I had a pole barn built last summer on my property and as soon as it warms
up a little more here in western NY I 'm going to paint it. I like the looks
of it's natural color and would like to coat it with some kind of clear
coating. What is the best thing to use? Is clear the best thing to do, or
should I paint it? I want protection from U.V. rays, and I also want it to
last as long as possible between paint jobs. Does paint last longer than
stain, or some kind of clear coat? My #1 concern is protection from the Sun
and the weather, #2 is longevity of the finish. I'd prefer a clear finish,
but if painting it will protect it better and last longer then I'll paint
it.
What do you think is best?
Thanks

IMO the only way to preserve the natural wood look is to buy the best
quality clear coat you can find and reapply frequently. big overhangs
and gutters are essential. most woods will turn black where water
splashes on the wall, no matter what product you use. i know a guy who
has a wood sided house that looks great...i asked him how he did it and
he says he re stains it EVERY SUMMER. so as much as you like the color
of natural wood, it won't last.

if you do go the clear route, don't make the mistake of going to a big
box and buying something cheap. get a brand like cabot, ben moore or
the like. i've also used "cascade" by sashco (used for log cabins)
and like it. again, even the best of these products will need frequent
reapplication.

the more pigment in a finish, the more protection you will have for the
wood. i would go with a solid color stain before paint. stain isn't
prone to peeling and does not require a primer.

"Snydley" wrote in message
...
I had a pole barn built last summer on my property and as soon as it warms
up a little more here in western NY I 'm going to paint it. I like the
looks
of it's natural color and would like to coat it with some kind of clear
coating. What is the best thing to use? Is clear the best thing to do, or
should I paint it? I want protection from U.V. rays, and I also want it to
last as long as possible between paint jobs.

Check out Penofin oil. I've had great results on outdoor furniture as it
has good UV protection. I don't know if it is suitable for barns. They do
have a web page so you can do some searching.

look at products designed to protect decks and fences.

Also ask yourself if the goal is preserving the wood or preserving the
appearance and the wood

Jasco Copper Clear is not a stain but a preservative similar to what is put
in pressure treated wood. It will preserve the wood from rot and bugs but
still let it age to a natural look.

UV damage and oxidation are what causes the aged natural look. if you use
an agressive preservative/sealer, you will keep the wood looking fresh (or
at least what it looks like now). UV damage and oxidation will not shorten
usefulness of the siding all that much but rot and bugs sure will (or a
variety or moisture related things). A preservative will also help keep it
from drying too much and cracking or checking in the long haul.

Anything Clear will have little to no UV protection, you need a pigment to
have significant UV protection.



"Snydley" wrote in message
...
I had a pole barn built last summer on my property and as soon as it warms
up a little more here in western NY I 'm going to paint it. I like the
looks
of it's natural color and would like to coat it with some kind of clear
coating. What is the best thing to use? Is clear the best thing to do, or
should I paint it? I want protection from U.V. rays, and I also want it to
last as long as possible between paint jobs. Does paint last longer than
stain, or some kind of clear coat? My #1 concern is protection from the
Sun
and the weather, #2 is longevity of the finish. I'd prefer a clear finish,
but if painting it will protect it better and last longer then I'll paint
it.
What do you think is best?
Thanks

On Fri, 19 May 2006 17:47:56 +0000, Snydley wrote:

I had a pole barn built last summer on my property and as soon as it
warms up a little more here in western NY I 'm going to paint it. I like
the looks of it's natural color and would like to coat it with some kind
of clear coating. What is the best thing to use? Is clear the best thing
to do, or should I paint it? I want protection from U.V. rays, and I
also want it to last as long as possible between paint jobs. Does paint
last longer than stain, or some kind of clear coat? My #1 concern is
protection from the Sun and the weather, #2 is longevity of the finish.
I'd prefer a clear finish, but if painting it will protect it better and
last longer then I'll paint it.
What do you think is best?
Thanks

If it's not redwood, cedar, or cypress, I'd say paint it. Even if it is
one of those woods, you'd have to keep after it (as marson posted). Do a
good quality primer coat, after spot painting any knots, etc that are
likely to bleed, using a stain blocker. It's also a good idea to pretreat
places most likely to rot (like the bottoms of vertical boards or where
pieces of horizontal siding abut) with a wood preservative. Another
consideration if you want a paint job to last is that the building have
good ventilation or an interior vapor barrier.

Up here in canada we widely use automatic transmission fluid. Laugh all you
want, gives a cedar finish, lasts 3-5 years and (used to be?) cheap to boot.
A draft dodger from Ark taught me that one 20 years ago.
"Ann" wrote in message
news
On Fri, 19 May 2006 17:47:56 +0000, Snydley wrote:

I had a pole barn built last summer on my property and as soon as it
warms up a little more here in western NY I 'm going to paint it. I like
the looks of it's natural color and would like to coat it with some kind
of clear coating. What is the best thing to use? Is clear the best thing
to do, or should I paint it? I want protection from U.V. rays, and I
also want it to last as long as possible between paint jobs. Does paint
last longer than stain, or some kind of clear coat? My #1 concern is
protection from the Sun and the weather, #2 is longevity of the finish.
I'd prefer a clear finish, but if painting it will protect it better and
last longer then I'll paint it.
What do you think is best?
Thanks

If it's not redwood, cedar, or cypress, I'd say paint it. Even if it is
one of those woods, you'd have to keep after it (as marson posted). Do a
good quality primer coat, after spot painting any knots, etc that are
likely to bleed, using a stain blocker. It's also a good idea to pretreat
places most likely to rot (like the bottoms of vertical boards or where
pieces of horizontal siding abut) with a wood preservative. Another
consideration if you want a paint job to last is that the building have
good ventilation or an interior vapor barrier.

On Fri, 19 May 2006 17:47:56 GMT, "Snydley"
wrote:

I had a pole barn built last summer on my property and as soon as it warms
up a little more here in western NY I 'm going to paint it. I like the looks
of it's natural color and would like to coat it with some kind of clear
coating. What is the best thing to use? Is clear the best thing to do, or
should I paint it? I want protection from U.V. rays, and I also want it to
last as long as possible between paint jobs. Does paint last longer than
stain, or some kind of clear coat? My #1 concern is protection from the Sun
and the weather, #2 is longevity of the finish. I'd prefer a clear finish,
but if painting it will protect it better and last longer then I'll paint
it.
What do you think is best?
Thanks


I agree with Ann. A good sealer/primer/stain blocker (KILZ® comes to
mind) and a quality paint applied with a brush or roller is the only way
to go.

[Pole barns here are usually skinned with metal]

marson wrote:
the more pigment in a finish, the more protection you will have for
the wood. i would go with a solid color stain before paint. stain
isn't prone to peeling and does not require a primer.

UV rays easily penetrate clear sealers and that is what degrades the
wood.

If you are really into protection and want some semblance of the
original wood look, try a high quality translucent stain such as Sikkens
Cetol SRD. Expensive, but it works.

http://www.nam.sikkens.com/product.c...egory=exterior

Stu wrote:
I agree with Ann. A good sealer/primer/stain blocker (KILZ® comes to
mind) and a quality paint applied with a brush or roller is the only way
to go.

It's my understanding that barns were painted red because that color
was found to be highly absorband of heat from the sun, which helped
keep the occupants of the barn warm during the winter. You could do
this and save a little $$$ on heating bills maybe.

JP

Jay Pique wrote:
Stu wrote:
I agree with Ann. A good sealer/primer/stain blocker (KILZ® comes to
mind) and a quality paint applied with a brush or roller is the only way
to go.

It's my understanding that barns were painted red because that color
was found to be highly absorband of heat from the sun, which helped
keep the occupants of the barn warm during the winter. You could do
this and save a little $$$ on heating bills maybe.

JP

LOL

Someone did a study as to why so many farmers painted their barns red.
They went and asked the farmers and it turned out that red was the
cheapest color to buy and, given the amount of paint needed to cover a
barn, the savings were considerable. And farmers being the frugal bunch
that they were...............



So then the question arose, why was red the cheapest color of paint? So
off they went to question the paint manufacturers as to why it was
cheaper to produce red paint over the other colors.

..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
..
Turns out, according the the paint manufacturers that, because there is
such a demand for red paint, they can make it in greater amounts thus
lowering, significantly, their production costs and ultimately the price
of red paint.


At least that's how I heard the story.

VBG

Doug

Doug Chadduck wrote:
Someone did a study as to why so many farmers painted their barns red.
They went and asked the farmers and it turned out that red was the
cheapest color to buy and, given the amount of paint needed to cover a
barn, the savings were considerable. And farmers being the frugal
bunch that they were...............

http://people.howstuffworks.com/question635.htm

Snydley wrote:
I had a pole barn built last summer on my property and as soon as it
warms up a little more here in western NY I 'm going to paint it. I
like the looks of it's natural color and would like to coat it with
some kind of clear coating. What is the best thing to use? Is clear
the best thing to do, or should I paint it? I want protection from
U.V. rays, and I also want it to last as long as possible between
paint jobs. Does paint last longer than stain, or some kind of clear
coat? My #1 concern is protection from the Sun and the weather, #2 is
longevity of the finish. I'd prefer a clear finish, but if painting
it will protect it better and last longer then I'll paint it.
What do you think is best?
Thanks

Barns are supposed to be painted red. It's in the Bible.

"Snydley" wrote in message
...
I had a pole barn built last summer on my property and as soon as it warms
up a little more here in western NY I 'm going to paint it. I like the
looks
of it's natural color and would like to coat it with some kind of clear
coating. What is the best thing to use? Is clear the best thing to do, or
should I paint it? I want protection from U.V. rays, and I also want it to
last as long as possible between paint jobs. Does paint last longer than
stain, or some kind of clear coat? My #1 concern is protection from the
Sun
and the weather, #2 is longevity of the finish. I'd prefer a clear finish,
but if painting it will protect it better and last longer then I'll paint
it.
What do you think is best?
Thanks


A couple of things. To the person that said most pole barns, (in Canada I
think he said), side their pole barns in metal, I had that option but
decided I liked the looks of the wood siding better. I think from all of the
replies I got I'm going to stain it with some king of a pigmented stain,
probably red.

HeyBub wrote:
Snydley wrote:
I had a pole barn built last summer on my property and as soon as it
warms up a little more here in western NY I 'm going to paint it. I
like the looks of it's natural color and would like to coat it with
some kind of clear coating. What is the best thing to use?

You're fighting an uphill battle with any kind of clear
finish. Instead, I'd spray the barn with a pigmented stain,
such as Behr for decks. If you like the cedar look, there
are pigmented cedar stains that would be great.

Mark

On Fri, 19 May 2006 16:33:03 -0700, Doug Chadduck wrote:

Jay Pique wrote:
Stu wrote:
I agree with Ann. A good sealer/primer/stain blocker (KILZ® comes to
mind) and a quality paint applied with a brush or roller is the only way
to go.

It's my understanding that barns were painted red because that color
was found to be highly absorband of heat from the sun, which helped
keep the occupants of the barn warm during the winter. You could do
this and save a little $$$ on heating bills maybe.

JP

LOL

Someone did a study as to why so many farmers painted their barns red.
They went and asked the farmers and it turned out that red was the
cheapest color to buy and, given the amount of paint needed to cover a
barn, the savings were considerable. And farmers being the frugal bunch
that they were...............

So then the question arose, why was red the cheapest color of paint? So
off they went to question the paint manufacturers as to why it was
cheaper to produce red paint over the other colors.

Turns out, according the the paint manufacturers that, because there is
such a demand for red paint, they can make it in greater amounts thus
lowering, significantly, their production costs and ultimately the price
of red paint.

At least that's how I heard the story.

This gives several possible explanations:
http://people.howstuffworks.com/question635.htm

VBG

Doug

On Fri, 19 May 2006 23:52:58 +0000, Travis Jordan wrote:

Doug Chadduck wrote:
Someone did a study as to why so many farmers painted their barns red.
They went and asked the farmers and it turned out that red was the
cheapest color to buy and, given the amount of paint needed to cover a
barn, the savings were considerable. And farmers being the frugal
bunch that they were...............

http://people.howstuffworks.com/question635.htm

Oops, hadn't read this before I posted the same url.

On 19 May 2006 15:58:47 -0700, "Jay Pique"
wrote:


Stu wrote:
I agree with Ann. A good sealer/primer/stain blocker (KILZ® comes to
mind) and a quality paint applied with a brush or roller is the only way
to go.

It's my understanding that barns were painted red because that color
was found to be highly absorband of heat from the sun, which helped
keep the occupants of the barn warm during the winter. You could do
this and save a little $$$ on heating bills maybe.


If that was the case, you'd paint it black.

My counter-understanding is that red barn paint
is traditional because that's the color you get
by mixing local iron-oxide clay with linseed oil,
and it gives you a more opaque color than whatever
else was available.

Goedjn writes:
If that was the case, you'd paint it black.

That's the most expensive pigment...

-Mike