Looking for instructions on how to paint a wooden barn? Due to many different construction styles you may find online guides rather confusing. Whether your barn construction is shiplap, feather edge, tongue and grove or even OSB board, we have the right product for you. Promain’s technical department have many years experience advising customers and understand what a huge undertaking this task can be. In this article, we have attempted to produce a simple handy guide to help you understand the processes and a few of the pit falls in painting a wooden or metal barn with our extensive range of Barn Paints.
Below, we will go over how to paint your wooden barn. Before we get to the nitty gritty of how to begin the project, we would like to introduce you to a selection of Promain’s most popular barn paint products.
Barn Paints: Introducing Bedec Barn Paint
Bedec Barn Paint is a perfect solution for the protection of exterior buildings such as barns and stables. It is also suitable for outbuildings, sheds, silos, windmills, and factory units (including correctly prepared corrugated and metal box cladding). Bedec Barn Paint is highly recommended for coating wooden fencing, gates, farm equipment, tanks, drainpipes, doors and windows. This versatile product can be used on substrates that may be found in gardens, farms and factories.
Bedec Barn Paint can be applied to previously painted surfaces, even those coated with weathered bitumen, tar, creosote and varnish. Varnish however will need to be sanded to provide a key before applying the Barn Paint. If you want to apply Bedec Barn Paint to new tantalised timber, it is advised that the surface is “keyed” with a medium grit sandpaper. Again, when applying to unpainted timber it is advised that the first coat of Barn Paint is thinned up to 30% with clean water as a primer followed by 2 undiluted coats.
Can You Tint Bedec Barn Paint?
Yes, Bedec Barn Paint is tintable to most popular colours including RAL and BS shades. If you have a particular colour in mind, our Sales and Technical teams will be happy to provide you with further information.
Barn Paints: Introducing Solignum Architectural
Solignum is available is a solvent as well as water based wood stain. Solignum Architectural Solvent Based Opaque Woodstain is BBA certified, this means that it will last for a minimum of 5 years when applied correctly. It is easy to apply by brush or roller. This product offers a low-maintenance, microporous, flexible opaque low sheen finish. This product also has water-shedding properties allowing the timber to breathe. Solignum is ideal for window and doors, conservatories, sheds, gates and fences, clapboard, lap siding or weatherboard.
We are able to tint Solignum Architectural to most RAL and BS 4800 colours so you are able to match most colours used around the home or garden.
Products: Can I Use Barn Paint On Metal?
Yes you can, however, there are better products available specifically for use on metal such as Rustoleum Mathys Peganox. If you do wish to use barn paint on non rusted metal or weathered (old) galvanised corrugated metal sheeting you can, but it must only be on vertical surfaces. For horizontal surfaces that water pools on more specialised products are required. Roofs that have a slope can be painted but an anti corrosive primer will need to be applied to any rusted areas. It is also worth remembering that Barn Paint has a thicker coating which may influence your decision to paint on metal.
If Bedec Barn Paint is being applied to steel, any surface rust must be removed and a suitable primer such as Rustoleum 769 or Zinga Galvanising Paint.
How Long Does Barn Paint Last?
If applied correctly, your barn would not need maintaining for many years providing the surface has been prepared and primed sufficiently. We always recommend that at least 2 coats of Barn Paint is applied.
Advice On Barn Paint vs Stain
You may be asking yourself “why choose Barn Paint over stain?”. Well there are a number of reasons why barn paint may be a better choice for how to paint a wooden barn:
- Barn paint will provide a thicker longer lasting protective coating on the wood than stain will
- Paint will last last longer than a stain
- Barn Paint is flexible
- Barn Paint will prevent moisture ingress
- Proper protection will retard growth of algae and fungus in the wood
Another huge benefit to using barn paint is that whilst wood stains can be very limited in colour choice, Bedec Barn Paint can be tinted to most BS 4800 and RAL colours, giving you many more options. Bedec Barn Paint will still allow you to see the texture of the wood, but the colour would be changed. Having said that we offer a range of semi translucent wood stains that enable you to see the grain of the timber but still provide protection from weathering.
Now that we have explained a bit about barn paint products and why we recommend them, please read on for instructions on how to paint your wooden barn or structure.
How To Paint A Wooden Barn
The first thing you should do is to ensure that your barn is foundationally sound. Any structural or repair issues should be completed before you begin painting. It is also worth checking when your barn was last painted, just in case lead paint was used. Lead Paint was banned in the UK in 1978, and therefore any barns that were painted prior to this were likely to have used lead based paint. If that is the case – or if you are unsure, it is worth getting a professional in to remove the paint and dispose of the debris safely. Finally, you will need to check the weather reports and ensure that the weather will be dry and at least 10°C and rising.
For more information in regards the best weather conditions for exterior painting, see our in depth article here.
How To Paint A Wooden Barn: Preparation
Once you have ascertained that the structure is sound and lead free you are ready to start work. If the barn is already painted with a lead free paint, you will need to treat any green growth with a fungicidal wash. We would recommend Centrecoat Fungicidal Wash GS36 . After the fungicidal wash has been applied and allowed to work for 24 hours, the surface must be cleaned. Promain would recommend a product such as Rustoleum EpoxyShield Cleaner Degreaser 2901. This process will remove any dirt, grease of airborne pollutants such as carbon deposits from exhaust fumes.
As a note, please do not use washing up liquid to clean your external wood! If you do, it will leave a film that any following paint will not stick to.
Power washing can help remove dirt and lose and flaking paint. Sand all lose or flaking paint back to a sound edge. Spot prime any areas of bare timber with a dilution coat of the Barn Paint.
It is particularly important to clean north facing walls where you are likely to find higher incidents of algae and moss growth.
Using a jet wash and Centrecoat GS36, you should thoroughly saturate the wood and clean the entire structure. Do not rinse off the solution, instead leave it to fully dry. This allows the treatment to continue working over time. Drying time should be a minimum of 24 hours before applying any paint.
How To Paint A Wooden Barn: Applying The Paint
Barn paint is designed to be applied directly to the wood without the need of a primer. It can be applied by brush, paint roller or airless spray. As previously advised, you should not attempt to apply the paint at temperatures below 10°C and you should always make sure that the product is stirred thoroughly before use.
Dilute the first coat with 30% water to aid with absorption and adhesion. You will find this will create a good bond. This coat should be touch dry after 2 hours and re-coatable after 4 hours at 20°C. Once dry, apply the second coat neat – this will provide a good weathering layer. In most cases 2 coats of the Bedec Barn Paint should be sufficient. For new timber, a diluted coat and 2 undiluted coats are recommended.
How To Paint Barn Doors
Paint the barn doors in exactly the same way as the main barn!
Following these guidelines your barn will look rejuvenated and will be protected for many years to come. Next we will discuss how to paint a wooden barn’s roof.
How To Paint A Wooden Barn’s Roof
Now we have covered the walls and the doors we can concentrate on the barn’s roof. There are many products available from Promain that would be perfect for sprucing up a tired roof. To help you get started we have listed some of the most popular products below.
Rustoleum Mathys Noxyde Peganox
Rustoleum Mathys Noxyde Peganox is a heavy duty, waterborne paint. This product is excellent on all metal substrates including metal roofs and plastisol cladding. Peganox forms an elastomeric flexible anti-rust membrane. This makes Peganox extremely good in harsh environmental areas such as coastlines.
you can generally use Peganox on Metal Cladding and Roofs for the prevention of rusting and protection against weathering, chemicals and impact.
Available in a range of different colours, not only does Peganox offer you excellent protection, you also get a fantastic aesthetically pleasing finish.
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Teamac Farm Oxide Barn Paint
This product is a general purpose, versatile solvent based paint offering economical protection and decoration for the maintenance of structural steel, metal cladding and more. This is the cheapest Barn Paint roofing product that Promain provide, whilst still maintaining the high quality that both we and our customers expect.
Teamac Farm Oxide Barn Paint is best used to provide decoration and protection against rust and corrosion to a wide range of different surfaces and buildings. Areas that show signs of rust we recommend are treated with Teamac Zinc Phosphate Metal Primer.
Available in 4 different high quality colours and either 5 or 20 litre drums, Oxide Barn Paint offers you a great, cost effective way of rejuvenating your barn, metal roof, cladding or outbuilding.
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Bedec Superflex
Bedec Superflex, is a flexible high build water based elastomeric seamless waterproof membrane. It is also available in a silver Solar Reflective finish.
Superflex Elastomeric Coating is designed for roof tiles, corrugated asbestos roofing sheets, wood, felt, concrete, lead, zinc and copper. You can use Super-Flex to aid the protection of walls also. Superflex is an easy to apply product that provides surfaces with a seamless, high build film that works excellently to resist water damage.
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Where To Buy Barn Paint
Promain are pleased to be the number one supplier of Bedec Barn Paint in the UK. As well as Bedec barn paints, we also supply Teamac, Solignum, Owatrol and Rustoleum amongst others. This makes Promain ideal for giving advice on how to paint a wooden barn!
Please visit our online barn paint shop category for more information on the barn paint products that we have for sale.
Barn Paint Reviews
We hope that you have found this guide on how to paint a wooden barn useful. If you still need a little more convincing listed below are just some of the great reviews that we have received on the Bedec Barn Paint:
Does what it says on the tin two coats and looks fantastic. 5 stars – Peter S
Covers well looks good nice to paint with. The wife enjoyed using it! 5 stars – Pat W
Brilliant Company and so pleasant to deal with. Fast Efficient and this paint is just brilliant. Love working with it. Really happy, 5 stars – Susan N
An additional impartial view can also be found here: www.gsdecorating.com/bedec-barn-paint-review.
Interested in finding out more about how to paint a wooden barn? See more articles on our Knowledge Hub here. Alternatively, contact our technical team to discuss requirements on 01462 421333.
