DIY porch floor finish-sealer

[Dorm]

We are nearly finished with a project of adding a screened-in porch. For construction, a lot of rough sawn southern yellow pine material was used, and so most of the finishes will be natural wood surfaces with a clear finish. For the floor, it's a bit different and/or frustrating as I'm just not finding the paint/finish that I want. And given that a lot of us have mixed our own finishes before, I'm thinking, surely, someone on here has made up their own brew for floor finish? We want a whitewashed finish for the floor, so I'm considering cutting latex, exterior white paint with water until the consistency - translucent appearance is to our liking (likely 2-1 or 1.5-1 ... water to paint). Once I get this down, overcoat it with some type final sealer/finish.

A couple of questions are:
1. what color tint should be added to the mix to help counter the pine's natural yellow/orange tint? I've seen perhaps green and/or gray - but do not know.
2. I'd prefer sticking with water based finish given the ease of applying; clean up and future application ... so any thoughts or suggestions there, especially for the final sealer/finish?

Thanks in advance for ones opinions and suggestions ... there is a lot of experience within this forum.

Ciao ... Dorm

 

[Henry W]

We are nearly finished with a project of adding a screened-in porch. For construction, a lot of rough sawn southern yellow pine material was used, and so most of the finishes will be natural wood surfaces with a clear finish. For the floor, it's a bit different and/or frustrating as I'm just not finding the paint/finish that I want. And given that a lot of us have mixed our own finishes before, I'm thinking, surely, someone on here has made up their own brew for floor finish? We want a whitewashed finish for the floor, so I'm considering cutting latex, exterior white paint with water until the consistency - translucent appearance is to our liking (likely 2-1 or 1.5-1 ... water to paint). Once I get this down, overcoat it with some type final sealer/finish.

A couple of questions are:
1. what color tint should be added to the mix to help counter the pine's natural yellow/orange tint? I've seen perhaps green and/or gray - but do not know.
2. I'd prefer sticking with water based finish given the ease of applying; clean up and future application ... so any thoughts or suggestions there, especially for the final sealer/finish?

Thanks in advance for ones opinions and suggestions ... there is a lot of experience within this forum.

Ciao ... Dorm

Hey Dorm - well a-board!

We all have our biases with regard to finishing - I will state that I use primarily water borne products (except primers sometimes) and that I don't have the time or inclination to mess with mixing my own finishes - there are sooo many decent quality products that I doubt I could mix/brew something superior (maybe lower cost...) .
On to a recommendation (non a DIY mix/brew) - it sounds to me like you want something like a semitransparent deck stain. Have you considered these? I can't say I know exactly what a white washed look is, but if you can find a stain, I bet that would work well. I can recommend Cabot, and have been happy with the times I have either Olympic and Behr stains - but I have only used solid color stains (not semi-transparent). I do not know if they care 'white wash' colors, but it's not too hard to check

 

[Dorm]

We all have our biases with regard to finishing - I will state that I use primarily water borne products ...

So, here is sort of the look we're trying to get. And again, my preference is for water based material for reasons already stated. Here is a look similar to what we're trying to get, albeit not quite as much 'orange' or pink tint as is in this image.

 

[chris_goris]

Sikkens products.

 

[Berta]

I have NOT painted a floor outside YET. I HAVE done some fake ‘rugs‘ on plain wood floors. One was in front of the side door that had a small landing before going either up to the kitchen or down to the basement. One was a ‘stair runner to the second floor.
I used water based varnish, satin sheen for the topcoat. Water based varnish does not yellow, or tint your paint colors, oil based finishes usually does. I did lightly sand the areas after varnishing to keep them from being slippery. I have heard mixed reviews on water based urathanes, some people say they yellow, some say they don’t. When I paint the rug on my deck, I am using outdoor paint. No topcoat.

 

[Henry W]

So, here is sort of the look we're trying to get. And again, my preference is for water based material for reasons already stated. Here is a look similar to what we're trying to get, albeit not quite as much 'orange' or pink tint as is in this image.

View attachment 203339

Looks like a (thinned out?) deck stain would work- in my view. Obviusly you would need to to test to ensure it would achieve the looks you wanted. I know both Cabot and Behr make water based deck products - although I repeat that I have only used the solid color versions. Go to a good paint store and inquire. Unless you are just looking for the color and not 'protection' (and then the answer would not be real difficult) - don't just use very diluted product (you not only dilute the color, you dilute the resin and therefore the protection). I expect a good paint store could use a clear tint base and add some white.

 

[Oka]

you can bleach the wood with Oxyalic 1st to whiten. If you want to customize your own stain, titanium oxide is the best white pigment out there.
Linseed oil/mineral spirits/ oil based finish (varnish or other) and titanium oxide. Mix to the desired look. The titanium oxide goes a long way so mix in a little at a time. Once you got the look you want scale up for the amount needed. You could also add Japan drier is so inclined.

 

[Dorm]

... Linseed oil/mineral spirits/ oil based finish (varnish or other) and titanium oxide. Mix to the desired look.

I'm almost at that point and definitely "yes" on the wood bleach or oxalic acid ... been there done that! I'd also considered your idea for oil based mix, as I'm constantly making my own oil based mixes and finishes for projects. My concern was with BLO and its attraction of mold and mildew. I could add an inhibitor like Mildewcide to help with this. Thanks for the suggestion ...

Definitely getting some good ideas here