Best undercoat to resist direct sunlight on exterior windows

[rjsdavis]

Hi to all

I've got a bit an issue, in that all of our windows are wood framed. Whilst I much prefer this to maintenance free PVC from an aesthetic point of view - the regular repainting is becoming a real pain in the backside.

The problem is most prevalent in the rear of the property where the windows all receive a heavy dose of direct sunlight everyday.

Can anyone suggest the best hard-wearing solution to prevent the very regular cracking and peeling of the paint on these windows which I'm facing at the moment? At the moment, I'm using a fairly standard Dulux exterior undercoat and colour exterior topcoat from Sadolin which is meant to be extremely hard-wearing, but doesn't seem to be. The colour is specific a deep, rich dark brown (Rose Wood) iirc which needs to be maintained for the colour scheme of the whole house.

Any pointers - particularly from lighthouse owners (!) - would be most welcome!

Do I need to source some sort of rubbery / rubberised undercoat that's a bit more flexible?

Regards

 

[Norcon]

Wood being a natural material moves and flexes with the seasons so no matter what coating is used it will need to be redone over and over and over.

 

[wobs]

As you probably know, dark colours don't fair too well in sun light, but anyway....

Best paint for exterior woodwork is linseed paint. This means removing any gloss first (heat gun or stripper), but lasts longer than any gloss.

Albacks, LinseedPaintCompany, and Histocolour are the market leaders in the UK. I've used the first two, with no problem.

Its a different approach to application, as it needs to be the right temperature before application, and applied as thin as possible (I mean really thin), but a coat of linseed oil, and then 3 coats of paints, means you are applying the same number of coats as with primer/undercoat/undercoat/gloss that you are meant to use with Dulux.

LinseedPaintCompany claims 15 years between coats, although I'd be tempted to give a quick coat of linseed oil after 6 or 7 years, especially on a south facing window.

Its more expensive, but expensive paint is cheap paint.

 

[rjsdavis]

As you probably know, dark colours don't fair too well in sun light, but anyway....

Best paint for exterior woodwork is linseed paint. This means removing any gloss first (heat gun or stripper), but lasts longer than any gloss.

Albacks, LinseedPaintCompany, and Histocolour are the market leaders in the UK. I've used the first two, with no problem.

Its a different approach to application, as it needs to be the right temperature before application, and applied as thin as possible (I mean really thin), but a coat of linseed oil, and then 3 coats of paints, means you are applying the same number of coats as with primer/undercoat/undercoat/gloss that you are meant to use with Dulux.

LinseedPaintCompany claims 15 years between coats, although I'd be tempted to give a quick coat of linseed oil after 6 or 7 years, especially on a south facing window.

Its more expensive, but expensive paint is cheap paint.

Thanks for this reply Wobs - am I understanding you correctly, in that this very thin Linseed layer, is the absolute base layer on bare fully stripped wood? Then followed by standard undercoat and top gloss on top?

If not, can you just explain the Linseed application and what exactly goes on top?

Many thanks

 

[rjsdavis]

Wood being a natural material moves and flexes with the seasons so no matter what coating is used it will need to be redone over and over and over.

Thanks - am aware of this, hence suspecting that a rubberised/flexible undercoat base might be the key that I need....

 

[Deluks]

I'd be tempted to go with linseed too if I had timber windows.

You need the full system, raw linseed oil, followed by several coats of linseed based paint. No separate under/topcoats, just one product.

http://www.gare.co.uk/flaking.htm

Buggered if I can locate the holkham paints webpage though.

 

[wobs]

I'd be tempted to go with linseed too if I had timber windows.

You need the full system, raw linseed oil, followed by several coats of linseed based paint. No separate under/topcoats, just one product.

http://www.gare.co.uk/flaking.htm

b*****r if I can locate the holkham paints webpage though.

Holkams have stopped trading (or stopped selling the paint). It was Albacks anyway, just rebranded.

As to application:
Remove all the gloss paint, down to bare wood, and sand down.
Cover with linseed oil* (heated up slightly, but don't boil)
Apply 3(ish) coats of linseed paint (again heat up to allow a really thin coat).

The mantra "No such thing as too thin" applies here.

* - of the makes I have used, Holkams (now Albacks) recommended using raw linseed oil, whereas LinseedPaintCompany recommended boiled. It is important to use a good quality oil, as it will have less impurities, and penetrate better. I use Albacks every time for this part whether raw or boiled.

I use a cheap linseed oil to store brushes between coats, and linseed soap to clean brushes at the end.

The two brands I have used have pros and cons:
LinseedPaintCompany - shorter drying times and a more gloss finish, but needed more coats for the offwhite owing to its lightness. In hindsight, I should have added some kind of white wash in the early coats.

Albacks - longer drying time, but covers better with lighter colours. Smells nicer as well, but that isn't really important.

I would use either again TBH

Histocolour is probably similar to Albacks. They have also developed a UV lamp to speed up the drying time.

Drying time can be up to 24hrs on a north facing window in summer, but can be resistent to light rain before that. I have known some to dry in under 8hrs, but it is temperature dependant. On a day like today, in direct sun, it would be ideal.

 

[rjsdavis]

Thanks very much for the detail in the last two posts - very kind. Will be spending some time looking into this!