Don’t DIY Spray Paint your Patio Furniture – 4 Reasons

DIY “How to” guides on spray painting your patio furniture come a dime a dozen nowadays each with their own methodology and product that promise a fresh start for your patio furniture through their easy step-by-step process. Well, believe it or not, spray painting isn’t the silver bullet many DIY guides chalk it up to be. Here are the 4 reason’s you shouldn’t DIY spray paint your patio furniture.

A temporary fix to a long-term problem  –  Patio Funiture Spray paint problem 1

As a child, I remember repainting a deck with my dad. After many frustrating hours of sanding and scrubbing to remove paint, I looked at him and angrily asked why we couldn’t just paint over the old paint? My dad calming explained to me that repainting in such a manner would be a temporary fix to a long-term problem. While painting over existing paint may look good today, the old paint would ultimately chip again and put us right back into the same predicament within a few years.

The same is true for patio furniture. Ultimately, your patio furniture is experiencing chipping and breaks in the paint because the original layer of powder coat is unsealed and beginning to wear away. Spray painting, even with some sanding, will never fully fix this issue. Whatever powder coat is left will still chip away over time, and the seal keeping your patio furniture from future damage will never be fully restored. A full powder coat refinish, on the other hand, removes all excess old paint through an industrial sandblasting process. From this point, a refinisher can cover the furniture in a complete new layer of powder coat, sealing the furniture for up to twenty years of additional use. This is vastly more durable than a surface layer of spray paint and truly resets the clock of wear and tear for your patio furniture,

You get what you pay for  –  Patio Funiture Spray paint problem 2

Spray paint is by far the more economical option when compared with going to a patio refinisher. However, in many ways the final product displays the short cuts taken in the approach. Powder coating is 3-5 times thicker than spray paint and monumentally more durable. This thick layer of powder coating creates a smooth, scratch resistant surface that keeps rust away for years. Spray paint, on the other hand, creates a much thinner layer which can easily scratch and is very limited in its ability to protect your furniture from future rust. While spray paint does cover up bare spots, it’s often too thin to fill in the small crevices or imperfections necessary for a truly smooth surface. This, along with some inevitable dripping, leaves a much less refined finish than DIY influencers would have you believe.

Waste Not Want not  –  Patio Furniture Spray paint problem 3

One might initially think spray painting and powder coating patio furniture would have similar ecological effects, but nothing could be further from the truth. Powder coating is vastly more environmentally friendly than spray painting for three main reasons. First, Powder coating is categorically more efficient leaving 60-70 percent of it’s paint on the chair itself and very little in the environment. Spray paint, on the other hand, only adheres 30-35 percent of its paint onto the product leaving over half the paint produced as environmental waste. Second, spray paint acts as a harmful toxin when released into the environment both in the place where it is left as well as in the water shed once it is washed away. Powder coat, by contrast, is an inert material that only reacts and adheres when electrically charged. This lack of natural reactivity makes powder coat waste relatively harmless if discharged into the ecosystem. Third, Spray paint comes in aerosol cans which release harmful ground-level ozone into the air as a part of their aerosol process. Powder coating avoids this green house gas release by not using a traditional aerosol processes. These three factors of less waste generated, less harmful waste products, and no ground level ozone creation that make powder coating the easy choice for environmentally conscientious customers.

Not as Easy as it Looks?  –  Patio Furniture Spray paint problem 4

People often look to spray paint as a cheap and easy fix to their patio furniture wear and tear. While spray paint is certainly a viable DIY option, it is a lot more work than simply pointing the can in the right direction and pushing down. Prep work for spray painting a furniture piece can involve extensive sanding and wire brush work which can become quite the chore especially if one doesn’t have an electric sander. Once sanded, many sling or swivel patio furniture pieces require additional prep or disassembly. After the patio furniture is prepped, a proper drop cloth, paint color, and ventilator mask must be found and purchased. When the painting is complete, drips must be tended to in order to ensure a smooth finish. None of these steps would be overly burdensome if the whole process didn’t need to be repeated every few years due to spray paint’s lack of durability. When one begins to add up the cost of the paint and materials along with the time and lessened appeal of the finished furniture it becomes more and more apparent why many choose powder coat refinishers over DIY spray paint solutions.

You made it! Thank you for reading our blog on why you shouldn’t DIY spray paint your patio furniture. Want to know more about the pricing for powder coat patio refinishing? Give us a call at 1-800-310-1200 to talk to a knowledgeable representative concerning your furniture today. Not sure if your patio furniture is worth refinishing? Check out our blog on determining your Patio Furniture’s True Value in 4 Easy Steps.