Polyurethane over paint?

[Clay]

Anybody do this? Pros/Cons? Recommendations?

[Chris C]

There are a lot of different types of paint, Clay. Be more specific. And why would you want to put polyurethane over paint, anyway?

[bronco]

ive heard o f alot of nightmare stories of paint peeling and blistering due to uncompatible materials being applied over them. at least with the auto paints.

[Clay]

There are a lot of different types of paint, Clay. Be more specific. And why would you want to put polyurethane over paint, anyway?

Opps, sorry, your right: Acrylic latex house paint, and just for added durability and weatherprotection. Had a buddy of mine suggest it, but he's no woodworking genius (and neither am I) so I wondered if it had an merits.

[D. Tillery]

I have used polyurethane floor clear over water clear lacquer over polished steel. I shoot 3 coats of lacquer then 3 coats of poly. Use water based poly so it won't yellow with high build. I believe the water based poly floor clear is designed to go over latex paint or stained wood.

I don't know how it would hold up to UV exposure though. You can probably find the poly with UV inhibitor.

[Chris C]

Clay,

If you are going to use an Acrylic House Paint, I'd stop there. That's designed to hold up to weather for a long time without any top coating. Just make certain you have a good primer base to lay the paint on. Leave the polyurethane on the shelf at the store and save yourself some money.

[D. Tillery]

Chris, I'd tend to agree with you but a clear coat looks really nice. I have found good ones for various applications between $17 to $225/ gallon.

[Chris C]

I agree, if you're talking about clear-coating an automotive paint, or epoxy...............but not latex!

[tk]

Had a long-time paint/finish guy tell me to make sure not to put urethane over anything that has stearates in it. Stearates are what keep some sandpapers from loading--kind of a detergent, I think. Apparently, some paints have the stearates in them.

Best,
tk

[doug hodder]

TK...I do automotive paint on my projects, and keep all the components from the wood up compatible with each other...While I'm no expert, I think if you put on a paint finish that needs to "breath", expand and contract, ie..Latex and then suffocate it with something that isn't compatible with it, you could potentially have some problems...If in doubt...check with the professional paint guys in an official paint store/supplier...I wouldn't rely on the "big box" guys...but that is just my experience...just a thought...Doug