My new favourite ühut paint!

As the ühut has developed over the years, I have been testing all kinds of everything.

From the jigsaw blades I use for cutting the plywood (preference is still Makita B10 or B11 - the Bosch range never seem to cut as cleanly), to the glue I use to adhere the membrane to the hut ( currently Screwfix's 'No-Nonsense' impact adhesive - sticks almost anything to anything and really quickly and it's great value too) through to the screws I use for the cladding ( stainless steel are definitely the best and worth the extra cost as they just don't decay- all the exterior coated steel screws just seem to lose their coating when you screw them in and then rust.)

I've also tested out lots of paints. For a while I was loving Screwfix's No-Nonsense Garden paint.

Compared to the Ronseal and Cuprinol equivalents it's fab. If you stick three coats on any wood the water will just bead off. And it's water based - east to get the brushes and rollers clean and better for the environment.

I would also recommend Dulux Weathershield - gives a more matt finish (which I always prefer) however it's three times the price.

Since I have started using resin coated plywood for the fronts and backs though, my old favourite paint just won't cut it.

Although the resin coated plywood is water resistant, painting it gives it greater longevity and the default dark brown colour isn't to everybodys taste.

My most recent best solution was to use a Zinsser paint called 'Cover Stain' as a primer - its solvent based but will stick to almost any surface and seal it and then, miraculously, enables the surface to be painted over with a water based paint.

It's a bit of a faff though, having to prime and then apply multiple coats of a colour.

Then I found another of Zinsser's paints and it's fantastic.

It's called Zinsser AllCoat.

It's not cheap - it's about £45 for 2.5 litres but currently it's the best paint I have ever used.

It seems to bind to the resin in a way that really successfully resists scratching. It's re-coatable after an hour (and it needs two coats).

It's also waterproof after an hour.

It takes 7 days to completely cure but once it has, the finished surface is smooth and hard and if you use the matt version, it also hides any little imperfections well.

The other fantastic thing about AllCoat is that it comes in hundreds of RAL colours so you should be able to find one to match any of your colouration needs!

You can buy it online (I bought mine from Rawlins) , pick your required shade and it's delivered within 3 days.

I hope this helps a bit with those challenging paint quanderies.

Cheers

Ian