Tongue & Groove in the Bathroom

allenvb · Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 1:09 pm

Hello,
I have recently put tongue and groove boards in the bathroom and have painted them with primer and waterproof paint. But once the paint dries the grooves of the wood split causing the paint to crack.
I have put decorators caulk in the grooves but the paint is still cracking.
Can anyone suggest something i can use that will allow the wood to move but will not cause the paint to crack?
Thanks

big-all · Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 2:02 pm

wait untill the mid summer when the wood is fully shrunk and paint with 2 or three thin coats avoiding any paint pooling

Jasonb · Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 5:06 pm

Ideally you should have stored the wood in the house for a few weeks to allow it to aclimatise then primed the BACK as well as the front and then painted at least one coat of the finish colour on the front before fixing. Thats how I did this one though there are signs of movement in one or two joints

Doing it this way will reduce the risk of cracking and bare wood showing if the baords shrink but natural wood will move no matter what you do, thats whem the grooved MDF is handy.

Jason

JohnArnoldBrown · Posted: Wed Apr 25, 2007 5:54 pm

I think the grooved MDF is great, I'm sorry I didn't discover it earlier.
I've made a couple panel doors with it and I'm going to make some more.
It's really expensive, though!

Jasonb · Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 6:40 am

If you don't want the bead then its easy to route your own with a straight edge and "V" bit.

Jason

JohnArnoldBrown · Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2007 5:18 pm

Indeed, but I bought the "bead and but", and I don't think you could reproduce the profile with a plunge router - not without 3 passes and a cutter change. Next time I'll know better!