Protection for painted emulsioned doors

[phil p]

Hi,

Just after a bit of advice.

Just made some doors for units, only for the garage and nothing fancy, and painted them with some old emulsion I had lying around and come up quite good, however I was wondering if I could coat them with something just to harden the finish, also to stop moisture in the winter as it's an external garage.

Would a coat of clear varnish be O.K. as I have a few old odd tins lying around?

Thanks
Phil

 

[RobinBHM]

I suppose its the equivalent of applying a scumble glaze, I dont see why a standard clear varnish wont work as well as a product specific scumble. Perhaps the usual 'try a small test area first' precaution might be wise.......

Ive clear varnished painted floorboards before and that works well.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Probably easier to have varnished the doors in the beginning.

 

[Woodfinish Man]

I wouldn't recommend a interior varnish be applied outside. It's very likely to crack , blister and flake off causing quite a mess.

Unfortunately I can't think of anything that would sit well on an emulsion paint externally.

 

[RogerS]

How about a coat of Zinsser BIN - which is a shellac based paint. It will go on anything and act as a buffer between 'anything' and whatever you want to put on next.

 

[AndyT]

I think it would be fine - though 'varnish' can mean so many different things. Alternatively use any left over gloss paint or a few more coats of the same emulsion.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I wouldn't recommend a interior varnish be applied outside. It's very likely to crack , blister and flake off causing quite a mess.

Unfortunately I can't think of anything that would sit well on an emulsion paint externally.

The OP did say "units for the garage" - I presume they're indoors?

 

[Harbo]

Sadolin clear water based varnish works well.

Rod