Painting Pine

[Scott Gebel]

I am building a loft bed for my daughter and we have decided to paint it vice using a stain. I have a couple questions:

1. How fine do I need to sand?

2. Do I need to use a conditioner before priming or will the primer do the job of a conditioner?


Scott

[Brad Wood]

I'm not the answer guy around here (more the question guy), but I'll go ahead and throw my .02 since I so rarely have the opportunity...

I'd go to 150 grit on the sanding, and the primer ought to do the trick for you.
The only thing I'm not sure of is knots.. if it is knotty pine (our naughty pine :D ), I'm not sure how to keep the knot from being obvious.

[glenn bradley]

IMHO, 220grit is fine enough. Your primer is more important than one might think when using pine. I would recommend Zinsser B.I.N which you can get at many BORGs. It will seal and prevent any bleed through of knots, sapwood, etc.

[Howard Acheson]

Sand to 180 grit. Apply a shellac based primer like Zinsser BIN to seal the sap and knots in pine. Paint with an interior oil based enamel of the sheen you like.

[Jason Roehl]

Sand to 180 grit. Apply a shellac based primer like Zinsser BIN to seal the sap and knots in pine. Paint with an interior oil based enamel of the sheen you like.

Honestly, I think this is a bad idea. A loft bed will see quite a bit of abuse, and oil enamels form a hard shell, which means easily chipped and cracked when applied to a soft wood like pine. Pine is going to dent, there's no way around that, so you may as well paint with a coating that can flex. Acrylic trim paint is the way to go.

[Phil Phelps]

Honestly, I think this is a bad idea. A loft bed will see quite a bit of abuse, and oil enamels form a hard shell, which means easily chipped and cracked when applied to a soft wood like pine. Pine is going to dent, there's no way around that, so you may as well paint with a coating that can flex. Acrylic trim paint is the way to go.

So, if it was a maple bed, you'd use oil?