"Mike Marlow" wrote in message
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Leon wrote:


The OP mentioned painting PT lumber. Not sure in the North but
exterior paints tend to hold up very well compared to stains. Still
they need to be applied to a suitable surface, a dry one. IIRC Hardi
strongly suggests a primer on their products to block moisture from
coming in contact with the back side of the paint surface. I
personally have not had great results with painting fresh PT lumber
but do agree that the longer you wait the trade off of a less than
desirable surface, appearance wise becomes another problem in itself.

So - I can't offer a definitve comment to this - only personal experience.
Up here in Central NY, over the years I have never had any success in
painting PT. It does not matter if I painted it early on, or let it age
for a year - or longer. For me... PT and paint just never seemed to be a
combination that lasted more than a couple of years.

Now stain... I won't say I get a hell of a lot more life out of a coat of
stain. Maybe a year longer sometimes. The difference lies in what
happens as the finish fails. Paint peels and becomes an ugly thing.
Stain fades. To re-paint I have to scrape all that crap and do it all over
again. With stain - just re-apply it.

I have not seen where either has proven to be better than the other over
PT, but stain is sure a lot easier to re-apply.

I think PT is just a pain in the ass no matter how you cut it...

Might a stain make a good primer for paint?
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EA




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-Mike-