Protecting the Wood

[bmatson]

Okay so I am going to be covering all of my floors, walls and ceilings with carpet, tiling, hardwood, wallpaper.......you get the idea. In other words, I am not going to be painting anything and it will all be covered. So should I primer everything before I do that? I am using Kilz primer, which seals the wood to protect it. I've heard that other people primer their walls under their wallpaper and whatnot to protect the wood, not to mention give it a smoother surface. I am wondering if this is really necessary, or if the wall/floor/ceiling coverings will be protection enough from anything that will damage the wood? And also, for the siding of the house, will that protect the wood as well? I wouldn't mind going though the effort and I think that in theory it is a good idea, I just don't know if it is worth the effort since it will all be covered anyway.

I would love to hear your thoughts!!

Oh, and while I am on the subject. I was hoping you also would be able to tell me the best way to paint the siding of the house. I figure that if I paint each individual piece, that will give it a nice, finished look, but of course would take WAY longer than it would if i were to paint the siding after it was already applied to the house. Once again, I am willing to put in the effort, I am just wondering if it makes a difference.

[TinyJudi]

Hmmm...not sure what advice to give you. I prime everything that isn't going to be stained. It can get pretty humid during a SC summer and I thought priming it would help guard against the humidity, although I could be wrong. :lol: Also, it seems that the wallcoverings adhere better to the primed walls and I hear it is easier to remove the paper from a primed wall should something happen that you need to remove it.

[uppitycats]

It's my understanding that priming the wood helps to protect against warpage -- you're putting sheets of wood "on end", for example, and subjecting it to years of standing that way, in perhaps not ideal climate conditions (although these days with everyone having central air, that might not be such a big issue.) But you're already using primer -- the Kiltz stuff. Presumably you know to prime both sides (if you do only one, the piece will warp for sure!) If you're certain you're not going to stain anything later (trim? Staircase?) -- then proceed as you have -- apply the Kilz, and construction begins.

I painted the sides of my Garfield house before putting on the outside window trim (my windows are what came with the kit -- inside trim is separate from the outside). My Brimble, a rehab, came put together. It's been a challenge to reach some of the areas of the outside that need paint (but then, it also had it's roof on. If you're going to wait to paint the outside, do the walls, then put on the roof!) In each case, though, the major construction was done. I think painting first and then putting the house together would only make sometimes-tight fitting slots even tighter, and you're sure to ding up the finish while attaching other pieces.

Also -- glue doesn't stick to overly painted surfaces very well. So unless you're MUCH more careful than I was -- you're bound to get some paint on the very edges you need to glue.

I'm sure others will offer their opinions, too! :lol:

[kristinbot5000]

Don't paint siding before you put it on the house. I did this once without thinking things through, and when I came back after it had dried, all of my siding had warped. I could never get it to hang correctly on the house. I got so frustrated with it that I never finished the house!

[heidiiiii]

Yeah I prime too. I get flucuating weather changes here in New England. As for the siding, I glued all of mine on all at once and then painted.

If you were going to stain the siding, you would want to do it first before glueing (just for future reference)

[havanaholly]

OK, you have sealed the wood, so that ought to take care of the warping. I prime walls I'm going to paint or paper for two reasons. First of all, all wood contains acids (this is why non-acidfree papers eventually turn brown & brittle, the acid is slowly burning) and primer provides a barrier to protect the paper and to keep white paint from eventually turning yellow & blotchy. It also fills and smooths any imperfections in the woodgrain that might otherwise eventually sho through the paper. Usually the only thing I prime before assembly is the ceilings, I do the rest after I build any more, because of the glue & paint issues.

I knew I was going to have to custom-mix my exterior paint color for the first house I ever sided, so I did the siding first and painted it all afterwards, before installing any of the exterior trims. That was http://www.greenleafdollhouses.com/forum/uploads/blog-242-1128391168_thumb.jpg I built.

[Lisa R.]

So do you prime the floor even if you are covering it with hardwood flooring?

Lisa R.

[bmatson]

Hmm. Okay so far you all seem to be in agreement that it IS better to prime the walls and stuff if not for more than to protect the wood. So I think I will do that. Besides, I need something to do while my stairs are drying My only problem I might have is that I did not primer both sides of the wood as I was doing the 1st floor staircase. As soon as Uppitycats mentioned doing that, I knew I should have been doing that all along (please don't think less of me for my lack of knowledge!! I'm dealing with a lot of new stuff!!). But now that I am starting on my 2nd floor stairs, I am definitely primering both sides. Since I am now going to primer all walls and every other piece of wood I touch now, the 1st floor stairs shoudl be the only warping problem I will have in the future, since only one side of those is primed.

And about this painting the siding thing. I know Kristin had a bad experiencing with painting before hand. And many others of you mentioned that you also paint afterwards, I am more inclined to do that. But since I am VERY far away from actually doing my siding, I think I will worry about that when I get there. I just wanted to get your opinions beforehand :lol:

So thanks for all your input. It really has helped me, as always!!

[darrellandmelissa]

I paint the floor before applying wood to it with a dark color, ususlly dark grey or black. If I am laying in=cividual board and there happens to be a small crack somewhere dark will show thru instead of primer.. The flooring looks more natural to me that way.

Melissa

[newt]

the dark primer beneath flooring is a great idea!

that photo in your avatar is ADORABLE!