Recommend wood primer for exterior elements

We often receive the question which primer would be the best to use for various wooden exterior surfaces and elements such as windows, doors and non-dimension wooden elements such as cladding, garden furniture, garden houses, sheds and more.

In aspects of outdoor durability and quality, a few key properties are important:

Adhesion: The adhesion of the wooden exterior primer is key for the total quality of the paint system. Adhesion is achieved by using the right binders and formulation. Anker Stuy is using a binder particle that is so small that it penetrates deep into the wood. Which you can see on the photo below. Besides the penetration of the paint in the wood it is also important that the primer does not uptake a lot of moisture.

The more moisture content the primer will take up the more swell and shrink behaviour the wooden element will have and therefore will break down faster as a primer with less moisture and water uptake.

To be sure you are using the right primer and a quality product we advise to do adhesion testing. The right test is called: to determine adhesion, you can use a knife and after complete drying cut across as shown in the photo below. Think of an appropriate distance between the lines of at least 1 cm. Then use a normal tape and try to pull of the paint in a vertical pull. If there is no damage, then the adhesion is good.

Other important features for a good exterior primer is of course:

- The drying time

- Thixotropy which means easy to use in an air mix pump and high film hold up to 250 microns wet without sagging

- Coverage power

- Good staining properties with hardwood

- Available in different colours

Do you want to customize your colour? We can match any colour that you desire from any colour chart. Click here to match your colour.

All these aspects are combined and formulated into the following product: Hydrolux Primer Midcoat For cladding and garden houses we would recommend the Ankolux Opaque Woodstain