White Paint over Trim and Doors

[Richard Argentieri]

The wife and I just bought a house that was built in the 80's and it has a lot of dated trim and fixtures. She wants me to paint the doors and trim white, and after a lot of research I tried a few, but I haven't had much luck. Hopefully I can explain what I did and someone can tell me what I'm missing.

Here's an idea of what I'm up against...

I didn't want a finish with a bunch of brush strokes on the louvers, so I decided to spray. I have a bunch of different guns, but I decided to go with my conversion HVLP.

- I started by sanding them with 220 grit sandpaper
- I shot them with kilz original oil based primer
- I noticed that my gun shot a few "clumps" so I hit them with 320grit before moving on to the top coat.
- Everyone has a lot of ideas about top coats, but here in south Florida I thought the elasticity of a latex might old up better in those cases after a hurricane where AC is off for a week and the humidity is off the charts. I used a semi-gloss latex from a big box. (eek I know, but that's what we bought) She also like the "silky" look of the semi-gloss latex, and I love the easy cleanup.
- I've been using flotrol to thin the latex (minimally) and used my pressurized HVLP latex spay gun with right sized needle.

Here are the problems:
- I get a lot of clumping with the latex
- The finish appears to be glossy in some areas but "sandy" or textured in others.
- I can't seem to get good filling where the louvers meet the door frame.

Given the results I've seen with the primer, should I just abandon the latex top coat and go with an oil-based product?

I've only started with the doors, but what is the best way to attack the baseboards and trim? Should I take them off go to the garage and spay, or suck it up and paint with a good ol' brush?

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On a separate note... The wife wants me to also pain the oak kitchen cabinets white until we can replace them. I saw some threads on using grain filler, but where can I get them? Are there any tricks I should consider to have a nice smooth finish on them?

[Rob Cunningham]

I would suggest not using latex for the doors and trim. IMO it is too soft and never really hardens. My preference would be an WB acrylic enamel which cures to a tougher/harder surface. Benjamin Moore WB Impervo is an excellent paint but only comes in satin. I'm painting my woodwork also and want a semi-gloss.The guy at the paint store recommended Muralo paint. He said it it better than Impervo and comes in all sheens and is WB. I bought it yesterday but haven't tried spraying any yet. It seems that I'll be able to spray it without thinning. I'm using a LVLP gravity feed gun with a 2.2 needle/nozzle set and an 80 gal compressor.
As far as your spraying clumps, that could be either you need to thin the paint a little more or turn up your air pressure, or a combo of both. Floetrol doesn't really thin the paint, but makes it flow out better.
Taking the baseboard off, painting, and reinstalling it sounds like a lot of extra work. I would get a good brush and paint them in place.
Someone else will have to give advise on the kitchen cabinets. I've don't have any experience with what you are trying to do there.

[chris yount]

I sprayed the plantation shutters I built with Behr acryllic enamel and they came out well.I used floetrol for leveling and water to thin.If I rember correctly the flotrol took some of the shine away from the paint.That may be some of your problem .I mixed a couple of quarts at once to keep things as close to being the same as possible.It could also be from uneven sanding.Some parts could be rougher these would look dull and the smoother sections would be more glossy.
I also learned that I needed to strain the paint before putting it in the cup.When I sprayed I kept a tooth brush near by. I had to clean the tip frequently when spraying for extended periods.Paint would build up on the tip and it would start spraying roughly because the paint wasnt mixing evenly with the air.

[Lucas Bittick]

I'm going to toss in that the problem is with the latex. If there were strange surface absorption issues you would have seen it with the primer. HVLP spray has a significant temperature effect on the solution being sprayed, so it is possible that your particular latex can't tolerate the heat generated by the spray system. I would suggest getting latex specified for such spraying application, or go with the trusty oil-based enamel.

[Jim Becker]

Lucas, an HVLP conversion gun (as the OP indicates he has) runs off a regular compressor, so there is no heat induced like there is with most turbine systems. The crux of the matter is, latex paint is just darn hard to spray with many guns and an airless system is probably a better choice for that type of finishing product. I've never been able to atomize it well with either of my HVLP conversion guns.

[Rob Cunningham]

I got a chance to spray the Muralo yesterday afternoon. It sprayed really well, no clumps, and leveled out nicely. I didn't thin it but might for the rest of the spraying. Possibly 1oz water /quart, should not take much. Hopefully I can get the second coat on tonight.

[Lucas Bittick]

Lucas, an HVLP conversion gun (as the OP indicates he has) runs off a regular compressor, so there is no heat induced like there is with most turbine systems...

Thanks Jim, you're right-- I was thinking about a turbine system. Sorry to complicate matters!

[Jeff Craven]

I'm currently doing the same thing in my newly acquired house, but I'm just brushing it on. After sanding and wiping clean, I used one coat of primer and two coats of BEHR's pure white eggshell latex. It turned out pretty nice.

[Richard Argentieri]

I ended up switching back to my trusty oil-based enamel, and I'm having much better luck. There sure are a lot of opinions out there, but air spraying latex just doesn't seem to work for me.

Maybe next time I'll try a water-based acrylic enamel. If I could streamline my cleanup I'd be all set!

Thanks to everyone for all the help!