Skip to main content

Painting on new and old woodwork

Short answer

Painting is a liquid coating for protection and decoration. New wood requires sanding, knotting, priming, stopping, undercoat and finishing coat. Old wood needs old paint removal, sanding, patch priming, and finishing; cement surfaces need curing, alkali-resistant primer, putty and two coats.

Define painting. Describe the procedure of painting in new and old woodworks (and cement surfaces).

Painting is the application of a liquid coating to a surface to protect it from weather, dampness, rot and corrosion, and to give it a good appearance and colour.

New woodwork

  1. Preparation: the surface is rubbed smooth with sandpaper, and knots are covered with knotting (shellac) to stop resin bleeding.
  2. Priming: a coat of wood primer (red lead and linseed oil) is applied and allowed to dry for 24 hours.
  3. Stopping: nail holes and cracks are filled with putty (whiting and linseed oil), and the surface is rubbed down.
  4. Undercoat: one or two coats of paint of a lighter shade are applied 24 hours apart, each sandpapered when dry.
  5. Finishing coat: one or two coats of the final colour (oil paint or enamel) are applied.

Old woodwork

  1. Cleaning: loose old paint is removed by scraping, wire brushing or a paint remover, and the surface is washed with mild soap water or sugar soap and then dried.
  2. Rubbing down with sandpaper.
  3. Patch priming of bare areas, stopping and filling of holes, then sandpapering.
  4. Undercoat and finishing coats as for new woodwork. If the old paint is sound, only one or two finishing coats are applied.

Cement surfaces

The plaster must dry for 3-4 weeks. An alkali-resistant primer is applied, then putty, then two coats of emulsion or cement paint.

✓ Answer checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort)

Related questions

All Building Technology chapter 9 questions →