Painting new exterior shutters

[Alex Horvath]

Hi all,

I'm making some louver style exterior shutters from redwood. Will be priming/painting.
I usually use a oil base (Zinsser) primer and Ben Moore Aura acrylic topcoat.
I have 5 pairs of shutters and each shutter has about 50 louvers.

I have a Accuspray gravity HVLP with 3 stage turbine but I once sprayed latex and I had to thin it so much that IMO it compromised the integrity.

I think I have to paint the louvers (1/4" x 1&1/2") separately for 2 reasons. When installed into the frame (1" spacing) they overlap each other about 50%. Also i would think it's best to paint the entire louver in case of any shrinkage (wood is dry) and sealing the ends is probably a good idea for longevity.
I suppose it would then make sense to paint the frame before assembly also so I don't have to mask the louvers. I'm using dowels for the frame joinery since these are faux shutters.There is sufficient slop in the louver slots to accommodate louver + paint.

I'm not adverse to hand painting these (they are all second story so don't need to be perfect) but in my experience hand painting small parts is a nightmare because of drips to the underside.

So my question is, should I go ahead and purchase a airless? There are lots on Craiglist or the cheapest Graco is about $300 and I could unload it used if I don't see any future use for it (home exterior was just painted). I'm still way, way ahead of the game financially because these price out at $600 per pair!

Thanks for any tips

[Bennett Ostroff]

This seems like a perfect calling for aerosol spray paint

[John TenEyck]

I would definitely paint prior to assembly for the reasons you cited. I would consider auto paint because it's thin and could be sprayed with your current turbine rig, and because it's very durable.

Vinyl shutters is the easiest and least maintenance solution. Just sayin.

John

[Jason Roehl]

I would NOT consider auto paint because it's formulated for metal, not wood. I'd be surprised if it lasted more than a couple years before it started to peel off.

There's nothing wrong with painting prior to assembly, but you should re-coat them after as well. Otherwise, water will find its way into all those seams. Brushing would definitely help mitigate this. Also, skip the oil-based primer. Use a quality exterior acrylic primer from a paint store. Another option is a quality exterior solid-color acrylic stain as the primer.

[Jim Becker]

Alex, listen to Jason...he's spend part of his life as a professional painter.

[John TenEyck]

Not looking for an argument but auto paint can handle the expansion/contraction of metal so it can easily handle the lesser amounts from wood. Also, it is very durable. From my perspective its only downside is cost.

John

[Jason Roehl]

With auto paint, I'd be more concerned about adhesion than expansion/contraction. Modern exterior acrylic paints actually allow for some vapor permeability, which has been found to reduce bond failure. Auto paint also dries too quickly to back-brush (or roll) to work it into the grain.

I could be convinced with test results, but I'm right next to Purdue University--there was a professor there who laid out hundreds of samples of various exterior painting processes. The end result was that the best for bare wood was a clear, penetrating sealer, followed by an acrylic primer and two topcoats of an acrylic paint.

[Alan Rutherford]

... The end result was that the best for bare wood was a clear, penetrating sealer, followed by an acrylic primer and two topcoats of an acrylic paint.

I don't want to hijack this thread but I'd like to be sure what you're saying. Is this a general rule for exterior house painting starting with bare wood or is it more specific to his redwood shutters?

[Jason Roehl]

I don't want to hijack this thread but I'd like to be sure what you're saying. Is this a general rule for exterior house painting starting with bare wood or is it more specific to his redwood shutters?

Both, really. It just so happens that the test panels for the experiment were shutter-like in their construction.

[Joe Chritz]

I recently purchased one of the small Graco airless cup sprayers. The 360 something. I have been happy after the learning curve to get just the right amount of paint on the project.

I have the X5 airless but I find for smaller projects it puts out so much paint it is hard to control.

Joe