Opinions on refinishing a playhouse?

[Dal Bone]

Hi folks, longtime lurker here. I love this forum because of the vast expertise so I thought I would float out a random project I will be doing this summer.

This playhouse came with the home I bought and my son is now old enough to use it. As you can see from the picture it needs a little work.

Anyone do a similar project? Any suggestions on what products to use? Stain, deck restore or just exterior paint?

 

[wesst]

Whatever you do, keep the power washer away. I actually started with a power washer but stopped after 5 minutes due to getting into the wood. I used a palm sander with 100 grit to knock everything old off, and then applied two coats of Sikkens stain for log cabins. I used it on my log cabin and had some left over. It is expensive ($80 or so a gallon) but it looks the same as three years ago when I did it. Even if I did not have some left over I would spring for it.

 

[jallyn]

I have owned and operated a painting and power-washing business in the past. And I purchased, disassembled, and rebuilt a playhouse in the last year.

I power-washed everything. If you are gouging/splintering the wood you are either too close to the wood, using the wrong spray-tip, or that board is rotten and needs to be replaced. I didn't destroy any wood. There were 4 pieces that needed to be replaced but that was because they were rotten or broken. The play-set had high-quality woods, but was neglected and close to 10 years old when I purchased it.

Let everything dry a few days after power-washing. I used solid-color stain, and the more expensive variety. Cheap ones are for siding or fences only. They will not weather well on horizontal surfaces because of water resting there and being a tougher application. Get a deck stain, or log-cabin stain, or whatever seems good to you.

Apply one coat over everything. Apply a second coat on horizontal surfaces where water settles or partly settles, like tops of hand rails, roofs, beams, and decks/walking surfaces. This will give you the best bang for your buck and save a lot of time not doing two coats on surfaces that won't wear quickly anyway. For me solid-color stain was necessary because I had a mixture of old and new wood that would show differently though semi-transparent stain. Plus solid-color stain lasts longer.

Plan on semi-transparent stain lasting 2 to 3 years before needing re-coat (especially on horizontal surfaces). You can get double the life out of solid-color stains. Solid color stains look more like paint, but soak in to the wood and give you some feel for the wood-grain. Plus they don't require priming like paints.

 

[Dal Bone]

Whatever you do, keep the power washer away. I actually started with a power washer but stopped after 5 minutes due to getting into the wood. I used a palm sander with 100 grit to knock everything old off, and then applied two coats of Sikkens stain for log cabins. I used it on my log cabin and had some left over. It is expensive ($80 or so a gallon) but it looks the same as three years ago when I did it. Even if I did not have some left over I would spring for it.

Looks good! I was hoping to avoid sanding the whole thing but it looks like I might have to. Probably will need to disassemble parts of it to make it easier.

I was considering using some kind of deck restore but read so many people that had poor results. Thanks for the suggestion I will take a look at Sikkens.

 

[Dal Bone]

I have owned and operated a painting and power-washing business in the past. And I purchased, disassembled, and rebuilt a playhouse in the last year.

I power-washed everything. If you are gouging/splintering the wood you are either too close to the wood, using the wrong spray-tip, or that board is rotten and needs to be replaced. I didn't destroy any wood. There were 4 pieces that needed to be replaced but that was because they were rotten or broken. The play-set had high-quality woods, but was neglected and close to 10 years old when I purchased it.

Let everything dry a few days after power-washing. I used solid-color stain, and the more expensive variety. Cheap ones are for siding or fences only. They will not weather well on horizontal surfaces because of water resting there and being a tougher application. Get a deck stain, or log-cabin stain, or whatever seems good to you.

Apply one coat over everything. Apply a second coat on horizontal surfaces where water settles or partly settles, like tops of hand rails, roofs, beams, and decks/walking surfaces. This will give you the best bang for your buck and save a lot of time not doing two coats on surfaces that won't wear quickly anyway. For me solid-color stain was necessary because I had a mixture of old and new wood that would show differently though semi-transparent stain. Plus solid-color stain lasts longer.

Plan on semi-transparent stain lasting 2 to 3 years before needing re-coat (especially on horizontal surfaces). You can get double the life out of solid-color stains. Solid color stains look more like paint, but soak in to the wood and give you some feel for the wood-grain. Plus they don't require priming like paints.

What is the difference (if any) of a solid stain and a log cabin stain?

I am assuming that I need to avoid big box store brands. I have had good experiences with Sherwin Williams. Ever work with their Superdeck?

And with a solid color lord stain I assume that I don't need to completely remove the existing stain that is on it?