Preservatives
Paint
Varnish
Oil Finish
- Lay a dustsheet. If painting inside, you’ll want to protect your furnishings. Remove any knobs, pulls or hardware from the furniture.
- Remove any ironmongery.
- Sand Shutter. For a smooth finish, use a flexible-foam sanding sponge or better still 220-grit carborundum sandpaper. Final sanding must be with the grain. Our shutters are pre-sanded but it is always advisable to do additional sanding to check for imperfections that may require a little filler or white putty.
- Remove dirt with a dusting brush. To remove residual grit, you can use a clean cloth or a vacuum.
- Prime To seal the wood, roll or paint a coat of thinned primer over the entire shutter making sure it runs into all orifices. Once dry apply a second coat of undiluted primer. Priming hides imperfections and provides a surface for the paint to adhere to. Let dry for at least an hour. Priming is very important to aid a good finish and prevents a blotchy finish. (Varnish Requires no Primer but will still require first coat to be thinned).
- Paint Using a roller on large surfaces and a brush on smaller ones, apply a coat of your chosen undercoat or final finishes recommended undercoat paint. (Varnish Requires no Undercoat)
- Wait for the undercoat to dry thoroughly When the undercoat paint is dry to touch, lightly sand with 220grit carborundum sandpaper. Apply a coat of topcoat gloss or your chosen finish for exterior wood and when dry apply a second coat of paint (minimum of two coats are generally the minimum needed for a nice, even finish and maximum protection). (Varnish requires several coats 3 to 7).
Tip: Wash brush between coats and especially easy if using water-based paints. When painting with a brush is it okay to brush against the grain in an effort to spread the paint but the final strokes should be with the grain lifting the brush away as to feather the paint stroke. Paint shutters laying down as this helps a lot to get a good finish and without ironmongery fitted.
Note: Please note this is our preferred method but your paint product may request a different approach. Please check that any mentioned product is legal in your country prior to use. Some French communes have a limited allowed colour pallet so please check first.