Latex or Oil-Based ?

[Doug Shepard]

Unless something else derails my plans, I'l need to paint the outside walls of my DC closet within a week or so. Normally I'd just grab for the latex but the temp in the (unheated) GaShop has been hovering around the high 50's for much of the day and can only be tending downward. Should I be opting for an oil-base paint instead due to the temps or is latex still OK? This will be going on that simulated 4'x8' T&G rough-sawn siding stuff which at the moment seems a tiny bit on the wet side, but will undoubtedly suck up a lot of primer/paint.

[Jason Roehl]

Here's another option: exterior, waterborne solid-color stain, specifically, Sherwin-Williams' Woodscapes (no affiliation). While it doesn't claim to be a low-temp (35°) paint/stain, my experience is that it works fine at all above-freezing temps. This will do a couple things for you. No primer needed, as the first coat will seal in any tannin. Also, you won't have to switch from a primer to paint (time wasted cleaning brushes and rollers). If you are going to go white, ask them at the store to add about 3 oz per gallon of white tint to the white tint base--this will help it cover better. Otherwise, I've found the white stain to take up to 3 coats to cover.

Hope that helps!

BTW, most interior acrylic/latex paints and primers are fine above 50 degrees, they just take quite a bit longer to dry.

[Howard Acheson]

>> Should I be opting for an oil-base paint instead due to the temps or is latex still OK?

Oil based finishes should not be applied when the air temperature or the surface temperature is below 50-55 degrees. Even at these temperatures, you are pushing it and the finish may not cure. It will dry but the curing will not proceed at lower temperatures