# Spar Urethane over paint ??



## esselgee (Oct 29, 2014)

I am refurbishing a child's toy wagon and it has wooden slats that form the sides. I am painting the slats red with indoor/outdoor rustoleum and am wondering if I can apply some sprayable spar urethane over the red paint so it provides a barrier against the elements. Will that result in a breakdown of the paint down the line?

I also have some metal parts i am painting flat black. Would I use the spar urethane for that as well or is there a better protectant I should use for those parts as a weather barrier? Pic attached for reference.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

If the wood was properly primed the rustoleum paint would wear well enough against the elements on it's own. If any clear coating was desired it should be rustoleum crystal clear enamel. The problem with it is there is a recoat window. The clear would need to be applied within an hour or so after applying the rustoleum paint. The actual timeframe for the recoat window will be on the instructions. Be sure to try it on some scrap wood first. Sometimes these products can cause paint to wrinkle up like you put paint and varnish remover on it. Especially don't get any on the cat. 

The problem with putting a spar varnish over paint is it will give an initial yellowing to the paint in your case changing red to orange. Then the yellowing doesn't stop there it continues to yellow over time making the paint more orange.


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## esselgee (Oct 29, 2014)

Ok thanks for the help Steve. That gets me going the right way. Fortunately for me and the cat, she goes back inside when the spraying starts !!


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## Quickstep (Apr 10, 2012)

If I were trying to protect the wood form the elements, I would take the wood back to bare wood, coat the wood with epoxy, trying to saturate every side, then topcoat the epoxy with the red paint to protect the epoxy from UV.


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## bauerbach (Mar 25, 2012)

the cat is freaking me out...


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