Oil based paint is banned?

[volvoguy87]

I'm presently restoring the original (1892) windows on the home where I live. I need to paint them as part of the process. I need an exterior paint that will stand up to weathering AND not stick the sashes shut.

All the exterior paint I can find for sale near me is latex. Latex paint is bad for this application because it stays slightly tacky forever. This means that over the course of winter as the windows are shut for months on end, the latex paint will adhere to the back sides of the stops, causing the sash to become stuck by springtime. Also, if the sashes are forced open, it tends to tear the latex paint, leaving unsightly chunks of paint attached to the sashes or frames, and corresponding bare patches on the other piece. Bare patches of wood are not protected from moisture and other damage (which is the reason for painting in the first place.

The only solution I know of is to use oil based paint, which does not remain sticky. I like using oil based paint. I don't find the cleanup to be at all difficult and the long time required to dry is not a great concern. The problem is that it seems I can no longer get oil based paint.

I am looking for high quality paint, better than what I can buy at Lowes or Home Depot. Even Sherwin Williams won't do. Benjamin Moore came highly recommended but I just heard back from them via email that they no longer manufacture ANY oil based exterior paint for the consumer market.

The folks at Benjamin Moore recommended I try Fine Paints of Europe, but at over $200.00 per gallon, that's just too expensive. Also, they have no distributor in my state or any surrounding ones.

Have any of you heard of anything like this?

I appreciate the environmentally friendly perspective, but if oil based paint is going away, at least offer something as a replacement that has similar performance characteristics.

I like being able to easily open my windows. Both the upper and lower sashes!
Dave

 

[mysteryclock]

Sherwin-Williams lists a couple of oil-based exterior paints on their web site, but there may be some local laws restricting their use in your area. Checked with Porter?

 

[panthera]

You can

get polyurethanes or epoxies which won't adhere to each other once cured.
Frankly, I never heard such nonsense. There are quite a few situations for which a thixotropic oil-based paint is ideal.

 

[circlew]

Hey Dave,

You might want to check out Pratt & Lambert RedSeal Ext. Oil Gloss (4900 series). Oakley Paint & Glass on Madison Rd. is listed as the dealer. Porter makes a product called Glyptex Urethane Gloss which can be used on exterior trim. They also have a new water based Alkyd Glyptex enamel which is supposed to have the durability of oil base. I'm planning on using it on my doors. Porter is sold at Beck's, which is near you. They've always been helpfull when I've been in their Goshen store. You might also might consider PPG Pittsburg Sun Proof Ext. House & Trim Gloss. Hope this helps.

 

[sudsmaster]

I don't know about house paint, but in California soon, if not already, one cannot get a car painted with an oil-based paint any more. It all has to be water based. And the catch, as it was told to me, is that you can't touch up an oil-based finish with a water based paint. So for repairs that means a complete repaint of the entire panel, if not the entire car.

Or so I am led to believe.

For the windows, there might be something one could so with clear plastic strips along the mating edges, or perhaps a good coating of silicone grease.

 

[crevicetool]

I just bought some Moore's Alkyd Gloss Interior/exterior

It used to be pushed with the name Impervo, but with the market changing, they simply call it wood and metal enamel. There is no indication by my dealer that it will be discontinued. It is not specifically "house paint" but it is a very durable product. I sold it years ago. If you want a low lustre finish - the Iron clad line has a low lustre finish. Here's a link.

There is a trend to eliminate oil based finishes - but I don't think they're there yet.

Rick

http://www.benjaminmoore.com/bmpsweb/portals/bmps.portal?_nfpb=true&_windowLabel=contentrenderer_1_3&contentrenderer_1_3_actionOverride=%2Fbm%2Fcms%2FContentRenderer%2FrenderContent&contentrenderer_1_3cnp=public_site%2Farticles%2Fproducts_specs%2Ffp_fh_ex

 

[volvoguy87]

One more hitch.

Since I'm doing this properly and in strict accordance with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for historic preservation (the ethics of my profession) it has to be reversible. More simply put, the paint has to be able to be removed relatively easily.

There are two ways of doing that:
1. Heat. I can strip windows with a heat gun or an infrared lamp.
2. Chemical stripper. I can use a variety of chemical strippers to soften old paint and weaken its adhesion to wood.

Polyurethane is strictly forbidden because it cannot be easily stripped via heat or chemicals. Poly is susceptible to damage from UV light but that is too inconsistent and slow to be used for intentional stripping. Poly must be sanded off. A piece of wood can only be sanded so many times. Proper window painting (and most wood painting in general) involves some very very hardcore scraping with REALLY sharp blades, but when it's done right, there is no need to sand and no wood loss.

I can't use a paint that becomes one with the wood that I can't scrape off, I can't use polyurethane or anything else that must be sanded off, and I can't use anything that remains sticky over time.

Lead free oil based paint has been around for centuries (not all old oil paints contained lead). It's reliable, affordable, safe, a good performer. Please give me back my oil based paint!

Dave

 

[maytagbear]

Joking-Joking- JOKING

Just call Pella or Anderson.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

(Seriously, though, good luck, Dave.)

 

[bmgilk]

Try True Value Hardware

I live in northern Ohio. My True value has oil and latex paint in the quart size. I had to do the same thing to my old windows and they were the only place that I could find oil base paint.
Mike

 

[pushtorelease]

Oil based paint is gradually being phased out in most places - the problem is disposal. In most places they still bury it! Farrow & Ball is discontinuing all oil based paints after a hundred and something years.....