LESLIE: Alright. Now we’ve got Alyssa in North Carolina who’s dealing with a painted garage. Tell us what you’re working on.
ALYSSA: Well, I have a garage door and it’s wood but then it’s kind of like a panel door, so there’s insert pieces.
TOM: Right.
ALYSSA: And the insert pieces are some kind of pressed wood or particle board or something like that.
LESLIE: OK.
TOM: OK.
ALYSSA: And the door – the garage door was starting to peel and the paint was starting to come off, so I went ahead and started stripping it with a scraper, not with any chemicals. And I found the wood underneath there and now the wood is – fuzzy is the best way I can describe it.
TOM: Fuzzy?
ALYSSA: And yeah, it’s like it’s kind of coming off in pieces.
TOM: OK.
ALYSSA: But it’s not rotted. It’s not something where it’s rotted wood where I can put my finger through it or put a pen into it or anything like that.
TOM: I don’t think it’s wood; I think it sounds like a hard board or a pressed board.
ALYSSA: OK.
TOM: And that’s a hard one to refinish. So why not just paint it?
ALYSSA: That’s fine. I can do that. I just didn’t know if that was the best way to do it. Do I just go ahead and do a really good coat of primer?
TOM: I think so but what I would do first is – yeah, I would definitely prime it. I would lightly sand it and I would use a primer. And if you want to be absolutely certain that you get good adhesion, use an oil-based primer. It’s a little more work and a little more expense but it definitely will give you the best adhesion to this uncertain wood surface. And then the top coat will lay real nice on top of that.
ALYSSA: OK. Yeah, because I’m just trying to – I don’t know why anyone in the world would put a wood garage door in North Carolina.
LESLIE: Or anywhere, really.
ALYSSA: They just – it didn’t make sense to me but I’m trying to get it to last at least another five years, four years maybe.
TOM: Right.
ALYSSA: So, at least if I can get it decent looking for that long, I’d be happy.
TOM: Well, that sounds like a plan.
ALYSSA: OK. So an oil-based primer – lightly sand, oil-based primer and then a good top coat.
TOM: Correct.
ALYSSA: Awesome. OK. Thank you very much.
TOM: You’re welcome. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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