Time to repaint the barn

[BethW]

It's 30 years old and probably hasn't been painted more than twice. The exterior is board and batten oak.

I'm assuming we need to pressure wash it first before spraying it. Any other tips/ideas/recs you all have would be great

[vallyfarm]

Don't paint, stain it. Use a good OIL based stain. You get much better penetration into the wood, and best of all, if and when the next time to re-do it there is no prep work. Nothing to sand, scrape, or prime. Makes the wood look much better too. Mike

[Phantomfyre]

But you can't do oil if there's latex on now, can you? Everything here needs paint, too. I guess the previous owners had someone come in and do an el-cheapo job to pretty things up for sale, and now 2 or 3 years later, everything's peeling like mad. They used latex... maybe over oil? I really don't know - it's a mess, though.

[FarmerJeff]

I repainted my 40x90 board and batten barn last summer. It had not been painted in 20 years. I pressure washed it and then rented a Titan 440i (this is the best widely available paint sprayer) from my local Rent-All. It was $200for a week's rental. I used barn and fence paint from Lowe's. The project went so smoothly I couldn't believe it. We ended up doing 3 coats. The work took 5 eight hour days. Barn looks great!

The sprayer you rent WILL make a HUGE difference. We did not have to filter or thin the thick latex paint and the machine rarely clogged. Don't scrimp on the rental. You'll be glad!

[texican]

ooops, I knew there was something I was supposed to do.... Paint the Barn!!! My first one is 20 years old and I haven't got around to it yet... (have wide roof overhangs)

I like oil based products, personally.

One of my neighbors sprayed his oak down with diesel fuel, inside and out, to give it more of a waterproofing, and keep the termites away a little longer. I'd have to ponder long that wisdom of using a fuel on my barn siding...

[BethW]

Yep, my first choice would be an oil-based stain. I'm pretty sure the current coating is latex paint since all of the metal hardware is covered in it, too.

I hadn't considered spraying diesel. Wonder how long that would reek?

[foxtrapper]

The Valspar barn paint is interesting in that it's a latex paint with linseed oil. Only two color choices, red and white.

As for how you apply paint, that's up to you. Personally, I will never spray again. I did it last time, and regret it now as the paint started to fail quite rapidly due to the thinness of the application. Was griping about this to a friend over at his place and he turned me around to face his barn. Mentioned the contractor he hired with specific instructions to brush paint had started the job spraying and then switched to brush when caught. The barn was very obviously suffering from thin paint on the sprayed section as well.

[BethW]

Thanks for that info Foxtrapper. Valspar was one of the paints on our short list. Need to go take a closer look at it.

As for spraying, our barn was initially sprayed and I'm amazed how long it's lasted. We're going to try spraying again this time, using several coats, but I'll keep your thoughts in mind. It may end up being an experiment!

Meanwhile, the bottom foot or so of the walls is the worst where water has splashed up and worn away the paint and done a number on the board ends. Any thoughts on prep work/sealants/consolidants, etc. to protect the wood (it's mostly bare of paint there) before painting?

[haypoint]

While this might not help you if you've got a lot of pealing paint, I discovered a cheap way to preserve the pine board and batton on my barn. The barn is 100 feet square, about 26 feet tall at the peak. The first year, I rolled Thompson's Water Seal on it. It lasted a year. Annual applications of Thompsons was too spendy for me. I bought a few 5 gallon pails of non-detergent oil, cheap stuff. On a hot dry day, I rolled it on fairly thick. The pine sucked it up. Preserved the fresh cut look of the wood and only needs re-done every 3-4 years. Not oily to the touch, doesn't gather dirt or dust. I even used it on the lower 4 feet of the barn that is treated T&G 2x6, it keeps that green color from fading. Works good on stalls and pens, too.

[Up North Louie]

Thompson's is pretty much bunk.

I like the motor oil idea. Might have the added benefit of discouraging cribbing.

Don

[brownegg]

I also use the valspar on my chicken coop. It is fairly priced, and goes on easy with a brush, and cleans up easy. It's nice not to have to use a primer, just get er done.

[BethW]

Well, we got it done! We rented a Titan sprayer (thanks for the rec, FarmerJeff) which sprayed 40 gallons without a single clog, and used the linseed fortified Valspar. It was a big job (40'x100' barn) but it looks great. We went ahead and also rented a cherry-picker which made the job much more do-able.

I hope I never see another drop of "barn red" paint again. By the time we were done, it looked like a crime scene.

Thanks for everyone's help!

[Barn Builder]

I noticed in the blue grass country KY., the barns look like they were painted with crisolt. Can you still buy it? I thought they out lawed it. I bet it would last a long time. The barns all up the highway look coal black in color.