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Applying a polyurethane finish in hot weather


tigerwoodKhorns

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I have several pieced of wood ready for a project and want to add a poly finish.  Temp in the garage is 100 degrees and DRY.  I really do not want to wait several months to do this.  Any ideas? 

 

Can I put the finish on in the garage?

 

Another option is to put the finish on in the laundry room and then move to the garage to dry.  Will this affect the finish? 

 

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If you're using a water-base poly, you shouldn't have a problem applying and letting it dry in the house. I've done it and it doesn't even smell bad. Applying in the house then moving it to the garage to dry increases the chance of it developing a milky haze (blush), even if it is a dry heat. If it was me, I wouldn't risk it.

 

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@tigerwoodKhorns

Did You get this done?

First thing I though was don't let the sweat fall onto it!

Latex... naaa

That cool part of the day is best so it doesn't dry while you are applying it!

Hope you blasted out the garage well with an air compressor before you started.

 

Thinners break the coating down. Don't use `em before applying, they're for clean up.

Penetrol or the latex equivalent won't destroy the chemical properties that make the coating adhere and work correctly.

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I did put the finish on and it is OK.  We had some rain so it cooled off to about 100 degrees.  Probably in the 90s in the garage.  First two coats I just did in the garage.  Final coat I put inside and let the wood get down to room temp.  Took a few pieces at a time and finished them in the garage.  I am sensitive to fumes so I really did not want to do this inside. 

 

The biggest thing that I can see is the cure time, so if you have more work to do, wait for cooler weather, but smaller pieces were OK for me. 

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17 hours ago, JohnJ said:

@tigerwoodKhorns

Did You get this done?

First thing I though was don't let the sweat fall onto it!

Latex... naaa

That cool part of the day is best so it doesn't dry while you are applying it!

Hope you blasted out the garage well with an air compressor before you started.

 

Thinners break the coating down. Don't use `em before applying, they're for clean up.

Penetrol or the latex equivalent won't destroy the chemical properties that make the coating adhere and work correctly.

I like to use thinner for thinning , nothing wrong with thinning  polyurethane , especially if your using it in very hot weather, outside of its recommended temperature range , a small amount of thinner will help your leading edge stay wet and flowing , and help flatten brush marks. 🤓

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Good china bristle and they're aren't any marks. Can not drag if you apply it too slow. My old customers knew it was done right, and paid me accordingly.

 

Time before last I painted my mom's house in `99 when I was literally dying. Did it right with prep and and the painting. Next paint job needed was 2021 before I put the place on the market. Short-chain alkyd on the trim, long-chain Impervo on the doors. Only had to power wash with tsp & bleach every five years or so to maintain it. *

Edited by JohnJ
* needed an attitude adjustment
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Humidity , temperature , viscosity and other variables  are  important factors to consider when a quality finish is required . Automotive finishing is a good example, reducers /thinners are selected based on the temperature and humidity that the car will be sprayed at. The idea is to give the product an optimal flow time,  but to avoid  the problems of excessive flow time like runs sags and mottling. Like a lot of things ,it’s  complicated .Not to be argumentative other methods may work just fine also. 🤓

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11 minutes ago, JJkizak said:

I understand that it takes about 3 months to program a new car shape so that the paint thickness is exact at every spot.

JJK

Your right, years ago I worked at an auto manufacturing paint facility, I was partially responsible  for the installation  and troubleshooting of the automation , the robotic paint paths must be programmed for a specific model and now days  they want this stuff perfect , it’s pretty specialized .🤓

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Dew points come in highly important with those kinds of urethanes for that car paint I'm sure.

 

@Tom05 I just read that again and owe you an apology. I notice that I have been more bristly lately :rolleyes:.

If I had worded it differently... Like an oldtimer that I respected his work and work ethic pointed that out to me long ago. And that it stuck with me, that might have been better!

I stomped on a half quart of high gloss alkyd black so badly when I wanted to re do a piece of my own furniture in the mid 90s. That dresser got chipped by my nephew a few years ago... then the chipped spot grew!

 

* @JJkizak ever used that electrostatic paint? Hook a car battery to the piece of metal you're doing and you can even spray away from the piece and it will fly back to it and stick uniformly!! 

Edited by JohnJ
*
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Hey John , nice to meet you. Never thought anything about it , I’ll bet that we all sound a little abrasive from time to time , including myself ( not that you did ) , it’s the damn testosterone  I think ,also the forum medium can sometimes give the wrong impression, nature of the beast I guess, keep the tweeters tweeting and have a great day.🤓

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While the experts are here.  I ran out of Deft water based gloss polyurethane finish.  I have JBL speakers that are finished, and now need to do the grills, which have separate pieces of wood.

 

Can I use a different brand (I think that I must).  They should match or be close enough as the wood grill is separate but will touch the speakers.  I found Varathane at the home Depot:

 

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Varathane-1-qt-Clear-Gloss-Water-Based-Interior-Polyurethane-200041H/100193658

 

And Minwax at Lowes:

 

https://www.lowes.com/pd/Minwax-Polycrylic-Gloss-Water-Based-32-fl-oz-Polyurethane/999913683

 

 

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1 minute ago, tigerwoodKhorns said:

 

Can I use a different brand (I think that I must).  They should match or be close enough as the wood grill is separate but will touch the speakers.

If you use the same sheen, semi-gloss, etc., I think either brand will be a good match.

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