Re-painting wooden porch rail

[Carlos Arteta]

Paint in the top part of my porch's wooden rail is peeling, so I am planning to paint that part and sorrounding areas. (I am not planning to paint the whole porch wooden rails at this time, but I could if painting it all is advisable). I don't know which type of paint it is, but I guess it's oil -- I'll use some goo gone or denatured alcohol to test. I will use white paint (which is also the current color) and don't want yellowing. Of course, I will scrap most of the current peeling paint and smooth the surface (but will not use a stripper).

Question: what kind of primer/paint should I use? I was planning to use exterior alkyd primer/paint from my local ACE hardware store. (They only sell gloss), or a satin self-priming oild based paint for wood/metal from my local Benjamin Moore store. However, I just read an article in "This Old House" where they recommend exterior alkyd primer but water-based topcoat paint. (My hardware store has semi-gloss latex exterior paint).

In general, for exterior wood, is it better to use oil- or water-based? If the latter, is latex OK, or should I go for some of a "100% acrylic [no latex resin] paint"?

Thanks.
- Carlos

[Steve Schoene]

The waterbased topcoat recommendation is largely based on the ability of latex paint to breath a bit. That is important on siding since walls need to dry out when (not if) they get moisture in them. But on a railing, that's not an issue, so a good oil based enamel should work well.

[Phil Phelps]

... the Benjamin Moore products. Yes to Alkyd, Fresh Start, primer. It is formulated with the latex exterior paints. If you scrape the peeled paint off, you might want to "fill" the bare wood with an exterior spackling paste. Be sure not to build the paste, it's tuff to sand. Use a broad knife to level it to the paint that didn't scrape off. I like a softer sheen for the outside. You'll find a variety of sheens in the Benjamin Moore line. Good luck.

[Chris Padilla]

Phil,

Tell me more about the exterior spacking paste...guess I never paid attention at the local h/w store. I, too, have a fence railing peeling paint and will need to do the same thing as Carlos.