Five Tips for Painting Your Wood Shed

A woodshed in a garden can provide great storage space. Furthermore, wood is often preferred for building a shed since it is a natural material that enhances the garden environment. However, if you wish to paint your woodshed, you must be careful to do the job correctly in order to apply a protective coating on your shed to prevent water penetration and even pests. Here are some tips you should consider before starting to paint.

Prepare the Wood

Preparing the surface is the most important step when painting a woodshed because if you don’t have a surface that is free of dirt, loose paint, or other debris, you are going to end up with flaking and blistering down the road. However, if your woodshed is made from bare wood, you won’t have to do any scraping or sanding. At this time you should also make sure to repair or replace any loose or broken boards.

Use a Pressure Washer

Once the surface has been prepped, it's time for a final clean. Try to work in a set pattern while you spray to avoid missing some spots while cleaning others repeatedly. Remember to get all surfaces that will be painted and not just the obvious ones. Once ready, leave the shed to dry for a day.

Apply a Paint Primer

Once the shed is completely dry, you can apply an oil-based primer before starting painting. The primer will seal any holes and will prevent any pests from feeding on the wood. Before you apply the primer remember to mask off anything you don’t want material sprayed on, like hinges or handles. Moreover, if you are using a paint gun for painting the shed, try to maintain a level spray pattern throughout the entire spraying motion and avoid spraying in an arc.

Paint the Shed

Once the shed is cleaned and primed, you can start the painting process. At this point, it is recommended to use a paint gun rather than a brush in order to evenly paint the woodshed. If necessary, try to apply the paint in thinner coats rather than in one heavy coat to avoid runs, drips, and sags. You should also hold the sprayer level at a distance of about 10 or 12 inches from the surface and move at a steady pace until you spray all the shed. Furthermore, overlap the spray pattern by approximately 30% to achieve even coverage.

Check for Missing Spots

Once you have sprayed all the surfaces of the woodshed, check the shed for any spots that you have missed during spraying. If you find some, carefully spray them and make sure that you maintain the coating evenly.

At this point, you will have your woodshed painted completely and ready to use. Your choice of color is obviously up to you but if you wish to have your wooden shed camouflaged among your garden trees and foliage, choose any green-toned paint rather than a bright, conspicuous color. Or for something that stands out but isn't too loud, like a nice neutral tone like tan or beige.