Q&A for How to Paint Pine

Apply a coat of shellac primer to help prevent the wood from staining your paint.

You can paint over treated pine, but manufacturers of treated lumber suggest you leave the wood dry for about a year before painting. After the wood is installed, leave it to dry for a few months, then prime and paint. It takes several coats.

It depends on the type of paint. Most paint that people buy is water-based acrylic paint. This can easily be thinned with water. Simply add a little water at a time until you get the consistency you're looking for. If you're working with an oil-based paint, you can add paint thinner. Don't know if your paint is water- or oil-based? Take a stick, stir the paint, and run the stick under water. Oil paint will cause the water to bead up, and no paint will wash away. Acrylic paint will wash away under the water.

Primer may be any color, depending on what you're painting. If you're painting something white, black or red primer would not be a good choice. A good rule of thumb is a lighter color such as white. You also can have the primer tinted to your wall color; the only problem with that is it can be tough to tell where you painted, because the colors are the same.

Pigmented shellac doesn't raise the wood grain too much, and dries quickly. Use in a ventilated area. Paint within a week of priming for maximum adhesion.

You shouldn't have much trouble using a paint/primer combination product. Do at least 3 coats, though. You may need to apply another coat about a year later to completely finish it.

Get a sealant to spread over the dried paint. Try using something like polyurethane. It's easy to brush over the wood, and there are also some spray-on sealants available.