# Deck paint still kinda sticky after 12 hours of dry time



## soumikcha (Jun 17, 2015)

I am using BM Floor and patio outdoor paint. Its latex. 
The can says about 4 hours and also depends on humidity.
And its about 80% humidly for the past couple of days. 
Its a little sticky but I can still walk on it and stay in one place standing with no issue. THe paint is not coming out or anything like that. 

I did a full one coat so far. 

So should I wait until the rain and then paint? how long should I wait after the rain for second coat? and its about 80-85F. I finished painting last night. so it got about 12 hours drying time.


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## Ron6519 (Mar 28, 2007)

Doesn't the instructions on the container mention the temperature/humidity levels the product should be applied under?
What did you use to prep the deck for the paint?


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## soumikcha (Jun 17, 2015)

The deck was power washed a month ago. Then I sanded alot of the area and also scraped alot of the old paint. It said humidity can make the dry time longer. But after 14 hours. I do not why it can be still sticky. And now its getting direct sun light. Would that help the paint dry faster?


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## Ron6519 (Mar 28, 2007)

This is one of the worst times to paint. High humidity and temperature. Adding direct sunlight to the mix doesn't help.
If it doesn't dry in a day or 2, you might have to remove it.
How old was the paint? Check for a date code on the can. You don't know how long that has been sitting in the store.
Also check online to see if anyone else has had an issue. Could be a batch problem.


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## soumikcha (Jun 17, 2015)

I had no choice. I been trying to get my deck paint for the past two months with four different person and all ended up trying to do two jobs at same time and messed me up. So I had to do it myself. 

I called them and they said its probably the humidity. I could not find date but It was a mix so do not think or hope its been sitting for too long. 

Its going to rain in few hours. How bad can ran damage the paint?


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## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

It's not unusual for the paint to be tacky in high humidity, especially a horizontal surface such as a deck. The rain won't hurt that first coat. Now, for the 2nd coat, you will want a couple of nice, dry days in a row for it to set up. Sometimes with water laying on it soon after a paint job, a deck gets light and dark spots from water laying on the fresh paint film.


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## soumikcha (Jun 17, 2015)

Smh. Any of you got number for god. I need to find out if he can reschedule the rain. lol

For the second coat I will do after two weeks. Is that ok? Its actually going to rain on and off for the next couple of days. My deck was able to dry for four days and then I painted for two days. 

Should I put a fan outside to cool the deck? Or if its rain, should I take a blower to blow off all the standing water on deck?


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## Nestor_Kelebay (Jun 17, 2008)

If the deck was painted for 4 days prior to it raining, the rain shouldn't harm the paint.

Latex paints have coalescing solvents in them which can take 3 or 4 days to evaporate from the paint, if not more. I would just let the rain fall, and if you can blow any standing water off the deck with a leaf blower or whatever, that would be a good idea.

I expect the problem is that it's taking longer than normal for the coalescing solvent in the paint to evaporate. But, if the paint film appears normal in every other respect, then it's just a matter of waiting for the next good painting opportunity, even if you have to wait a few weeks.


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## soumikcha (Jun 17, 2015)

Wow, I did not know that before. I thought if the quality of the paint is better, it should not take that long. Isnt BM like one of the best out there? And its have not rained and its now a little tacky. So it did get better over the past couple of hours. Rain just keep delaying itself. 

This weather is very unpredictable. 

Also, primer. can it take on rain or its a very bad to get rain on primer?


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## klaatu (Mar 9, 2015)

soumikcha said:


> Smh. Any of you got number for god. I need to find out if he can reschedule the rain. lol
> 
> For the second coat I will do after two weeks. Is that ok? Its actually going to rain on and off for the next couple of days. My deck was able to dry for four days and then I painted for two days.
> 
> Should I put a fan outside to cool the deck? Or if its rain, should I take a blower to blow off all the standing water on deck?


Actually, blowing a fan across the deck may help a little. Just remember to bring it in before it rains.


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## Will22 (Feb 1, 2011)

The normal dry/recoat times on labels for most latex products are based on 70 degrees Fahrenheit and 50% relative humidity. Obviously, warmer temperatures and higher humidity (as well as if the paint is tinted to a deep color) will slow this down.


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## dfphoto (Jan 18, 2011)

Hi I live in Los Angeles about 80% humidity all the time due to the ocean. I had some wood baseboard that I sprayed primer then paint one coat a day for 3 days and 6 months later it's still tacky and terrible read about this and I think in my case I didn't put a sealer on the wood and the humidity from the air and wood wetness caused issues, I ended up sanding and have waited another month before I put another coat of paint after I put a wood sealer on it. Had to start over since the wood sticks if pushed together it's just a mess you might screwed... in my opinion... Sorry


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## Nestor_Kelebay (Jun 17, 2008)

soumikcha said:


> Wow, I did not know that before. I thought if the quality of the paint is better, it should not take that long. Isnt BM like one of the best out there? And its have not rained and its now a little tacky. So it did get better over the past couple of hours. Rain just keep delaying itself.
> 
> This weather is very unpredictable.
> 
> Also, primer. can it take on rain or its a very bad to get rain on primer?


 Soumikcha: Actually, a quality latex paint will actually have several different coalescing solvents in it, one of which evaporates quickly, another slowly and a third in 2 or 3 days. The reason for this is that the paint manufacturer can't tell what the weather is going to be like immediately after the paint is applied. So, they put a variety of coalescing solvents in so that they cover the possibility of cold or raining weather occuring shortly after the paint is applied. It's all just part of designing the paint to accomodate adverse weather conditions. If the paint looks and feels OK, then film formation went OK, and you should just wait for another clear and safe opportunity to apply another coat. Primers are the same way. A day or two after the primer is dry to the touch, you can have as monsoon, and it won't hurt the primer.


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## soumikcha (Jun 17, 2015)

Nestor_Kelebay said:


> Soumikcha: Actually, a quality latex paint will actually have several different coalescing solvents in it, one of which evaporates quickly, another slowly and a third in 2 or 3 days. The reason for this is that the paint manufacturer can't tell what the weather is going to be like immediately after the paint is applied. So, they put a variety of coalescing solvents in so that they cover the possibility of cold or raining weather occuring shortly after the paint is applied. It's all just part of designing the paint to accomodate adverse weather conditions. If the paint looks and feels OK, then film formation went OK, and you should just wait for another clear and safe opportunity to apply another coat. Primers are the same way. A day or two after the primer is dry to the touch, you can have as monsoon, and it won't hurt the primer.



Good points. It rained yesterday and the paint looks fine. It is still tacky in the places that have direct sun light. But less than before. So it is getting better. It supposed to rain few hours ago today but no rain yet. This weather is so unpredictable and annoying. Also rain left no spots or any texture.


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## Nestor_Kelebay (Jun 17, 2008)

Wait for clear weather and apply another coat.

Also, most people don't realize that it's most important to coat the end grain of any wood that's going to spend it's life outdoors. Wood both absorbs moisture and releases moisture 15 times as fast through it's end grain than it does across it's face grain. So, to keep your deck boards from splitting at their ends, go as far as practically possible to coat the end grain of every board in your deck. The coating you put on the end grain should stop, or at lease greatly reduce, the rate of absorbtion and evaporation of moisture into and out of the end grain.

(Aside: Woodworkers know that the end grain of wood absorbs far more stain than the face grain, and that results in dark blotches because of the rapidity with which the end grain absorbs stain, and the amount of stain it absorbs. One fix many woodworkers use is to apply mineral spirits to the end grain a few hours before staining. Since the end grain has already absorbed mineral spirits, it absorbs less stain when the piece is stained, making the staining more uniform.) 

Preventing the absorbtion and evaporation of moisture at the end grain will prevent your boards from splitting at their ends, which is typical of weathered wood.

In Canada, the best quality lumber we make is earmarked for export to Asia and Europe so that it can compete with the best quality lumber from other countries including the USA. All export grade dimensional lumber is painted at it's ends to prevent the lumber from splitting there. But, if you go to any lumber yard in Canada, and look at the 2X12 floor joists, NONE of them will be painted at their ends, and all of them will be split from 6 to 24 inches at the ends. It's ridiculous that we don't dry our lumber better and paint the ends of dimensional lumber when it's dry to prevent splitting. We produce a quality product, but we don't treat it with the respect it deserves.


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## soumikcha (Jun 17, 2015)

Nestor_Kelebay said:


> Wait for clear weather and apply another coat.
> 
> Also, most people don't realize that it's most important to coat the end grain of any wood that's going to spend it's life outdoors. Wood both absorbs moisture and releases moisture 15 times as fast through it's end grain than it does across it's face grain. So, to keep your deck boards from splitting at their ends, go as far as practically possible to coat the end grain of every board in your deck. The coating you put on the end grain should stop, or at lease greatly reduce, the rate of absorbtion and evaporation of moisture into and out of the end grain.
> 
> ...


Interesting point. End grain means the bottom and top of the board? I am painting them and I think they were already painted. 

And this is my deck so far with one coat. 

I would also put my portable propane stove at the corner. How should I cover my deck to prevent any stains from the stove.


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## Nestor_Kelebay (Jun 17, 2008)

End grain means END of the board. So, on a 2X4X8, the end grain would be the area at each end of the 2X4 that is 3 5/8 inches wide by 1 5/8 inches high.

There appear to be areas of your deck that were intentionally left unpainted. They look like pressure treated boards from what I can see. If they're more than 2 years old, you can paint them. You're not supposed to paint new pressure treated lumber, but the water injected into the lumber during pressure treatment should be long gone after 2 years.

I also see an area on the top step below deck level where the paint is missing. Any obvious reason for that?

As to the slow drying of your paint, your pictures say it all. You painted your deck a reddish brown colour. I don't think ANY paint companies make coloured tint bases any more, and so the way they got your paint to it's final colour was by taking a "deep" or "accent" tint base (one with little or no white pigment in it) and adding lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of colourants to it in the paint tinting machine.

BUT, the way they got those colourants into the can was to tint it in the paint tinting machine, and the carrier fluid for all paint tinting colourants is glycerine, or more correctly glycerol, cuz it's actually an alcohol. They use glycerine as the carrier fluid for paint tinting colourants because it's equally soluble in water and mineral spirits, so the same colourants can be used to tint both latex and oil based paints (and now, only primers). The thing is, it's probably the large amount of glycerine that was added with the colourants when tinting the paint that is making your paint dry shower than it otherwise would. Glycerine is much slower than water to evaporate, and I expect it's just the glycerine still in your paint that's making it seem like it's not completely dry yet.

But, rest assured, glycerine is an alcohol and will evaporate completely from your paint in time. It shouldn't be a problem applying another coat of paint even if the glycerine in the first coat hasn't completely evaporated, but it would probably be better if you waited until the first coat was completely "dry" in every observable sense before putting the next coat on.

I don't know how to protect your deck from grease spattering on it from your BBQ, but the idea of a plastic protector of the kind they use under office desk chairs comes to mind.


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## soumikcha (Jun 17, 2015)

Nestor_Kelebay said:


> End grain means END of the board. So, on a 2X4X8, the end grain would be the area at each end of the 2X4 that is 3 5/8 inches wide by 1 5/8 inches high.
> 
> There appear to be areas of your deck that were intentionally left unpainted. They look like pressure treated boards from what I can see. If they're more than 2 years old, you can paint them. You're not supposed to paint new pressure treated lumber, but the water injected into the lumber during pressure treatment should be long gone after 2 years.
> 
> ...


Its just a tissue and not missing paint.

My deck actually painted underneath and pretty much everywhere, including the end grain. It was built in 1985, so 30 years and it is still pretty good shape without much care for the past ten years. I think if it was stain, the deck would have been long gone. 

AND WTF, I thought it need to wait between six week to six month to paint PT wood. WTF 2 years. lol wtf....Awkward explanation for all the guest. 

I also have some bubbling when it was raining I noticed. But the paint feels fine. 

ANd I only used one coat so far and that's why you can still see the white primer underneath and some place is lighter than other.


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## klaatu (Mar 9, 2015)

soumikcha said:


> Its just a tissue and not missing paint.
> 
> My deck actually painted underneath and pretty much everywhere, including the end grain. It was built in 1985, so 30 years and it is still pretty good shape without much care for the past ten years. I think if it was stain, the deck would have been long gone.
> 
> ...


This is QUITE debatable and depends on which stain and brand you are using. I had excellent results using PPG Sunproof Semitrans dual dispersion on new treated lumber. It even works well on damp wood. The Pratt & Lambert stainshield line also can be used on new treated lumber if a wood brightener is used before application.

Anyhow, a deck that old in that good of physical condition was definitely stained on the end grain and probably the bottoms when it was built. If it was you that did it, my hat's off to you for doing it correctly. If it was done before it was your house, you owe thanks to the previous owner.


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## soumikcha (Jun 17, 2015)

klaatu said:


> This is QUITE debatable and depends on which stain and brand you are using. I had excellent results using PPG Sunproof Semitrans dual dispersion on new treated lumber. It even works well on damp wood. The Pratt & Lambert stainshield line also can be used on new treated lumber if a wood brightener is used before application.
> 
> Anyhow, a deck that old in that good of physical condition was definitely stained on the end grain and probably the bottoms when it was built. If it was you that did it, my hat's off to you for doing it correctly. If it was done before it was your house, you owe thanks to the previous owner.


The previous owner did it. They painted everything but painted the railing too thin. 

IS the bubbling when rains is normal


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## Nestor_Kelebay (Jun 17, 2008)

I was just kinda guessing when it came to that 2 year estimate before painting PT lumber, and I figured someone would bark at me if I suggested too short a drying period, so I figured I'd stay on the safe side. I know that the process of pressure treating wood involves using both pressure and suction to force chemicals into the wood, and it takes time for the water so injected to evaporate out of the wood.



soumikcha said:


> IS the bubbling when rains is normal


I wouldn't call it abnormal. Latex paints contain "surfactants" (ie: "soaps") that allow the paint to wet the surface it's applied to better, thereby ensuring better adhesion. Soap coming out of the paint is a common issue. If you paint before a rain storm, you could end up seeing brown stains on your paint once the rain on the paint dries up. Those brown stains are the surfactants (soaps) and that process is called "surfactant exudation".

Surfactant exudation doesn't actually harm the paint, but it does cause a lot of concern amongst home owners who don't know what's happening with their paint or why.

Google surfactant exudation and read all about it.

That bubbling will stop once the soap reserves in the paint film are exhausted.


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## soumikcha (Jun 17, 2015)

Nestor_Kelebay said:


> I was just kinda guessing when it came to that 2 year estimate before painting PT lumber, and I figured someone would bark at me if I suggested too short a drying period, so I figured I'd stay on the safe side. I know that the process of pressure treating wood involves using both pressure and suction to force chemicals into the wood, and it takes time for the water so injected to evaporate out of the wood.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


It did not leave any marks or anything. Paint looks fine.

Now it only feels tacky when the sun directly hit the paint. WHat is the cause for that? it feels fine after the sun moves or goes down. 

I am applying my 2nd coat this sunday and no rain since Thursday night. So I assume that is plenty of dry time.


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