OK this may be the week from hell, Today we get a call from a customer. We were hired to restore an exhisting carving last summer.

The condition of the original sign was paint peeling and bare wood showing in numerous areas. We had bid to repaint that sign 2 years earlier but lost to a lower bid. Last summer we were called again to " quote" repainting the sign.

After a visual review, and the fact that only 2 years had pst since it was repainted last, we suggested that the sign be " restored " instead of repainted. We proposed to completely strip te old paint off and expose the original wood. Let the sign dry completely, then prime and paint from scratch with Chromatic primers & paint.

Well we got the job at our price, did exactly what we proposed. After we had stripped off all the paint, we let the sign dry for 3 weeks in the shop. We reinforced all the glue joints with threaded rods & nuts, filled and sanded all the knots and voids like we would any sign. 3 coats of Chromatic metal wood primer, 3 coats of Chromatic maroon paint. We sand between all coats.

As of today the side that gets all the sun is peling at all the glue joints, the paint and primer are falling off the sign right from the bare wood.

The side that is in the shade has 3 big bubbles that are ready to crack & peel.

This has totally baffled me. I have never in my 9 years of producing signs seen this.

Has anyone ever had this problem and why? Keep in mind we did this sign just like all the others we make and never have paint failure at all!

Pine takes on a great deal of moisture, and will rarely air-dry sufficiently without force drying.

The moisture will be drawn to the sunny side, especially given the dark color.

Metal attracts & condenses the moisture in a wooden sign, accelerating the decay process.

Pine also harbors spores, which can be ticking time bombs once activated.

Most times, a breathable paint with a mildewcide will last longer on a pine refurb.

When using alkyd, I'll thin & use linseed or penetrol to get more penetration from the primer coats.

Your procedure sure seemed to be thorough enough. But old pine signs can be a real crap shoot. (thank God for SignFoam)

My first choice of primer or paint would have been
100% acrylic house paints, non gloss, then a final clear top coat with Pluecid.

We did an article for SBI magazine which profiled Letterhead Bill Diaz and how he can achieve 12 plus years of durability using top quality house paints. (even on the side of metal buildings)

However, as much work as you did to restore the sign, it might have been prudent to just start over with an overlay of HDU and just recreate the sign. A 1 inch thick piece glued over the top of the existing sign would have cost $200, then the labor of blast and paint expense.

I believe the sign is about 12 years old it is 1 7/8" thick double sided, the exposed areas were not spongy but moist when we removed the sign.

There is a knot where the paint seems to be cracking, we just filled them with bondo to smooth them out.

AFTER

[ February 13, 2002: Message edited by: Bob Rochon ]

[ February 13, 2002: Message edited by: Barb. Shortreed ]

[ February 13, 2002: Message edited by: Barb. Shortreed ]

The problem with any refurb (especially pine) is that you have no control over the most critical areas in the fabrication of a wood sign:

- Wood selection - species, grain, knots, even density, moisture content, pitch pockets & streaks, hidden checks...

- Board prep - planing, jointing (straight & square), narrow planks, reverse cup...

- Lamination - glue selection,lay-up, clamping time & pressure...

- Initial finish - too many factors to mention...

You took in a somewhat wet sign & semi acclimatized it to your shop environment, sealed it with an impervious barrier, (alkyd) and put it back out into the field, whereupon it tried to readjust to the outdoors again.

Everything began to move, except for the paint, and perhaps the brackets.

Next time around you might want to consider an acrylic latex with a mildewcide for a pine refurb, so it can breathe.
Knots, being end grain, do not hold onto oil base paints very well, and are a constant bane, as are old glue joints.

You have a nice looking bracket there, but you might want to oblong the screw holes to allow for some movement. And don't torque the screws in too tightly.

Most important, when refurbing pine, especially, is a caveat to the owner. So he won't be overly surprised if the sign deteriorates.

I'd say that you made the best of a bad lot.

Any pine sign in N.E. that lasts over 15 years dosen't owe anyone anything anyway.

Sell 'em a SignFoam replacement. You'll give them a nicer layout than that for sure.

[ February 13, 2002: Message edited by: Steve Purcell ]

What's interesting to me is that the paint is failing repeatedly at the EXACT same places as previously. This tells me that, as Steve said, there are places where the pine is rejecting the paint.

I saw this job in Bob's shop before he refinished it, and it was a mess. Paint had failed, and all those screw holes around the edge were punky from water getting in. Personally I think Bob did about as well as anyone could have, given this was an old sign with unknown variables (the moisture levels in the wood, the types of glue used, etc.) The bottom line is that like Steve said, an old pine carved sign is a crapshoot.

I was determined not to repeat the same thing....SO. We stripped all of the paint right down to the wood, reglued, clamped and allowed it to cure.

Now....heh.....Pelucid FIRST! 3 coats for complete saturation, especially the soft edges. We did the water treatment 4 times till it was hard as a rock. We then applied the "binder" from POR15, painted (with oil based paints because Pelucid is oil based), and then two final THIN coats of Pelucid.

The piece is now encapsullated, bright and permanent. The wood is sealed permanently and has no contact with the paint at all.