I have a wooden mantel piece above a newly installed woodburner, (was open fireplace),it has been previously varnished by the looks of it but worn thru/thin and I wish to paint it charcoal/black to tone in with the rest of the painted brick surround, tiled hearth etc. I went into Bunnings today and she basically said any paint other than spray paint would be a danger/fire hazard. Spray paint not really an easy option to use in this situation so im hoping someone on here could suggest something else. I would have thought that varnished wood would already be a potential fire hazard and painting it wouldn't be any worse. but I may be wrong :-) TIA
nzmax,
May 18, 6:15am
I have painted numerous mantel pieces over the years for both open fires and logburners. I just used an appropriate undercoat for the existing finish and then top coated with your paint of choice. acrylic, acrylic enamel or straight enamel. Have had no issues at all.
hammer23,
May 18, 6:45am
The essential thing is there a heat deflector fitted on the top of the fire. This directs the heat away from timber work,you will also be able to judge by how hot it gets when the fire is going. If not fitted discuss with your fireplace installer. The timber mantle piece has to have a separation of ? from the heat source. If your fire as had it's final inspection from the building inspector and passed then it must be o.k,again discuss with the installer he will be up with the latest regulations. Finally be careful what information you take in from sales staff at bunnings/m10, what real skills do they have,most I deal with are nice people but lacking the on site expierance.
dibble35,
May 18, 8:26am
Thanks guys, yes hammer it has a metal deflector installed under the lip of the mantle piece, the installer just had to take a photo to send to the building inspector and it would then be all passed as OK. The metal deflector does get quite warm. So a standard paint would be fine. I;ve got some special undercoat which if I remember rightly will be good for the varnish situation and then i'll just get a semi? gloss, I guess would be best, thanks
rednicnz,
Jan 7, 7:15am
We were told, if you can put your hand on it and keep it there while the fire is going, a normal paint will be fine. If it's too hot then you need proper heat-proof paint. Never had spray paint suggested. We used Lustacryl from Resene's.
So pretty much what nzmax said. Finish is up to you - how shiny do you want it?
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