Varnishing and painting indoors. Bad idea?

My workshop is in my basement, and with winter setting in it's not really feasible to keep the windows open.  I'm just about ready to start painting and varnishing my PMD, but I don't want to kill myself with the fumes.  So my question is, is it safe to varnish and paint inside, without open windows, or should I suck it up and hold off until spring arrives? 

I'm planning on using Epifanes Wood Finish gloss with a top coat of Epifanes clear varnish, and Interlux Toplac paint.

 Thanks,

   Jim


7 replies:

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RE: Varnishing and painting indoors. Bad idea?

I did some of the varnish inside and all of my paint inside for my SOF... it was not too back.  It was in a downstairs room that I kept closed off from the rest of the house including covering the air intake vents for the furnance.  I would also open a window for a bit when I first painted/varnished.

I was using Sikkens varnish and paint.

RE: Varnishing and painting indoors. Bad idea?

I would wait for spring to varnish. 

RE: Varnishing and painting indoors. Bad idea?

I'm waiting 'til April to finish my boat.  Why rush through the process?  

RE: Varnishing and painting indoors. Bad idea?

I wouldn't do it, especially not without a respirator and VOC cartridges. At the very least, you're asking for headaches and eye irritation. If you read the fine print on every brand of varnish, you'll see that they all say use with sufficient ventilation (or something to that effect). A sealed room is not plenty of ventilation, no matter how you cut it.

Temperature is another issue. If it's too cold to ventilate, it's probably too cold to varnish. I'd wait til spring.

Be safe,

Laszlo

RE: Varnishing and painting indoors. Bad idea?

Yeah...just as I thought...but I figured I'd ask anyhow.  Well I guess I don't have to rush the rest of the sanding. :-)  I'll use the time to build a wooden mast and a few more wooden cleats.  Who knows what other little extras I can come up with over the next 4 or 5 months...

Thanks for the replies everyone!

 

  Jim

RE: Varnishing and painting indoors. Bad idea?

Hi.  We are about to start cutting out the pieces for our surf kayak.  We are going to paint one and varnish the other.  I need to find out what kind of stain should I use to achieve the mahogany look on the Okoume wood?  I see a couple types or brands of varnish on here.  Any suggestions on what brand of stain works best? 

RE: Varnishing and painting indoors. Bad idea?

Usually none. The epoxy darkens the okoume. The degree of darkeneing varies with the brand of epoxy and the age of the hardener. If you want it even darker than what the epoxy makes it, use a water-based stain before applying any epoxy. Obviously, you'll need to test on scrap pieces beforehand.

Have fun,

Laszlo

 

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