# Painting / Staining?



## Chris (Sep 15, 2003)

Ok, for my "20x36" cypress barn... few more questions. I built the front side walls out of newer PT fence boards with 2x6 PT frame with metal bracing. Problem is the sides have that "yellow, hey I am a new fence board" look and the front, back, etc have that "old weathered gray, I am an old cypress barn look" --- Should I stain/paint the whole barn to make one another? I would prefer going with a aged but finished look for the whole barn - including possibly adding some decorative barn door straps (black) or big "X"s to the front of the barn for a little touch.

Any ideas from the workshop guys?

Thanks so much!
Andy

Check out some of the old pics of the barn --- I haven't taken any new pics in quite some time - will add some shortly. The pics were taken after I had added the PT collar ties in order to remove some of the low hanging 1x6 joists. Joists are at 7' and the collar ties are at over 9.5' high. Big difference.  ------ Remember these pics are old and it is now almost finished at this point -- 

Barn Photos


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## tisenberg (Sep 20, 2003)

I guess you need to let the new wood breath out a little before you stain or paint. Some say wait six months before sealing.

Stain/Paint. Hmmm.. good one. Staining may require a medium to dark color in order to get new and old close to the same color. You may even have to use two different blends to get them close to match. You could buy the small hobby cans to test the stains.

As for paint... peel, crack, redo every 5 years. Not sure. I would probably lean towards powerwashing the old, sealing the old and let the new catch up a little.


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## jodyand (Sep 16, 2003)

*stain*

Andy
I don't know if you would want to try this or not 20 years ago when i just got married i work for a plumbing co. We were working on these new apartments they had ceder siding the painters were spraying the siding with transmission fluid and water proofer mixed together it had a nice red tint to it might be something to think about.
Jody


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## Chris (Sep 15, 2003)

*WOW!*

That is the craziest bit of advice I have received on this topic EVER!!!! HAHAHA --- Good ole' Dexron ATF? WOW!

Amazing.... Thanks for the info!



Andy


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## Argee (Sep 17, 2003)

If the new boards are in direct sunlight, it shouldn't take them long to weather down. If you can't wait, I'd recommend a transparent stain.


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## Greg (Sep 16, 2003)

*Ace stain and sealer*

Andy,

To stain and seal my cedar fence I went to my local Ace Hardware store. I got 15 gallons of their "WoodRoyal" siding and deck stain, polyurethane fortified, semi-transparent oil for $17 a gallon. They only had 4 gallons of the Cedar tinted I wanted so they mixed another 11 gallons of their clear with the Cedar pigment to match. They have all the formulas in their computer and can make whatever you want. Ace makes their own paints and stains and are less than the $18 - $25 for other brands. 

Fence about 6 months ago.

<img src=http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/LinkPhoto?GUID=42f4df22-6ede-5fd7-6b64-5d7b2b7f69ef&size=>

You can see some different shades of lightness and color on the boards.

After staining/sealing.

<img src=http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/LinkPhoto?GUID=182b347d-2fd0-22d0-493e-5c7f4b734d9d&size=>

You can see smoother consistent coloring without looking like it was "painted". Looks like a new fence.

After view of the back fence shows a bit more of the "Cedar Tint". The entire fence looks like this. The other picture just has more sunlight on it.

<img src=http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/LinkPhoto?GUID=13633d62-5499-273c-471f-324f4c0d76ea&size=>

If you have an Ace Hardware in your local area, you might consider them. Take a board, the color you want the whole barn to look like, a "new" board to show what you have in some places, and ask them what they can do to make everything the same. If you don't have an Ace, try another good paint store that can mix custom colors for you.

Greg


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## Chris (Sep 15, 2003)

As an update nearly a year later (wow, I feel your pain Tuba)
HAHA, I coated just over half of my cypress workshop with Olympic Premium Clear base stain with Navajo Red (only real red they had) tint. It is good for 15 years and really ties the shotty-looking mismatched colored boards together. As I really hated color staining the cypress wood, it does really pull it all together now. It is a much more of a "barn red" than a "true red" but all in all I think it was a good choice. The Olympic oil stain wasn't cheap @ 80.00 -5 gallons + 1 gallon initially to test. Applied it with Wagner Paint-N-Roll (loadable roller unit) and caught the wood notches and finish work with couple of brushes. It may not look so "cypress-y" now, but at least it looks presentable to the property. The yellow PT boards and 3 different colors of weathered cypress weren't winning any asthetic awards for certain! I took before and after pics and now need to go get my Firewire reader from the truck to load. 

I still have some to do and with the impending rain this week it should be a fun exercise in patience and frustration! Well, just sharing some stuff! 

Cheers
Andy


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## Chris (Sep 15, 2003)

Goodie Goodie


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## guest (Sep 16, 2003)

how long did it take you to paint with that paint-n-roll?

we saw the before pics... wheres the 'after photos'?


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## bontai Joe (Sep 16, 2003)

The one thing I noticed in your before pics is that you might want to add a couple of more hinges to each of those 10 foot wide doors. That is a lot of weight swinging there on 2 hinges. I'm looking forward to the after photos too! And it must be nice not having to build for snow loads. Up here in the Poconos, there would be twice as much lumber in the roof$$$.


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## Chris (Sep 15, 2003)

Yeah --- The hinges are holding soundly for now --- Can you imagine how much these doors weigh (those planks are over 1" thick of antique cypress) --- I did reinforce the end posts by sinking adjacent 4x4 PT posts and bolting (carriage bolts and lag screws) together. The hinges are lagged into the double posts and bolted through on 2 of the holes. I didn't really consider at the time the need for another set of hinges. I used Stanley HD Lifespan hinges that are rated to exceeds strength requirements of ANSI/BHMA A156.20-2989 --- I think they will hold nicely with little deflection, but I will work out the details on it soon. 

Yeah light lumber up there. Going to be a nice transformation soon for all to see. Thanks for the support --- will post pics today

Andy


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## Chris (Sep 15, 2003)

Anyone know of a good place for either reasonable priced original or more likely reproduction signs to be placed on my new shop?
I think a few of these type of decorations would be really sweet up top now that it looks so much better. Any ideas for dressing it up with classy looking tin signs? 

<center><img src=http://www.tractorforum.com/barn/sign1.jpg>
</center>
<center><img src=http://www.tractorforum.com/barn/sign2.jpg>
</center>
<center><img src=http://www.tractorforum.com/barn/sign3.jpg>
</center>


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## bontai Joe (Sep 16, 2003)

I've seen (and bought) good quality signs from Smokey Mountain Knife works. Here is a link:

http://www.eknifeworks.com/webapp/eCommerce//product.jsp?Mode=Promo&Feature=9525&A=&SKU=SG670

Here is another:

http://www.eknifeworks.com/webapp/eCommerce//prodlist.jsp?Mode=Text&SearchText=sign


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## bontai Joe (Sep 16, 2003)

Here are a couple more:

http://www.eknifeworks.com/webapp/e...?range=61&SearchText=sign&Mode=Text&SKU=SG795

since you are a Ford fan:

http://www.eknifeworks.com/webapp/e...?range=71&SearchText=sign&Mode=Text&SKU=SG758


http://www.eknifeworks.com/webapp/e...?range=81&SearchText=sign&Mode=Text&SKU=SG699


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