Painting ply

[Anotrin]

Just completed some shelving made out of ply. Now just painting remains. Any specific way to prepare ply to paint? It is construction ply and is very grainy looking. I figure normal wall paint would flake and look oooogly. Any ideas hiw to prep and finish?

[rmrunner]

Sand properly to smooth finish then use sanding sealant then apply oil based paint. Paint one direction if applying by brush

[gastly369]

^^^ thats about it

[unikit911]

You could try universal undercoat primer for wood... when you put that on first its very little oil paint ...

[javishm]

^^correct

[brams112]

You could try universal undercoat primer for wood... when you put that on first its very little oil paint ...

Ur hit the nail on the head there 911.Only if you want a very smooth finish then go the sanding sealer way to get a nice look.

[pugboy]

use 2 coats of sanding sealer and sand it to smoothen after sealer is properly dry
if sanded when not properly dry it will clog sandpaper

ply is made from cheap porous wood so it will soak up whatever you paint on it

[Anotrin]

Would I be able to use normal wall paint after sand sealing and sanding?

[pugboy]

Yes, the edges gonna suck a lot of sealer and paint
Which is why many put a wood strip on edge

[SunMoon]

The way I painted ply the last time, I sanded it 1st with a medium sand paper then a fine sand paper, I had some gypsum compound which I spread thinly over the entire ply and then sand with fine sand paper. With the gypsum compound the ply came out smooth like paper, then paint. I you could spray paint better or use a high grade paint brush that would not leave brush strokes.

[InDeForest]

Do what Sunmoon says, then to make life easy, try a satin finish acrylic latex interior paint (i've been using one from Sherwyn W) applied with a 4" wide foam type roller. You wouldn't believe what a nice even coat you get on wood with this application, no brushmarks or spray setup hassle. The even slightly textured appearance when wet dries and shrinks down to a smooth even coat that can look as good as a spray. No big set of waiting for recoat time. Use this same method for skirtings, mouldings, window and door trim etc.

[DjDaniel]

I built some speaker cabinets and using a technique similar to which SunMoon posted and they came out smooth. Sand, Gypsum Compound to fill imperfections etc. , Sand again, then Two Coats of Sanding sealer then Paint two coats of oil paint.