Arm-r-Seal on acrylic paint

[petertay15]

I made a card table of pine, but the top surface is 30x30 Masonite which I painted black acrylic latex. Now as I apply armor-r-seal to all the wood trim and legs, what would happen if I also apply it over the semi-gloss paint? Will it make the top more scratch resistant, or will the finish scratch off the paint. In other words, will the finish bond to the paint? --Peter

[jteneyck]

Make a sample from some scrap. Only way to find out.

John

[Roly]

If there are adhesion problems try shellac between them on a sample board. Roly

[Sawdustd]

You raise an interesting question.   My Bother-in-Law asked me the same question a couple of days ago.  Hummm.  Never heard of applying poly over paint.  Of course there are lots of things I've never heard of.   Take John's advice and test on a scrap.

Dave

[MsNomer]

I did a ton of that in the van.  No adhesion issues.

[Cooler]

I've done it often too.  Usually over flat or matte finish latex paint.  Recently over GF synthetic "milk paint".  They have all turned out very well.  The top coat becomes the wear layer and from my experience the finish is way tougher than any single coat paint.  

But note that if you use a flat clear, the flattening agent can make dark colors look muddy.  I wanted to use a satin clear over black and it looked gray on the sample.  I ended up using semi-gloss, a little shinier than I had planned, but a good result in any case.

[Kansas City Fireslayer]

My first thoughts on using ARS over paint is "why ARS"? ARS is oil based and it will amber with time which will add an amber hue to the overall appearance and color. Additionally, it dries so slow for today's finishes. ARS has its place but I don't think it's here. I would use a GF waterborne poly like High Performance or Enduro. They will not amber and little if any durability will be lost.

Will ARS stick, I'd say yes but it will stick better if you lightly abraid the cured paint coat. One thing to keep in mind when top coating--hard curing finishes like hard undercoatings. A thick coat of soft acrylic latex paint will not coincide nicely with a hard top coat. Hard top coats don't like to flex too much.

I have used GF High Performance over BM Advance waterborne enamel. This was on table base with the primary goal of sealing the rubbed through bare wood. IMO, it also decreased the "grabbiness" of the paint a bit. It does feel a bit smoother or slicker with the poly coat. Just my opinion though and I can't say I'd do it if I didnt have the bare wood areas after rubbing through. It would depend on the piece and what kind of use it would see.

[Cooler]

My first thoughts on using ARS over paint is "why ARS"?  ARS is oil based and it will amber with time which will add an amber hue to the overall appearance and color. ..

I painted my bottom cabinets in my kitchen black; I used oil based poly.

I painted a warm toned beige table top and used oil based also.

I painted a clean white and I top coated with water based.

Over black there is no color shift at all.  On the beige I wanted to warm it up a bit.

For a clean white or any light color where you don't want a color-shift then use water based.

[Kansas City Fireslayer]

Hi Cooler,

I get what you're saying....and I'll add that my thoughts are coming from a type A finishing minded guy who does not like yellowing of finishes.  Orange and yellows are not what I like.  And it's funny that I'm talking about this right now as my wife and I looked at stamped concrete color choices this afternoon for our patio with a pushy contractor trying to get us to commit on a color with short notice..  "That's going to be too yellow or fade out red/orange" came out of my mouth numerous times.  

I've sprayed and brushed plenty of oil based enamels--the best you could buy in the early 2000's.  Oil based paints will yellow as they cure--plain and simple.  It enhances some colors/finishes and takes away from others. The oil continuously leaves and the color turns as a result.  This is over years.....but it happens.  High heat areas speed the process.  Compare the "white" trim in a bathroom or laundry room to the rest of the house.  The white will look like smoker's teeth.  Of course it's more pronounced.  The black is most likely less apparent.  If an oil poly top coat was added I'd bet it would be more pronounced to the trained eye.  The good thing is that most don't have trained eyes.  A good test is to try and touch up an oil based paint 10 years after it's applied.  Look at it 30 days later and it will still be lighter or brighter even after curing.  Just my opinions.