When you have lovely wood shutters on the exterior of your home (and even for interior shutters), keeping them looking great is a matter of basic maintenance. The harsh weather in Canada can make keeping your shutters looking like new a much greater challenge, but that’s when you need to repaint those shutters.
The common mistake
The common mistake that homeowners make when they set out to repaint their shutters, though, is that they wash down the shutters, clean out the crevices, and then simply paint over the old coat of paint. If the paint has begun to crack, peel, and chip, scraping that old paint off will leave an uneven surface and even though you’ll have a nice, clean, new paint job over the top, those shutters won’t look as good as they could.
Strip the paint first
That’s why it’s crucial that you strip the old paint off of the exterior wood shutters first, before applying any new paint. When you view shutters that have been painted over without stripping, you can tell relatively quickly. They have an uneven appearance to them and may even look like they have bubbles or clumps in the corners.
Your wood shutters are a valuable investment and addition to your home, and stripping them down will make all the difference in how they look. When you strip the paint from the shutters before repainting them, you will end up with shutters that look new.
It doesn’t matter how old the shutters are, either; stripping will help restore them to like-new condition.
How to strip wood shutters
There are plenty of options for stripping paint from the wood shutters. You can bring them to a professional to have them hot dipped in a lye based product, or cold dipped in a pH balanced product.
If you want to do them yourself, you can use a heat gun or chemicals that will peel away the layers of paint. Be careful with a heat gun so that you don’t burn the wood.
Rely on a good, comfortable scraper and have patience. While stripping the shutters will take time, it is going to provide you with a smooth, like new surface upon which to apply the new paint.
Once your repainted shutters are back up, you’ll feel as though you just invested in brand new shutters and they will complement the exterior (or interior) of your home perfectly.
