fir: oily, yellowish "seepage" through paint.

a friend in the states has a problem. i'm hoping some may have advice

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I'm having a problem with some of the old fir in our house.

We have it stripped since there is so much paint build up but even though I prime and paint (sometimes up to four coats of premium (about $50 per gallon) paint) I get an oily, yellowish "seepage".

I talked to the paint store today -- and these guys are good -- and they were all blown away that 80+ year old fir would seep through like this. They confabed on it and thought maybe the stripping process was causing the problem.

They suggested using a tinted shellac instead of primer.

Even if I wait until summer when I can open up the house I'm still not too sure I want to deal with shellac.


The fir in question is mostly cabinetry so -- flat surfaces and multi-sides.

The real bitch of it is that I'll finally get it looking good after several coats of paint and within ... say.... 6 months .... I start to see seepage. It is such a pain because I have to take all the hardware off again because I spent a crapload of time getting the paint off the hardware. IT'S SO FRUSTRATING!

it really isn't beautiful old fir, it's highly mistreated fir that required some wood putty to make it reusable. I know it seems crazy to do all that work but replacing it would have been the only other option and we're trying to keep the house parts original.

I'm using a water based paint

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she goes on to say she is not real enthusiastic about hard shellac because of the smell.
I've suggested she do some research into oxalic acid cleaner but i'm not too sure about that.

any advice or suggestions would be most welcome

In all honesty, there's only 4 things you could consider.

1. Ream out the knots and fill with epoxy or putty :no:
2. Replace all the weeping boards :no:
4. Make a killing charging admission for people to see the weeping boards, :wink: or
5. Put a couple of coats of shellac on the boards and then paint. :yes:

Sorry:rolleyes:, but the advice you were given is spot on. If you want to keep these fir boards in the house, then a couple coats of shellac is the only way to go.

cheers
Wendy

The timber was never allowed to dry out when new and the paint has retarded the natural seepage, with Fir (oregon) it can take years to stop seeping as said above shellac is most likely the best thing to try

Thanks ruffly and china.
I'll relay that.

Why the fear of shellac? It really is easy to use. Dries fast. Not as fumy as paint.:shrug: Maybe "french pollishing" makes shellac sound scary, but using it as a sanding sealer is easy. And you could probably paint over it. :shrug: :cool:

As it is being painted - in the old days one of the best "bleed stoppers" was to give it a coat of Silverfrost - not sure if it is still available in the States as it is no longer available here.

Just a thought,
Bob

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Originally Posted by tea lady

Why the fear of shellac? It really is easy to use. Dries fast. Not as fumy as paint.:shrug: Maybe "french pollishing" makes shellac sound scary, but using it as a sanding sealer is easy. And you could probably paint over it. :shrug: :cool:

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I think its filling the house up with the smell that puts her off.

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Originally Posted by Bob38S

As it is being painted - in the old days one of the best "bleed stoppers" was to give it a coat of Silverfrost - not sure if it is still available in the States as it is no longer available here.

Just a thought,
Bob

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is silverfrost like what you would use to paint metal?

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Originally Posted by dadpad

is silverfrost like what you would use to paint metal?

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Yep - that's the stuff.

The old stuff is no longer available/made here - the modern replacements come close to being as good as an ashtray on a motorcycle IMHO

Regards,
Bob

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Originally Posted by dadpad

I think its filling the house up with the smell that puts her off.

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:? What smell? It smells like metho for 5 minutes while it dries. Your paint will smell for longer. :shrug: And Silver frost? That will smell for as long as epoxy takes to dry. :rolleyes: