Home Maint and Repair tips and tricks

[Chuckanut]

I have a small front deck off the living room that takes a real beating from the sun in the Summer and the rain in the Winter. It's mostly wood except for the floor planks whcin are some type of plastic/resin/composite material.

The top of the railings usually need repainting every year, sometimes they last two years if the weather has not been to bad. Moisture gets under the paint and it starts to bubble up. Other parts show small cracks, maybe 1/4 to 1/2 inch long. Once the scraper blade is inserted underneath the paint and primer peels off in strips ranging from 3 to 8 inches long, showing bear wood underneath. Not so good.

Currently I use an outdoor water based primer, and the normal paint I use on the trim.
Is there some special primer I can use that might resist the moisture better?

 

[Just_Steve]

Oil primer and paint for exterior, I don't think even modern latex is up to the task.

 

[MrsHaloFIRE]

I dont know how big of a deck youre discussing, but I suspect the decking is trex or a trex like product. Pretty certain your can do railings out of the same type thing. Big buyin and then little to no maintenance as I understand it. Never had any myself but it catches my eye as I shop for houses in a very hot and sunny climate. Might be worth getting an estimate to set it and forget it vice yearly painting.

 

[Ronstar]

I dont know how big of a deck youre discussing, but I suspect the decking is trex or a trex like product. Pretty certain your can do railings out of the same type thing. Big buyin and then little to no maintenance as I understand it. Never had any myself but it catches my eye as I shop for houses in a very hot and sunny climate. Might be worth getting an estimate to set it and forget it vice yearly painting.

Trex does make a 2x4 type board. I used that for my railings with black aluminum balisters. Just pressure wash every couple of years. No maintenance.

Op - Maybe check into a composite similar to your decking for your railings.

 

[Cobra9777]

My deck is all wood, no composites. I don't use paint, but rather an oil-based penetrating stain. No peeling, but it will fade over time. I usually re-stain about every 2-3 years. I use a Sherwin Williams product intended for decks, which is formulated to take a beating from the elements.

 

[Philliefan33]

I had a 25 year career in coatings research. Most of the time I made paint and watched it dry; when that got too exciting, I put paint outside and watched it weather.

Weathered wood is a very tough substrate, pressure-treated wood is a tough substrate, weathered pressure-treated wood is nearly impossible to get a long-lasting paint job.

There are three key components of a good paint job: surface prep, product selection, and application. In your case (I’m guessing you have weathered wood), either replace the railing with fresh lumber or sand the existing railing to try to get down to unweathered surface. Then apply one coat of primer and two coats of 100% acrylic exterior paint.