprinol garden shades in same colours as yours. Painted last summer and looks fine. White prob not as bright as when first painted but that's all really.

Piglet john is a much better grown up than me when it comes to this stuff so take his word over mine......

But I really like the Cuprinol garden shades..... and garish colours. For a play house anyway!

This is mine after I painted it today, in all its garish glory.

And the second picture is of before.... last painted when i built it 4 years ago. It faded but no rotting, or damage or flaking.... or any problems really. I replaced the roof, but the rest is going strong.

Oreo that is garishly lovely.

Oh go on, user1487, show us your garish shed.

You know you want to .

If we join hand in a circle, sing and think colourful thoughts, we can repel the brown.

oreo is that Purple Pansy and Country Cream ?

user what colours did you use please ?

Yep purple pansy and country cream! Well spotted.

Next door, (you can see a little bit of the blue in my second picture) used to be painted in a lovely sea green colour with the country cream, I'll see if I can find it. Her dad repainted it in that blue for her when she was pregnant. She wasn't impressed 😂. She has a lovely bright pink to go on next .... something sundae. I can't wait for that!

The the pretty green she had was called sea green and was with country cream. That looked really good.

Ooh sea green looks lovely

I fear that PIglet John has gone to lie down in a darkened room poor man

If only I could find wood stain in nice colours .....

Seagrass and cream ?

Sorry no pic on my phone and too dark now. I've still got the pots so can check. It's same as yours but with pink door (and due to get pink window boxes this year...when we get a mo). Pink is sweet pea, white is white daisy and I think green is fresh rosemary.

I have used F and B exterior eggshell for wood on my sawn timber garage and summer house. It is brilliant. They have some great examples on their web site. Wood was dry though. The garage had been stained and it was faded and awful. We just painted the summerhouse a different colour. Gloss paint is fairly horrible and I haven't used it for decades now. The modern paints breathe and last very well.