How to Paint Pressure-Treated Wood

You can’t paint pressure-treated wood in the way you’d paint normal lumber. Although it’s still wood, the pressure treatment means you need to approach it completely differently. When you want to paint pressure-treated wood, the main thing you need to exercise is patience; it can’t be done right away. The wait can be quite long, but results more than outweigh the time delay.

Step 1 - Understand Wood

Pressure-treated wood is indeed wood, but it’s wood that’s been treated heavily with chemicals to the point where the lumber is saturated with them. This is good insofar as the wood won’t rot and won’t be susceptible to insects and fungi that could damage normal wood outdoors.

The downside is that you can’t paint it as you would in the normal way. The wood itself needs to dry all the way through before it can be painted.

Step 2 - Preservative

Although the pressure-treated wood has been soaked with chemicals it still needs to be covered in a good preservative. For this you need to purchase a preservative that’s made especially for pressure-treated wood. Do this as soon as you’ve constructed your deck or whatever other purpose you have for the wood. The intent is to stop the wood weathering, rather than preserving it per se. The soon you do it after your construction job with pressure-treated wood, the better.

Step 3 - Wait

After applying the preservative patience becomes paramount. You need to wait between 2 and 3 months for the chemicals that are in the wood to dry properly. If you choose you can apply paint earlier. Be aware, however, that the paint will last a great deal longer and look much better if you wait until the 3 months have passed.

It can be testing, especially if it’s the only thing remaining for the completion of a project. The results will be worth taking the extra time, however.

Step 4 - Painting

Even when you’re finally able to paint, you shouldn’t use just any paint on pressure-treated wood. You need a paint that’s specially formulated for this type of wood, which is more expensive than regular paint.

Although you can buy paints for pressure treated wood that are both oil-based and latex-based, for exterior use you should go for one that’s latex based, as this will be more durable and work better with the wood, expanding and contracting and not cracking. Don’t try and apply it all in one thick coat. Your pressure treated wood will look a great deal better if you work in a few thin coats instead.

You can apply as a spray or with a paintbrush; the choice is completely yours. Unless you have large sheets of wood, a paintbrush will be more effective for reaching into all the nooks and crannies of the pressure-treated wood. Allow the paint to dry completely between coats.