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Everyone says to avoid painting in high humidity, but my best finish came on a 90% humidity day in July
I had a big trim job to finish in my old house in Savannah, and the forecast said a solid week of rain and high humidity. All the advice online said to wait, but the client needed it done. I mixed my oil-based enamel with a specific Penetrol additive at a 10% ratio, kept the room at a steady 72 degrees with a dehumidifier running, and the paint flowed out perfectly with zero brush marks. It dried slower, sure, but that gave it time to level out. The finish was glass-smooth, way better than the rushed job I did on a dry day last fall. Has anyone else found that breaking the 'rules' sometimes gives a better result with the right prep?
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finley_wells666mo ago
That point about the slower dry time letting it level out is huge. It's like the paint has more time to fix its own mistakes before it sets. I've seen the same thing with spraying lacquer in a muggy garage, the extra moisture in the air almost acts like a retarder. You just have to control every other variable, like you did with the temp and the additive. The old rules assume you're just slapping it on a fence outside.
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king.aaron5mo ago
Youre missing the part where most people DONT have a dehumidifier and climate controlled room ready to go. Standing in some random garage with a box fan and a 90% humidity reading is a disaster waiting to happen. Your setup basically cancelled out the humidity anyway so youre not really breaking a rule you just found a workaround. The whole point of avoiding high humidity is for the guy slapping latex on exterior siding with no prep. Slower dry time is NOT always a good thing either, it picks up every speck of dust and pet hair in the house if youre not careful. You got lucky with control conditions most folks dont have.
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jennyh556mo ago
My buddy Mike in Charleston had to varnish his boat deck last summer during a crazy humid spell. He used a marine spar varnish with a special brushing thinner, kept a fan on low just for air movement. The varnish took almost two days to fully dry, but man, it laid down so flat and deep. He said it was the best finish he's ever gotten, no dust nibs or streaks. It totally changed how he views humidity now.
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