# Smoothing Rough Sawn wood?



## goldglove16 (Apr 20, 2018)

The house we just bought has a sunroom with rough pine (or maybe cedar? not sure how to tell) siding in it. We would like to paint it white to brighten the space up, but I think this will look best if the wood is smooth (like shiplap). Wondering what the best approach to achieve this is. Should we go at it with an orbital sander or something like a planer (which I have no experience with).


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

I think about your only option would be an orbital sander. It might save some work if you would put a skim coat of spackle over the wood with a broad knife before sanding.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

My head says western red cedar. My heart says to hit it with a sander and then take a look again, before you paint.
WRC dust is a nightmare for your lungs. Dried like that, it will powder and you need all the cfm that you can muster to protect yourself.
Cool house. Did you buy it with the black spook in the back hall?


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## 35015 (Nov 24, 2012)

Hello Goldglove16,

Welcome...

I can understanding wanting to lighten this space up...

I would warn against doing something that may not be reversible because that wood (as is) is worth a lot more from an interior design perspective as a horizontal Cedar (90%) cladding than it is a common painted wall. I've seen some rather marked depreciation in value of architecture with...wood cladding and/or paneling getting painted without consideration of reversibility, and/or current valuation of the materials (in this case wood.)

There are other more reversible remedies from the interior design world that may be of value to your intended goals of brightening this space up. 

*I strongly advise against "grain sealing" with any kind of modern spackle or jointing compound! * That is neither "good practice" nor standard for grain sealing...especially in Cedar...

Neither of these materials will give a reversible result or a very lasting one. It can also lead to very difficult spot delamination, especially in Cedar (actually a Cypress) which can have resin and oils both within its cell structure that can make adhesion of such compounds inconsistent...

I recommend always doing test panels or spot testing to make sure you like the choices you do finally make before committing to the entire project.

I would ask if you have a specific reason you think sanding is needed (that's a lot of work!!) other than a possible perspective of a certain aesthetic. Again...Test panel then decide.

As to finish...

This is wood, a natural material, as such, I have strong inclinations toward traditional and/or natural materials only be used on them for numerous reasons including long historic evidence of best practice. Wood seldom (long-term) plays well with modern finishes of any kind, especially in a space that will see large temperature and possible humidity swings from plants and the related.

Again, I don't recommend coloring this wood...nevertheless, if you really want this and are open to more traditional pickling painting, "washing", or related treatment systems, I can expand on different modalities and the suppliers for those.

Good Luck,

j


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## t.carpenter00 (Mar 10, 2018)

If that is cedar( likely) your expense will not only be tons of sanding and dust control. You're going to have to get a really good ( expensive) primer and paint to lock down all the oils in the wood. Otherwise you're going to have big adhesion problems and streaks thru your new paint. 

Sent from my VS988 using Tapatalk


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## BernieL (Oct 28, 2011)

First and foremost, without reservation, consider White Cloud's post! Painting wood is concealing its' natural beauty (any kind of wood). 

Unlike all posters, if I had to prep the walls for a smooth finish, I would use a Stanley #80 scraper. All scraper tools are "forgotten" tools. They were the "sanding" tool before sandpaper was invented. A good scraper is equivalent too 220 paper. 

All scrapers are flat metal pieces ground too an angle. The Stanley #80 has a holder with 2 handles. When grinding all scrapers, one needs to leave the burr and the burr needs to be enhanced. The burr is used to smooth out the wood and rather then producing dust, it produces very thin shavings that look like peeled skin from a sun burn. 

The problem with scrapers is learning too sharpen them. I learned the process through the internet...


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## Echo415 (Apr 3, 2018)

It's your house and you can do whatever you want. I love White Cloud's advice but I'm a fan of semi-transparent colored stains. If the wood doesn't have a finish or sealer coat, I'd get a white pigment stain mixed up(talk to your local paint store and not a kid working for $10 an hour at a box store) and try it first on a test spot. You might be surprised by how it looks and you'd save a ton of time and money and time by going that route to brighten the room...did I mention time? 

If you decide to go with your original idea then the best method(IMO) would be to seal off the room with plastic, wear a good dust mask, and grab an orbital sander that can hook up to a good vacuum for dust collection. You won't get 100% of it so the dust mask is gonna save your lungs. Then start at 80 grit and moving up to 120 for a light second pass. After that be sure to use an oil based penetrating or fast dry primer before continuing onto the finish. The tannin will bleed through any water based primer eventually. I'm sure you're aware by now but it will be a pretty labor intensive project.

Cedar is very soft so stay away from anything that takes off too much material at once as you can do more harm than good in an instant. If you use wood filler, do it after the primer coat and then spot prime before the finish. Be aware that the primer will smell horrible and it lingers for awhile so be sure to have plenty of ventilation while painting.


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## 35015 (Nov 24, 2012)

BernieL said:


> ... Painting wood is concealing its' natural beauty (any kind of wood)... All scraper tools are "forgotten" tools. They were the "sanding" tool before sandpaper was invented. A good scraper is equivalent to 220 paper....


I didn't what to expand on methodology until I knew more about this projects full spectrum of possibilities...

However, because of Berniel's more than insightful advise and observation...a short post is in order. I can expand further if there are other questions...

The traditional origins of sandpaper (aka silicated pumice paste, ray/shark skin, rush, horse tale, etc.) are the originals and probably still superior in most ways to what we call..."sandpaper"...today.

Craftspeople of numerous wood cultures did use a rub abrasive at times, but not as often and commonly as we so often do today in woodworking.

Today probably, more out of laziness, and/or the lack of appropriate skill sets... seems to be the primary reasons that these skill sets of using edged tools have been lost to the craft, but fortunately is coming back...thankfully! 

Planes and scrapers of all manner and style are the appropriate methods for smoothing wood...NOT SANDING...if the grain is to be finished with the most enduring method for smoothing it...Whether the edge is a steel alloy or glass...scraping and shearing the wood cellular fiber is the best method for closing and smoothing the grain. 

As just one of the countless examples, the Japanese wood culture has taken the art of scrapers and plane blade with the keenest edges to the highest of levels. This high order of function and ability to render wood smooth really is unmatched, having examples of exposed wood that are over a thousand years old and still smooth, as they learned millennia ago that grain doesn't raise the same way when planed/scraped as it does when sanded and it also sheds dirt and moisture much more effectively and efficiently, as well as take on finishes much better...

Thanks again for you post Berniel!


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## hawkeye10 (Feb 18, 2015)

Be careful. I had a reaction to western cedar dust several years ago when working on a project so be aware.

In my opinion you are going to have a real mess on your hands if you sand the wood. You will have to do a lot of hand sanding to get under where the shiplap overlaps.

You would be better off taking the wood down and putting something else up. IMO


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## FrankC (Aug 24, 2012)

I would try a light solid color stain on the wood as it is, it won't be bright white but certainly a lot lighter than it is now, would think if it is a sun room there should be quite a bit of natural light coming in.


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## Jig_saw (May 17, 2015)

The room looks good as it is. I wouldn't paint the wood. Instead, I would install wooden flooring to match with the walls.


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## TinmanCarving (Jul 6, 2015)

Lot's of opinions on this topic I see. LOL

Let me add another. 

If you are dead set on a white room, take down all that wood and sheet rock it. You will be much happier with the results of that over anything you can do to that wood to change it's color.

Rob


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## mjadams61 (Jan 1, 2016)

What Rob said. It would save you alot of headaches and man hours plus your health if that is cedar and the dust. Take the slats down and store them incase you sell and want to put the room back to original like maybe up in the attic or workshop etc.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

Cabinet scrapers beat the hello out of any sandpapers. I had to use a 10X magnifier to enjoy the shavings.
They do not work well at all on conifer wood. Even Leonard Lee says so (heard of "Lee Valley?")
.


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