
Yes. Paint holds on cured poly for years, and the pieces that peel almost always got the same two steps skipped.
Cured polyurethane is a hard, closed, glassy film. Paint needs something to bite into, and a gloss surface gives it nothing.

Yes. Paint holds on cured poly for years, and the pieces that peel almost always got the same two steps skipped.
Cured polyurethane is a hard, closed, glassy film. Paint needs something to bite into, and a gloss surface gives it nothing.

Ask how far can a 2×12 span without support and the honest answer for the job most people mean is 16 feet 6 inches to 18 feet 1 inch.
That is a No.2 floor joist at 16 inch spacing under a living room, and the 19 inch gap is species alone.

Regular caulk does not take stain. Stain soaks into open wood fiber, and cured caulk has no pores, so a penetrating stain sits on top and wipes off with the rag.
Two things change that answer. A solid-color stain covers a bead the way paint does, and one caulk built for wood really is sold as stainable.

A 2×6 really is stronger and stiffer than a 2×4. Almost nobody picks one for that reason. 2×4 vs 2×6 gets decided by three other things: how much insulation the wall has to hold, whether pipes run through it, and how tall it stands.
Exterior walls in cold climates and any wall carrying a drain stack lean 2×6. Interior partitions, sheds, garages, workbenches, and shelving stay 2×4.

Painters putty goes in nail holes in wood you are going to paint: trim, baseboard, door casing, window sashes. Spackle goes in drywall and plaster: nail holes, dents, dings, and small cracks.
Both fill a hole, and both fail in opposite directions. The failure most people actually hit is cosmetic. The patch stays put and still shows through the finish coat as a dull dot.

Ask how far can a 2×4 span without support and page one hands you 5 feet, 6 feet, 7 feet, 7 feet 6 inches, 11 feet 10 inches and 12 feet 5 inches. Not one of those is a typo.
They describe different jobs. The same board stops near 7 feet as a rafter in snow country and reaches 12 feet 5 inches as a ceiling joist over an empty attic, both at 12 inch spacing.

Ask how far can a 2×10 span without support and page one hands you 13 feet 10 inches, 15 feet, 15 feet 4 inches, 14 feet 6 inches and 21 feet. Not one of those is a typo, and not one of them is wrong.
They are five different jobs. The same 2×10 stops near 11 feet as a widely spaced deck joist and runs past 25 feet as a ceiling joist over an empty attic, and the board never changes. Only the load does.

You have a can of Rust-Oleum on the shelf and a wood project on the bench. So can you use rustoleum on wood?
Yes, and it is not a workaround. Rust-Oleum’s own technical data sheets list wood as an intended surface, right alongside metal.
You bought a gallon too many for the living room, and now the shed door needs paint. Nothing on the label stops you from using it. The honest answer to can you use interior paint outside is no, not on anything the weather touches, with two exceptions: paint labeled for interior and exterior use, and … [Read More…]

Two quart cans sit side by side on the hardware store shelf. Both say solvent. Both say flammable, and neither label tells you which one belongs on your project.
That gap is why people burn a whole Saturday reading about acetone, lacquer thinner, and brush cleaner.