Painting a plywood partition - recommendations for paint please :)

[Simon_F3]

Hi, does anyone have any experience painting directly on to plywood please?
I have put up a tack room inside our barn, and clad with 1/2" ply - just getting to the point of painting it and wondered if anyone had any experience (good or bad) with painting on plywood please? I was considering masonry paint like this one, which looks like it'll go straight on without primer, cover well and be reasonably water resistant - it's all inside the barn so not exposed to the elements, but there is a high chance it'll get sprayed with water (and probably worse...) over the next few years!
Has anyone tried this before, or used primer / solvent based paint? Any recommendations on products to use or avoid gratefully received

 

[David1968]

I did a bale trailer floor with Sadolin decking paint last year, worked ok.

That was marine grade plywood though. Something more absorbent would probably need sealing first.

 

[Dry Rot]

Waste oil. But then I'm mean....but practical! If it's wood, use an exterior mat paint suitable for wood? Have a look on Ebay. I got fed up with shops (white undercoat for a dark top coat? Is that a thing now?) and got all mine on Ebay.

 

[Bobthebuilder]

The problem with treating plywood is using something that doesn’t affect the glue in the ply

 

[Simon_F3]

Thanks chaps - I was considering masonry paint only because it should cover with one coat and I want to get the job done quickly!! But I think you're right, @Dry Rot , exterior wood paint with a primer may be the way to go. That said, I was going to give the tractor a proper service very soon which will mean I'll have 12 gallons of oil to get rid of...

 

[Dry Rot]

Thanks chaps - I was considering masonry paint only because it should cover with one coat and I want to get the job done quickly!! But I think you're right, @Dry Rot , exterior wood paint with a primer may be the way to go. That said, I was going to give the tractor a proper service very soon which will mean I'll have 12 gallons of oil to get rid of...

You may laugh but I erected a hen house 10 (?) years ago using shuttering ply. (Is it still called that?). A friend said it would not last. A good soaking of waste oil and it is still here.

 

[JohnBoy]

My garage here is lined with ply painted with cheap masonry paint, worked a treat. my only advice would be to seal the nail/screw heads with a lick of oil based gloss before you start so that they don't rust stain through the emulsion.

 

[Simon_F3]

My garage here is lined with ply painted with cheap masonry paint, worked a treat. my only advice would be to seal the nail/screw heads with a lick of oil based gloss before you start so that they don't rust stain through the emulsion.

Thanks JohnBoy, that's good to hear! I figured masonry paint would stick to most surfaces, and would give adequate protection against splashes and UV... I'm going to have to fill a few gaps here and there, and I have a big tub of (old) oil based undercoat which will hopefully be good enough for the screw heads. It's inside (pic attached, please don't comment on the extension to my scaffold tower!!) so the paint is more for aesthetic purposes than for weather protection.

 

[Highland Mule]

Why did you go right to the roof? Wouldn’t it be better to stop at standard height and then build a mezzanine above? Or are you putting an internal stair and second floor tack room?

 

[Bokey]

It looks to nice of a shed to be putting a tack room in just think what else you could use it for, tractor collection,car collection,new workshop, corn, hell even sheep!

 

[Simon_F3]

Why did you go right to the roof? Wouldn’t it be better to stop at standard height and then build a mezzanine above? Or are you putting an internal stair and second floor tack room?

I went full height for security reasons, as through the gable wall in the picture is the workshop - I figured a mezzanine might provide a suitable platform for someone to jump on and start attacking the steel cladding to get through the partition! So there IS a second floor, but it's really just for storage and currently accessed via a ladder. I may put some proper stairs in at some point, but only if we start using the upper space regularly.

It looks to nice of a shed to be putting a tack room in just think what else you could use it for, tractor collection,car collection,new workshop, corn, hell even sheep!

Ah ha, I did manage to commandeer a third of the building for the workshop!! It's 60ft x 36ft in total, so two off 20ft bays in the barn part and one for the workshop. Now the tack room is up, I've got to fit the stable partitions which will involve a bit of fettling and fabrication, but should work out well. We'll end up with 3 good sized loose boxes on the side opposite the tack room, and two similar sized bays for feed storage on the tack room side. it's been a labour of love for a few years in terms of saving, planning, and building but it's really pleasing to be nearing the point where we can actually use it. So don't worry, the tractors have a home

 

[denizmarty]

For plywood projects, water-based acrylic-latex paints are generally the easiest to work with.

 

[honeyend]

I have a temporary ply outside door, treated with Sadolin, but if water gets under the edges, it peels, its lasted about fives years. I would go for acrylic barn paint, and make sure you do the edges. We reuse and recycle as much as we can, old doors or often far better made than new, barn paint make everything match even if the wood is different
.https://www.tradepaintdirect.co.uk/collections/bedec/products/bedec-barn-paint?variant=31717421449348 I went for a colour that matches our tin sheds.

 

[Alchad]

Slightly going away from the original topic, but re plywood peeling. We have some 12mm plywood boards fixed to 2 corrugated steel doors on one of our barns - I guess as protection from when the place had cattle. Anyway the area of the barn has now been converted to a couple of stables and the doors are permanently open, so rain gets in to the plywood and as said it peels. For cosmetic reasons I like the plywood sheeting and last time I replaced the sheets I used this as edging channel on top of the boards to prevent rain getting in. You need to do it with new sheets though as it’s a snug fit

Mild

Mild steel

www.fhbrundle.co.uk

Alchad

 

[Simon_F3]

Thanks JohnBoy, that's good to hear! I figured masonry paint would stick to most surfaces, and would give adequate protection against splashes and UV... I'm going to have to fill a few gaps here and there, and I have a big tub of (old) oil based undercoat which will hopefully be good enough for the screw heads. It's inside (pic attached, please don't comment on the extension to my scaffold tower!!) so the paint is more for aesthetic purposes than for weather protection.

View attachment 1066063

Quick update (as I like to try to close out these threads when I can...). The partition is all completed and painted now. I filled all the gaps with Ronseal wood filler, put on a thick coat of primer from Screwfix, then another thick coat of Sandtex masonry paint, which covered really well and should give enough protection from damp / UV for the foreseeable. Managed to find a bit of galvanised barge flashing too which should protect the corner. My conclusion is that the masonry paint is a pretty cost effective way to paint plywood, and it looks pretty deliberate which always helps! We'll see how it looks in a few years...

 

[Simon_F3]

Slightly going away from the original topic, but re plywood peeling. We have some 12mm plywood boards fixed to 2 corrugated steel doors on one of our barns - I guess as protection from when the place had cattle. Anyway the area of the barn has now been converted to a couple of stables and the doors are permanently open, so rain gets in to the plywood and as said it peels. For cosmetic reasons I like the plywood sheeting and last time I replaced the sheets I used this as edging channel on top of the boards to prevent rain getting in. You need to do it with new sheets though as it’s a snug fit

Mild

Mild steel

www.fhbrundle.co.uk

Alchad

That edging looks really good - I've used PVA glue, varnish, and epoxy resin in the past to try to seal the edges but the steel strips do make for a neater look