Best Kind of Finish/Paint for furniture (bunk beds)?

[leehljp]

I am building a bunk bed set for my daughter and she wants it painted white.

See the general plans/idea here I am making several minor modifications including not using pocket holes as they recommended in the original plans. ANYWAY, I am sanding and puttying knots, making it smooth, but still know that pine grain will telegraph through.

So my Question is: What is a good durable fairly easy to apply paint (will not be able to spay paint).
• Something that fills, covers and smooths out easily.
• 2 to 4 coats of a thick kind would be ideal.
• Will do a good primer coat.
• Semi-gloss latex enamel, but is it tough/durable? - I'm thinking about this, but will listen to you guys.
• Durable - tough.

Gel-Coat - I have done that once but did not like it. (It was not latex)
(I don't want to go with enamels that use thinner due to the long time it takes to get rid of the fumes. )

I have been looking at Behr paints but again, what you use or recommend?

[capncarl]

I've been experimenting with a number of finishes since I've retired and have more shop time. I re-discovered shelac. For me it seems to work so much better than any of the other sealers that it was replaced by. I believe that it would be my choice for sealing the pine. It really is easy to use when you learn it. Thin it better than 50% alcohol, wipe it on with a rolled up cloth, wipe on several coats, steel wool any wood fur that sticks up and paint.

I've also been experimenting with chalk paints. Don't believe anything you read about these home made as good as Annie Sloan chalk paint, cause they are noting to compare with Annie. I've accumulated a work bench top full of paint and materials sited by these other experts. After breaking down and buying her expensive $30 /quart chalk paint I would have been a lot of money ahead if I had bought her paint rather than all this other paint and material the first time. That said, my first choice for a paint finish would be Annie Sloan chalk paint, solid color or sanded to the shabby chiq, and waxed per instructions. ( the wax makes this paint have a nice shine finish and turns it as hard as enamel )
capncarl

[leehljp]

Capn',

Thanks for your reply. Shelac had entered my mind twice in thinking about it as a sealer, but I dismissed it for the traditional "sealers". I will certainly give it a serious look now.

Part two to your reply: A friend of LOML has been doing some furniture refinishing and mentioned to LOML about her "chalk paint" success. I just ignored it as women talk. Now, I will look for the A.S. paint and wax.

These are the kind of tips that I was looking for!

Thanks.

[cwsmith]

Hank,

The two libraries that I've built (wife's cookbook room and our main (19 x 14) library are all made from pine and painted with Behr paint. We've used Behr almost exclusively throughout this old 1887 house, but the library with it's window seats, shelves, and window shutters takes some wear and the Behr latex has held up very well.

Regarding the bleeding of knots, put two or three coats of shellac over them before you paint. I've done that and with rare exception it has stopped any bleed-through with the light gray Behr semi-gloss 'eggshell' enamel latex.

The only place I didn't use Behr in the library was a small table that I built. My wife wanted a high-gloss black finish on it and because it was winter, I didn't want to use a poly, due to the lasting smell. So for that project I used Valspar latex high-gloss enamel. Not at all satisfied with that as even after three years it is tacky, and anything placed on the table will stick and leave a mark. I even had a Valspar rep come to the house and he really had nothing to offer. So this summer I think I've got to strip it down and maybe try a high-gloss black poly or something.

Behr does have a gloss latex in white I believe, and I think that would probably be a good choice.

CWS

[capncarl]

We ought to get a separate thread started on chalk paint experiences. It has become real popular and produces some nice results. My tests of the home made chalk paint produced some of the hardest to work with finishes imaginable!
capncarl

[leehljp]

Capn'
I will start one.

CWS, Behr paint was my first thought, and my preference. I am intrigued about chalk paint and went to see the lady who told LOML about her experience. I was impressed.

It will be a week before I am ready for paint purchasing, so I am going to do more researching, googling and checking.

[Tom Slick]

I've used latex paint that does not set up completely hard. It feels completely dry and not tacky but stuff would stick to it even years later. After talking to various paint people the answer is to double check that the paint you choose is suitable for your application. In my case if I had chosen the same paint in gloss instead of semi-gloss it would have been fine.

A pro painter I know uses lacquer on anything cabinet or furniture related and sprays it out of a airless on-site.

[cwsmith]

Tom,

Thanks.

The Valspar 'High Gloss Ultra Premium" that I used was designed exactly for the application... a high-gloss (almost 'piano' finish). The only thing the Valspar rep could offer was to top coat it with another of their products, which was a latex clear coat which the instructions recommended "not be sprayed". I didn't go there.

The only thing that I could come up with on the problem was that I thinned it with tap water and perhaps that is why the paint still feels tacky to the touch. Regardess, the finish is highly reflective (gloss) and otherwise I'd have been quite pleased. But, as it is, things to stick and leave their mark, even if sitting o the surface for only a minute or two.

Thanks again,

CWS

[capncarl]

I believe that the paint industry has done an about face in the last decade. Previously there were brand stores that sold only their brand... ie Gliden, Porter, Sherwin Williams etc, that sold to industrial and professional painters. If you walked in and wanted to buy paint they almost didn't know how to sell it to you without an account. Usually the homeowner bought his paint from the hardware store. Then came the big box stores, even Walmart getting into the paint business and the brand stores had to change to meet the retail demand because now everyone is a painter. All this time the paint manufacturers were buying each other out and combining brands to the point that there are few real brands of paint. With this came the cheapening of the product. Don't think for a minute that the paint at Lowes is the same at the brand store. My guess why the latex paint doesn't dry completely is in the formula some key ingredients have been cut to the exact minimum and they didn't get enough in or that batch didn't get mixed enough. Titanium dioxide that is used for white has gotten expensive and the paint mfg is using substitutes and minimual TD.
capncarl

[leehljp]

You fellows are giving me some good information about what to check on and look for.