Surface Preparation for TuffCab

We have had lots of people ask for help and advice in how to use Tuff Cab paint, so we put together this guide to help you get started.

Surface Preparation Read this before you start  painting.

1. Do I need Primer? As a general rule no, we have found no benefit in using a primer on any of the darker tuffcab colours, and best results are achieve by painting straight onto bare wood surface. The paint is blended with a strong adhesive in it, which sticks to itself and porous surfaces. However, if you are using White, Yellow, Orange or Yellow-Green tuffcab (which are all lighter colours) its often beneficial to use 1-2 coats of white primer, especially if you have pencil marks, or knots in the wood. The primer will give you a white base to start with, and helps the lighter Tuff Cab colours achieve the right colour. Without primer, you may find you need several more coats.

2. Should I seal wood with PVA before painting?  If you water down a little PVA, it can help seal dust on the surface, but you can achieve similar result by just wiping down the surfaces with a damp cloth before painting, you might be surprised how much dust residue can be left. PVA can sometimes help with sealing end-grain, and for sealing light powdery filler, in this instance, a light coat of watered down PVA can be beneficial, but we dont suggest getting too serious about this, as there is a strong adhesive in the paint already. If you do have any solvented filler (2 part filler thats mixed) we recommend sealing the filler with PVA before over-painting with Tuff Cab.

3. How thoroughly should I sand a bare wood cabinet? Does it need to be ultra-smooth? In a word, NO. Whats most important is to deal with deep holes, scratches and voids, use a non-solvented one part filler. We use a standard grey ronseal wood filler available from B&Q, sets very hard, and can be sanded relatively easily. Also, pay attention to joints and end-grain, make sure gaps are filled. When preparing cabs for painting we often use a belt sander with P80 or P120 grit belt, this leaves scratches in the wood, but these are easily covered by the paint because the paint is very viscous.

4. Should I water down TuffCab for the first coat? We are aware of a number of people who have done this, and they believe it helps the paint bond better. If your surface preparation has been good, and you wipe off all the dust after sanding, we dont see any benefit in using a watered down first coat, but this is a matter of personal preference. The first coat on any porous material is always absorbed quicker, adding water will slow down the drying time for the first coat, and can help ensure good bonding.

5. What about existing paint? If you are painting cabinets that already have paint on, a little more surface preparation may be required, depending on what you are painting. As a general rule, TuffCab works best applied over other water based acrylic resin emulsion paints. TuffCab wont bond well to Polyurea paints, or other paints which are solvented. If you know you are painting over water based paints, then generally all you need to do is scrub the surface with a scourier and some soapy water to remove mud, grease or any other contaminants. If you're unsure what type of paint you are painting over, we recommend a light sanding with P120 grit to provide a good surface to key into. Some surfaces, such as Truck Bed Liner, or Linex are not suitable for painting over with Tuff Cab, and you will need to remove most of the existing coating. Any cellulose base paint must be completely removed prior to applying Tuff Cab.