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Maintain Your timber greenhouse
After years of neglect it was high time to maintain our lovely Forest Tall Wall Victorian Greenhouse, giving it a glamorous transformation with Thorndown Wood Paint in time for the growing season.
Here are the simple (and sometimes lengthy) steps for a full maintenance makeover.
- Empty – empty your greenhouse and sort through any old junk
- Clean – sweep up all of the dirt and debris then give it a good wash making sure to remove all surface dirt and algae
- Prep Surfaces– remove loose old flaky coatings with a sander or sandpaper so your paint has a sound surface to adhere to. I sanded off surface rust left by old metal trays so the rust wouldn’t grow through the paint coating. Once finished wipe down to remove any sanding dust
- Masking – it took 3 hours to mask around all of the windows inside and out but makes painting so much quicker and easier! Rather than fiddling about cutting in you can just slap on the paint and make sure you get it right into all of the holes and gaps
Change into painting clothes, get your paint and tools then get ready for the fun part 😀
5. Paint 2 coats on – you only need 2 coats of Thorndown Wood Paint for full exterior protection but we recommend 3-4 coats on horizontal surfaces as they wear a lot quicker with rain water sitting on and being driven into surfaces, plus frost.
Our Wood Paint adheres really well to timber and previous paint coatings so there’s no need for a primer.
You only need a primer for some hardwoods & oily tropical woods, or use our Stain Blocking Primer on new softwood where you don’t want resin bleed or tannins from the timber coming through and staining light paint coatings.
6. Dries really quickly – Thorndown Wood Paint dries in under an hour in warm dry conditions, ready for another coat. Drying time will be a bit longer in cold damp conditions so you may need to allow 2 hours between coats.
The curing/hardening process takes a lot longer so we recommend not firmly closing doors or windows for 12-24 hours or you may damage the fresh paint coating.
7. Time to add the Glam ⭐️ – as a striking contrast I painted Gromwell Green Wood Paint on the back wall, adding some bright and energetic vibrancy to the overall design.
I’d seen a picture of a gorgeous summerhouse painted by one of our customers Frenchmoor Garden Buildings with Gromwell Green on the back wall paired with Dormouse Grey on the exterior. It looked stunning and I banked the image in my mind thinking that I’d love to repeat the look one day, and the day came with this greenhouse makeover. Gromwell Green is a semi-opaque paint colour so takes 3-4 coats for a nice solid colour coating but it’s worth the effort 💚
8. Get shady – I refreshed the Peelable Glass Paint shading panels on the roof, using Wispy Willow for a lovely light contrast to the other green paints I had selected. I used a radiator paint roller for the first coat then a brush for the second to increase the opacity.
Using a paint roller gives the smoothest finish for Peelable Glass Paint but once your first coat is on, you can use a paint brush to increase opacity faster than using a roller!
Now all of the hard work is done you can have fun filling your greenhouse with plants, seedlings and lots of joy, knowing that your greenhouse is now fully protected from the elements.
Depending on levels of wear and tear and exposure it could be from 2-6 years before you have to lift a paint brush and apply a maintenance coat!
You can find lots of greenhouse Makeover Projects with tips, practical advice and design ideas on our website under Projects > Timber Greenhouses.
There is also lots of advice for Greenhouse Shading with our Peelable Glass Paint along with design ideas at Projects > Greenhouse Shading.
For full product information and application advice for our Wood Paint follow this link to Advice – Wood Paint Products.
Explore the colour range and shop for Wood Paint using the button below.
Featured in this makeover is a Forest Garden Tall Wall Victorian Greenhouse painted in Gromwell Green on the interior back wall and a brand new paint colour on the outside, Green Ore – coming soon to the online shop or available to order over the phone on 01458 258588 or via email studio@thorndown.co.uk.
Shading panels on the roof are painted with Peelable Glass Paint in Wispy Willow, adding a pretty contrast to the green wood paint colours and shading the top row of the greenhouse so the plants won’t get scorched by the sun ☀️
