Hi, I am new to painting and would appreciate any tips or references or articles on how best to sand and prep an old wooden gate so I can repaint. I am not sure of the wood species as the gate is 100+ yrs old. It is approximately 3 in thick. The location is northern Michigan, and the weather is difficult. Given my lack of experience I would also appreciate recommendations on products and an understanding that my skills are not going to be that good. Thank you in advance, Molly
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First can you remove the gate and the hinges? If so lay flat on sawhorses and use a random orbital sander with 40 grit and remove all the paint (use a scrapper in the grooves). Then an oil based primer (two coats) and then find a premium oil finish (most of them are European and only come in quart cans) Use a premium brush and brush with the grain. Also two coats. I would remove paint from hinges and repaint using Rust-O-leum in color of your choice (mine would be black matte or gloss). Reinstall hinges and rehang. No question that's a lot of work but for my own gate that's what I would do.
Thank you very much for your response. I will not be able to lift this gate off its hinges. Would that change the sander type? Also some of the hardware is rusting. Can I just scrape clean?
No, still need to remove all paint. Start with scraping and then sander. Remove all the rust on hinges and use Rust-O-leum primer followed by top coat (black is my choice). Pay careful attention to bottom of gate (scrape and hand sand to remove all paint) and top (caulk any cracks). Water getting behind paint is not your friend.
Ok thank you again. I am curious about your recommendation to use oil paint and an acrylic? Seems like there are many more acrylic options. Thank you.
I know, however the oil paint seems to hold up better to the weather. I've had a couple of front doors that had western or southern exposure that looked like new for over seven years. It's just a matter of the quality of the paint.
I will say that if you stay on top of an acrylic application; by that I mean lightly sanding and reapplying a new coat every 18 -24 months, they can work. But I've not had any customers that were willing to do that.