Adding shelves in closet. What colour to paint and any suggestions?

[ppp]

Million thanks to this community. Have been learning so much here. 

Finally my first project is coming to life.    

I used 16mm MDF and only circular saw. Took lot of time but not in hurry.  Got couple of questions.

1) Have used some unused (1*2 kind of) boards as ledgers here. They are not clean but enough for the job. Will those create any issues as they are not brand new ? like insects/pests as they are sitting in garage for a long time ?

2) How about painting these black (or white) color ? And can someone please point me to those products. I have never done.

painting job so need all gear for that. 

3) And also any suggestions after seeing this pic please ?

[EricL · Accepted solution]

Hello @ppp

Congratulations on installing the shelves in your closet. It's good to hear that you've gained some experience using your circular saw. Using the old ledges should be fine, the only thing you have to watch out for are borers. If you look closely at your timber it will look like someone has attacked it with a tiny drill. There will be tiny holes spread across the timber. If you find that your timber ledges have these, I suggest taking them out and replacing them with new ones.

I recommend using Taubmans Easycoat Prep Undercoat Primer Sealer Paint to seal the MDF and prevent it from absorbing the paint. I suggest using Taubmans Easycoat Low Sheen White Interior Wall Paint - 1L as the topcoat for your shelves. I see that you have a gap in your plasterboard. I suggest using the Wet and Set Plaster Repair 127x381mm Patch Hyde in conjunction with the Selleys Gap Filler 435g Spakfilla Heavy Duty Interior And Exterior. Please keep us updated, we look forward to seeing your shelves painted.

Here is a handy step-by-step guide: How to paint

Here is a link to help you with plaster repair: How to fix a hole in a plaster wall

If you need more advice or information, please let us know.

Eric

[ppp]

That was lot of information for me to implement . Appreciate your time Ericl. Will come back to update the progress. 

[ppp]

Hi Ericl,

Some more questions pls:

1) If I'm going to use other materials for the same project like Plywood or Pine, can I use same paints which you suggested above ? Just need to understand whether these paints going to be useful or not after this project ?

2) I would like to order some ledgers bunnings online. Can you please link me to that product ?

3) I've seen in youtube that using pre-primed pine is easy and quick to finish these kind of products. Can you please light some suggestions on that ?

Thanks 

[EricL]

Hello @ppp

Yes, you can use pre-primed timber such as Porta 30 x 18mm 2.7m Primed Finger Jointed Pine DAR. You just need to cut this to size and paint it over with your topcoat and it's done. The leftover paint can be used for your future projects. Just make sure that it is sealed very tightly and stored in a cool dry place on a shelf.  

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[ppp]

Hi EricL,

I have painted as you suggested above by using Taubman's under coat and top coat (one coat).

All came well except that the painted surface is not so smooth. 

If you see my first post picture, the top shelf is provided by builder and it is so smooth.  I can feel the difference between MDF shelf and the builder one's.  I'm not sure what wood the builder would have used. 

Do you think I should use multiple top coats ?

Can you please correct me where I went wrong ?

[EricL]

Hello @ppp

You've done very well with your build. The material your builder used could possibly be melamine. We would need a closer photograph of the surface of the panel in order to determine this. However, because you've used MDF, you will not get the same smooth glossy finish as the melamine panel. You will get more of a dry flat finish if you used a low sheen paint finish. The surface should be adequate for you to put your clothes on top.

If you wish to have a smooth surface, I suggest lining the top with Boyle 1.5m x 45cm Self Adhesive Film - White Gloss. This will take away the roughness and make it a shiny surface. Additional paint will not make the surface shinier.

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric