Polyurethane over latex?

[Billy MacLeod]

Hello all. I am working on a project to finish off a set of corn hole bag toss games. They came in a semi gloss white and I have added a few coats of navy blue flat latex to them. Now I want to give them a smooth finish to add some large decals to, then a few more coats of clear over top of that to protect the decals and paint job. So my question is, what to use?

I checked with Lowe's and they suggested polycril (sp?), M.A.B. Paints said there really wasn't anything I could do, Sherwin Williams sold me some Helmsman Spar Poly and said it will work fine. Unfortunately when I got home and read the can it says to make sure the surface is clean of paint. So now what?

Most likely the boards will not be out in the wet for very long. They may get rained on by the odd pop up storm, or if I forget to bring them in at night. Most of the time during inclement weather they will be inside though.

Any help anybody might be able to provide would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Billy

[Jim Becker]

Putting varnish (or an acrylic water borne product) over latex paint will only provide you with a harder surface over a soft one...something that is prone to damage. That said, a water borne product will at least help to protect your decals.

In the future, consider using a pure acrylic product (not latex paint) such as Sherwin Williams Pro Classic or Benjamin Moore Impervo or Fuhr International's 380 as your color coat for this kind of project. You can then clear coat with an acrylic product (and yes, the Minwax Polycrylic is such an animal) with better results than you will ever get with a latex paint.

[Billy MacLeod]

See this is what happens when ignorant people try to do things

All this time I thought there were two kinds of paint, latex and oil based. That being said, the paint I used is Glidden Evermore exterior paint. It says on the label that it is 100% acrylic latex. Does this make a difference? It also says it is ideal for painting all types of siding, brick and masonry products.

Thanks for your help Jim, I think I will take that gallon of Helmsman back and get some of the polycrylic from Minwax to try out since that is designed to go over paint anyway. Is there anything better than that stuff?

[Jim Becker]

"Acrylic Latex" and "100% Acrylic" are two different animals. The latex in house paint (interior or exterior) makes the product flexible and adds other properties that are desirable for that use. One of them isn't "hardness". For woodworking projects, including cabinetry that will have things sitting on it...latex paint is less advantageous.

You'll be fine with your project and the Polycrylic top-coat (not the most extraordinary finish, but readily available) is pretty clear so it will not alter your colors to any real extent. Oh...it's not "designed to go over paint"...that's just how you are going to use it.

[Jason Roehl]

Another option--

It might be tricky to get the paint, but you could use an exterior 100% acrylic ultra-deep base paint--with no colorant. This will give you a flexible (won't chip as readily when you throw things at it), durable and CLEAR topcoat.

The tricky part will be talking a paint store into selling you a quart of the ultradeep base with no colorant in it. I can do that no problem because, as a painter, I drop a fair amount of $$ in the store each year and have a good working relationship with the managers. A customer off the street might have a little more trouble convincing them that's what he needs.