Gloss paint not drying - advice please

sue_balu

Hi
Please can anyone help with this problem:

I had some new wooden french doors installed recently. The wooden frames and architrave (?) where bare wood. I masked off the glass and treated the wood as follows:
1. covered knots with knotting solution (boy, is that expensive!!) left to dry
2. rubbed down with fine sandpaper
3. used wood filler to make good dints and cover nail heads etc. left to harden
4. repeat step 2
5. went all over surface using a tack cloth (?) cotton rag dampened with a little white spirit. Waited a couple of hours
6. one coat wooden surface primer (white) left to dry overnight
7. repeat steps 2 and 5.
8. another coat of wooden surface primer in case I'd rubbed too vigourously and exposed any wood - let it dry
9. repeat steps 2 and 5 - again
10. brushed on, out of a new can, Dulux undercoat left to dry overnight
11. Repeat steps 2 and 5 - again
12. Brushed on, out of another new can, a not-too-thick first coat of Dulux white non-drip gloss paint I know I didnt put it on too thick because I was expecting to have to apply another gloss coat (i havent of course, because)....
Now here's the prob;lem - 10 days later its still "tacky" I've never known this to happen before. If I've ever glossed a door its always dried in 2 days max.

What did I do wrong do you think? and what can I do about it? As they are new doors I was hoping to have a really nice finish.

BobProperty

My instinctive reaction is that one of the paint layers isn't compatible with another. What exactly were the products you used, please?

Mikeyorks

I did have this happen several years ago - couldn't explain it (and blamed the Autumn weather) - but a further coat of the top coat solved it. But it was only faintly tacky - and I was able to paint over it without real risk of re-activating the previous coat.

As post #2 - it does sound like an incompatibility between the undercoat / top coat. But whilst your preparation sounds meticulous - I'm always suspicious of wiping down with white spirit. Whilst is should simply act to remove dust etc and then evaporate off. It is a solvent so there is the risk of it re-activating and de-stabilising the paint. I tend to just use the vac with a dusting brush attached - and then wipe it down with a slightly damp (water only) lint free cloth.

misgrace

Firstly your prep is spot on, ( I would employ you) , but I also never use white spirit to wash down, I too dust and hoover off.

I have never had this problen, so I cant think what it could be, the only thought I have is that you might have used different makes of paint, or use a quick dryer primer, and an oil base undercoat or gloss, it defentely is a weird one.

tawnyowls

You're not a smoker, by any chance, are you? Or anyone in the house before you? Nicotine does precisely this, and even if you wash the doors down it can still be a problem.

sue_balu

No Tawnyowls we dont smoke and the doors are into a new conservatory.

Bob Property - I have checked the make of the wood primer I used - its International Wood Primer.
I've read their information website and they do say to wipe down with a dry cloth. Perhaps my tack cloth was the cause?

My BiL has now told me he had some problems with International brand red gloss not drying properly. In the end he cured it by washing the item in cold water!
I think I'll try going over the surface with a very cold wet rag before I try anything more drastic.
I'm also going to try leaving some windows open on the vent for a couple of days to make sure theres ventilation and then maybe gently heat the room.

I'm desperate not to have to try and re-do it as I dont think I'll ever get as smooth a finish. Typical innit?

Thanks for all your advice everyone.

Mikeyorks

sue_balu wrote:

the doors are into a new conservatory.

Naughty .... you left that bit out;) I assumed they were fully external.

I told you I blamed mine on the Autumn weather - well I suspect your's is from the damp of the new build and/or floor? Just had a new one here - the base was completed weeks ago but it's perspiring freely now the conservatory's been erected. And nothing would dry properly in there without the windows fully open.

Give it a lot of Welsh air, windows fully open, and that should hopefully dry it off?

sue_balu

Quote:
Originally Posted by sue_balu
the doors are into a new conservatory.

Naughty .... you left that bit out I assumed they were fully external.

I told you I blamed mine on the Autumn weather - well I suspect your's is from the damp of the new build and/or floor? Just had a new one here - the base was completed weeks ago but it's perspiring freely now the conservatory's been erected. And nothing would dry properly in there without the windows fully open.

Give it a lot of Welsh air, windows fully open, and that should hopefully dry it off?


Oh Mikeyorks - I do hope that bit of info I just happened to reveal is important and that the residual dampness in the newbuid is causing the gloss paint to take so long to dry!
That would mean I wouldnt have to try to remove and redo - yippee!:T
Well I will try your Welsh Air advice before my other possible fixes.

As I'm in over the next three days I will leave the exterior doors open too.
I had noticed condensation in the mornings but I had assumed that was normal for conservatories all the time rather than it being a symptom of it being new build. It does have a concrete floor and newly plastered walls. It is 4.5m square so quite a lot of water must have been used in its construction.

Mikeyorks

sue_balu wrote:

As I'm in over the next three days I will leave the exterior doors open too.

If you've got the wind Yorkshire has today - make sure they're anchored firmly;)

But, hopefully, it is just rampant condensation that's causing it. But, in any event, you need to give it a bit more than 'vent' air while the whole structure dries. Particularly if you're considering a wood floor in there as you've got to stabilise the humidity first.

If the door declines to dry (if it's stayed tacky for a while because of moist air - don't know if that then impedes it drying properly) you could try 10 mins gentle wafting with a hair drier. But, if all else fails, I did succeed in overcoating mine - when it was a drier day - and that worked fine.

sue_balu

Thanks Mikeyorks

We did think about having a Karndean floor but when the contractor told us we'd need to leave the concrete to dry out for another 3 months we changed our minds!!

Can't bear the upheaval in the house that long as we've been in the midst of a building site since May (Its a long story!!) So we are going for carpet instead - its cheap and if we change our minds after a while we can have something else!

Not really sure how usable the conservatory will be in the Winter and Summer - if we can only use it in the Spring and Autumn, £1200 for Karndean is too much to spend. However if we find it usable all year round we might feel differently.

Anyway thanks for your assistance
Sue

Mikeyorks

sue_balu wrote:

Anyway thanks for your assistance
Sue

More than welcome.

Got the same problem on useability of our (smaller) conservatory. It's essentially for reading / bit of quiet music. But I'm not sure (we'd finished the house - so not prepared to go through the disruption of extending the c/h) just how practical it's going to be in the hottest / coldest parts of the year. We did have a heat inhibiting roof fitted - and that does seem to work in the limited sun we've had since. But the only heat will be from a 2kw heater for Autumn evenings - and turned down to frost stat levels to inhibit condensation in the Winter.

It's freezing in there today - but the windows are wide open trying to dry it out. We will be fitting an oak floor - over a vapour barrier - but that will be after the concrete has been down a max of 2 months.

Any consolation - the farmhouse with the limewash - was a building site for 4 years! Not nice. This latest place has been new kitchen / bathroom / new bedrooms and every room decorated - in just over 12 months. Must be the improvement of experience? But I've seriously had enough of DIY for a while.