If you’re looking for the ultimate transformation in your home or cottage, painting your raw or stained pine a lighter shade of paint can offer a bright, fresh look (without breaking your budget).

But before you begin, there are several important steps to follow in order to produce a high-quality finish and avoid complications down the road. Our paint expert, Eli Smith, at Complete Home Services LTD is excited to share our * top secret * products, details, and insight into painting your pine surfaces the correct way.

The number one concern for painting pine, and any kind of wood for that matter, raw or otherwise, is bleeding. Bleeding is the yellowing of paint that has been applied over pine. Pine holds a lot of tannins which can seep out over time, especially where there are knots. Nearly all types of wood can bleed through paint; the most commonly used being pine, cedar or poplar.

In order to prevent bleeding, we follow these steps:

1. Sand the surface with a medium/fine grit sandpaper, especially if it has been stained and sealed with a glossy clear coat. Some primers don’t require sanding, but we generally recommend it for the best adhesion.
2. Dust of your surfaces using a dry-mop, brush, or vacuum.
3. Brush on a coat of knot sealing primer such as Zinsser Bin Shellac based primer. Use a soft bristled Nylon or polyester brush and feather out the edges by applying more pressure around the knot and less pressure as you move away from the centre. Shellac primers offer impressive adherence and form a nearly impenetrable layer to lock in tannins if applied properly. If priming raw pine, roll the entire surface using a 5-10mm microfibre or foam whiz roller.
4. Allow to cure for 24hrs; especially if you are priming raw pine.
5. Lightly sand with fine grit sand paper. A very light sand will remove loose wood hairs, without stripping the primer.
6. Dust off your wood surfaces.
7. Apply your finish coats using a 10-15mm roller, airless sprayer or medium firm synthetic brush. 2 coats are recommended in order to provide the most durability and best coverage. Important to note! Depending on your colour choice, a third coat may be required. Some bright whites such as Benjamin Moore’s Chantilly Lace OC-65, have very little colourant added which reduces the coverage. Cost saving tip! You may want to consider applying a coat of cheaper latex-based primer on top of the Shellac in order to save your more expensive finish paint.
8. Sand between coats for the smoothest finish.

Other notes to consider is what surface are you painting? Is it trim? Tongue and groove walls or ceiling?

Most stained or raw wood is not caulked, and nail holes are not filled. If painting white, these gaps and holes will stick out much more than before. For the best result, we recommend priming, then caulking all seams and grooves using a rubberized or latex based paintable caulk and wiping with a damp rag to smooth out the edges. Fill nail holes with wood filler or spackle. Lightly sand all the filler smooth once it has dried.

Now that we’ve shared our secret to perfecting this process, we can’t wait to see how you transform your spaces!