Painting redwood trim

Wayne Buletza
by Wayne Buletza
We have a contemporary styled home with redwood trim. We have noted that newer homes have painted trim. The redwood is soft so there are knicks and scratches that need refinishing. Do you think we should destain or paint the trim?
  6 answers
  • Janet Pizaro Janet Pizaro on Sep 18, 2015
    Personally if your home is contempory I would retain with a newer modern look.
  • B. Enne B. Enne on Sep 18, 2015
    I would restain.
  • Sandy Sandy on Sep 18, 2015
    I would paint it in a nice satin texture.
  • Z Z on Sep 18, 2015
    I can't imagine painting redwood. Granted I much prefer stained over painted wood, but unpainted redwood will raise the value of your home. It's just plain gorgeous too.
  • Duv310660 Duv310660 on Sep 19, 2015
    Try a wax that you closely colour to fill in any 'fresh breaks' in the colour of the wood. If you don't want the sheen, either don't buff or do a light steel wool sand, in a grade that will key between finishes at the final coat (not so fine a grade that it adds to the sheen - check package specs). If you find you are okay with the the look achieved by wax, you can apply a few thin coats of a hard wax to ad resiliency to the surface by allowing a good cure time. If you don't like it, clean off before curing starts (i.e. asap)
  • Z Z on Sep 19, 2015
    @Wayne, I would love to see photos of you home/trim.