Paint or stain?

[Anonymous Poster]

I could be wrong but if you look at the very bottom of the downspout it looks shiny. My guess is they are new copper eaves and downspouts but I'll wager ZERO dollars on it. (That's how sure I am)

Kent

 

[MarkV]

Tim,
My vote would also be for stain. It is not that I am against paint and love the old red barn look. In your case though, this wood was green less than 4 months ago and I would bet that a moisture meter would show that it is still wetter than you think. Moisture is a killer for a painted surface causing blistering and cracking. If it were to blister the rough sawed finish will make it real hard to prep in the future.

I would consider a transparent tinted stain, no surface layer to blister, for this fist go while the wood continues to cure. If a painted look is something you desire in the future you might want to use a water base rather than oil based stain. An oil-based stain can be a problem if over coated with latex paint in the next couple of years. Spraying is the only way to go and most stain manufactures recommend back brushing as you spray. Transparent stains are normally a wet on wet application if more than one coat is required.

MarkV

 

[bellweather]

rancar
it's copper that has begun to darken with age. It cost more than aluminum, but it sure looks pretty...plus I dig the sound the dripping water makes against the copper.

 

[wasabi]

Bob,

I'd bet a buck the "rust" you think you see is actually expensive copper gutters and downspouts. Nice touch IMHO.

Edit note: looks like I was composing and posting just as bellweather was providing the same answer....sorry...no offense intended by the redundancy.

 

[gerard]

paint will last longer but if using paint you should prime first which means basically you're painting it twice. Stain will soak in better and as mentioned can be stained over in a few years without scraping. Downside is it won't last as long as a well applied good uality paint. When you spray either paint or stain (and by spray I refer to airless spraying) you should backbrush lightly to blend the overlap and work the product in a little better. Even more important on rough cut wood.

 

[JIMCT]

A few years ago in this part of CT they started painting some tobacco sheds only because the unpainted whethered boards were being stolen. Around here most rough cut board & batten sided barns are either stained or left natural. I know of one barn 25 years old that has never had anthing on it and it looks great. I prefer to stain because otherwise the north side gets too dark and the sunny side too gray.

 

[riptides]

<blockquote><font size=1>In reply to:</font><hr>

(and by spray I refer to airless spraying)

<hr></blockquote>


Please elaborate a little further.
Not powered by a compressor I ASSuME?

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-Mike Z.

 

[gerard]

no compressor. Airless works on the same principal as a water pressure washer and just uses high (2000 or so PSI) pressure to force the paint through a nozzle. Units are self contained and the dip tube goes right in a 1 or 5 gal pail. Will spray paint without thinning in a fan pattern and because it comes out under so much pressure you limit the overspray, even if a little windy. They rent for about $50/day, put out about .45 gal per minute at full output, or you can buy a decent one for about $300. I'd get the 50 foot hose instead of the 25, a little easier to use and you're not moving the unit around as much. (Gives you 100 feet of travel before repositioning)

 

[TimSullivan]

I would like to let the boards weather but I only get one vote and my wife wants it stained to match the house. Since she has worked on these projects as hard as I have, the barn will be stained. If she just sat back and worked on her tan while I worked, the barn would be weathering.

 

[Fireman_dcb]

We put up a post/ beam 40'x36' barn a year ago... sprayed with barn red semi-transparent stain. Held up great! For the first coat I had to spray heavy, then use a roller to work the stain into the wood. Second coat sprayed on no problems. There west end of the barn has no shade and so far, no fading.

good luck, Doug