Greetings All.
I've been working on a project that was supposed to be a quick interim solution while I put together a more permanent(and pretty) one. I ended up seriously overengineering this, and I think a lot of that had to do with my being new to all of this, and not wanting it to fail.
Backstory: We have a south facing bay window in our living-room with no shade, and a whole lotta asphalt outside. So the heat coming into that window is crazy. I've measured it on a day when it's 70 degrees outside, and the inside of the window is sitting at 89-90 degrees. It's not much better in the winter either. It has actually heated our old PVC miniblinds enough that they have serious sag. So I needed to construct some kind of sun blocker. We live in a Co-op housing complex, and we're not allowed to just put foil on our windows. My original quick fix was to get a large sheet of cardboard and paint the outside white, which is what I did, and that helped, but it looked just like what it was... cardboard painted white. Over time the heat started to cause the cardboard to flex, and a yellowing effect to occur. Not cool, and something that the other members of the co-op could complain about.
So I started building something that would hopefully not flex or warp in the heat, and would do the job. Having never done this before I improvised, and constructed two "picture frames" that I sandwiched a sheet of 1/8" ply between. The bay window measures 61 1/2" by 45 1/4" so what I built was large, and ended up being too heavy for my wife to lift into the window casing (she's disabled).
After dealing with that (ie cutting it in half) I had to paint it. I didn't do the research that I should have. I knew I wanted it white, and smooth so as to provide the best thermal reflectivity. I ended up using the Rust Oleum Painters touch Paint and Primer. I did a base coat in Flat white, and then followup coats in Gloss white. I did light sanding between coats (using 220 grit) and it seemed smooth, but the ply keeps soaking up the paint. So here's the question.
I was thinking of spraying a coat of High Heat enamel (white) over the coats I already have, but am I wasting my time with that? Should I say heck with it, Spray it with BIN and then spray it with the Gloss (or enamel)? Or should I be applying the paint in a different way (sponge roller?) to get a smoother finish?
The ply by the way is 1/8" mahogany underlayment with a poplar core. The frames are built from Basswood trim (I don't have a router or router table to make the frame pieces out of anything better).
Any advice you folks have about the best way to go about getting a smooth glossy finish for this would be hugely appreciated!
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