Painting Beadboard To Look Like Wood
I have been working on a lanai ceiling. The ceiling is vinyl beadboard and it measures 14 feet across and 24 feet long. The beadboard runs the 14 foot length. I have painted many a beadboard to look like wood but this outdoor vinyl is a real challenge to work on. The reason is the slots on either side of the bead part of the beadboard go back about a half an inch and they are so narrow you can't hardly get any brush hairs that deep into them to get the paint to the back. If you don't get to the back you will see a white line so you really need to get all the way back into the slots. To further the challenge the slot opening is not square. By that I mean is does not got straight back, it flars out some so that the rear of the slot is further apart than the opening. Major hassle. It took a big effort to get that part of the job done.
In this first picture you can see how I went about it. I first used a very dark brown and painted in the slots. Then I used a golden brown as a basecoat. I rolled that on and back brushed it but it did not go into the slots so the lines stayed dark.
In this first picture you can see how I went about it. I first used a very dark brown and painted in the slots. Then I used a golden brown as a basecoat. I rolled that on and back brushed it but it did not go into the slots so the lines stayed dark.
In this next picture you can see the color change after I applied the wood graining colors. In the picture above I used a Sherwin Williams color called Toasty for the base. Then in the picture below the top half shows the first pass using a SW color called Fiery Brown. The lower half of the picture shows the second pass with a SW color called Turkish Coffee. The combination of the three colors gives a rich mahogany look.
The finish product below came out great. I also painted the light cans using the Turkish Coffee color for them.
So when you put the dark brown in the slots (SW Toasty??)did you try to avoid the SW Toasty getting onto the flat slats, or did you get it on the slats and rub it in or dry brush? Sorry for misunderstanding, but I have a huge sun room in a house we are purchasing and want to try this. Finally with the "wood grain" colors do you roll each of those on, or do you dry brush them on? Your project looks amazing!
ReplyDeleteI used the turkish coffee to paint deep inside the slots. I had to water it down about 15-20% with water to push it in there. it gets all over the slats of course when you do that which is fine. I then used a 6 inch roller and rolled out the toasty color but back brushed it with a brush. By that i mean I started at one wall and rolled out a section 4 slats wide and maybe 4 to 5 feet long. Then took my paint brush and brushed over that. I do that because I do not want to see any of the slight texture the roller makes. It helps in the final apperance with wood graining not to see any texture that the roller would leave. Also it helps to get the coverage right.
ReplyDeleteFor the wood grain colors I thin the paint down and only use a brush. I use the same techniques as with a garage door. In the top menu there is a link to a tutorial about how i paint garage doors to look like wood. Same technique so you can review that if you like.
Are all bead boards this difficult to work with?
ReplyDeleteNo, fortunately they are not all this hard. This beadboard is made from the pvc plastic or vinyl type of product. The recessed slot in it is not with regular beadboard plus working over your head it really hard.
DeleteYour work/art is incredible and I love how you respond in such clear detail about your projects. It’s quite impressive. I have a white wood beadboard ceiling on my patio as well and this is what I’d like to do with it. I am interested in what colors you would recommend to achieve a warm walnut look? Thank you in advance!
ReplyDeleteI have had good luck with getting a walnut color by using a Sherwin Williams color called Tatami Tan as a base coat then using SW Java for the first coat of wood grain and then SW Turkish Coffee for the second and darker wood grain color. Hope this helps.
Delete