Brushing Putty

As I mentioned in my last post, Brushing Putty is my secret weapon for putting a final finish on a painted surface. You may recall that I mentioned my using it on the aprons I rehabilitated for the left window casing on the south side of the house.

Brushing Putty, now marketed in this country under the Fine Paints of Europe brand, is an oil-base paint with a huge amount of fine-grained solids mixed into it. It needs a primer coat of oil-base paint. You apply a thick coat of it with a paintbrush; the paint levels nicely, and in the process fills in every tiny irregularity. After it dries completely (from 12 to 16 hours), you sand it flat with 180- to 220-grit sandpaper, and if any surface irregularities remain, you repeat the process if desired. Then, you cover it with a coat of oil-base paint.

As you can see, I've had my can of it so long that the bottom has rusted. Brushing Putty can be difficult to use on figured surfaces, which is why I seldom use it. On a simple board, on the other hand, it's quite easy—especially when the board can be laid flat. The present situation is thus ideal for it. Well, it's actually not quite ideal, because the boards are not flat; the cupping and warping complicate matters significantly. So it's not quite easy. It requires some fancy sanding. Nothing regarding the Farm House is easy except for falling off the roof.

Still, when it's all done and the top coat of primer is on, the improvement is well worth the work:

Now this is more like it! Allow me to indulge in some Before and After action:

As you can clearly see, the garage is much neater now. Thank you.

Ironically, there still are areas of differing sheen on the boards, which you can see in the After photo above. This is visual evidence that very hot weather is not good for painting, even when inside. Without boring you with the technical details, when paint dries too fast (and is not in direct sunlight), the areas drying last are shinier than the other areas. Happily, this difference in sheen will disappear with a light sanding.

And so, none too soon, I am done with painting for a little while. While this extremely hot (over 100 degrees) weather is bad for painting, it is excellent for puttying, and falling off roofs. I'll be doing some of those things when next we meet.

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