Why is the first coat of paint on my garden shed patchy?

Paint is really important when it comes to any timber building, including your garden shed🎨. It preserves it, makes it aesthetically pleasing and quite literally adds LIFE to your building.

You’ve finally got your all-important garden shed in your garden, ready to fill with everything that needs a storage home. Or, maybe you’re still waiting on your installation date but you just love to be prepared.

Either way – paint is on your mind 🧠. And, inevitably, you’ve got questions….

What paint do I use? 

Should I expect a base coat to come with it? 

How much longevity will this add to my build?

How many litres do I need for additional paint coats? 

All great questions! And, you’re in the right place for answers to these questions. At Gillies & Mackay we’ve done a tonne of research on shed and summerhouse paint including:

• What is the best paint for your garden building?
• how often do you need to paint your timber building?

With this in mind, we have some really important information for you to scan over today #Sheddies. 

In this blog, we’ll look at why it’s so important to paint your brand spanking new timber building, why your first coat of paint is patchy, and how to fix it. 

Why do you need to paint a Shed or Summerhouse?

You need to paint your Shed or Summerhouse because this is its main protection from the rough and ready Scottish weather. When you leave the timber completely untreated, you can open your building up to real issues such as mould, water ingress and dampness. Not nice!

Painting your shed a couple of times makes it look STUNNING! Plus, in addition, it makes sure it’s all protected from that pesky water ingress.

It’s literally a coat!!

When to apply the first coat of paint to your timber building?

We can’t speak for other companies, but at G&M we always provide the first coat of paint on your building. 

This is the standard G&M specification and is included in our prices for Sheds, Summerhouses, Garages, and Garden Rooms. 

What paint, you ask? 

Well, having done our research we know for a fact that THE best paint to coat your garden building in is Sadolin Superdec. This paint is absolutely wonderful; acting as both a preservative and a decorative paint.

For detailed information on why Sadolin is so, so good, look no further than this blog here: Where can I buy paint for my Shed?

Sadolin Superdec comes in a lot of colours. Too much to even comprehend. Because of this, we pick around twelve of our favourite colours each year that we include free of charge.

If you want a colour that isn’t part of our range as standard, then all we have to do is order it in for you at – easy peasy. We should stress, however, that no matter the colour you pick, Sadolin will make your garden building last a lifetime. It’s as simple as that. We’ve got you covered for your first coat, ensuring it comes out of the workshop full of life. 

Take a peek at what a Shed looks like when it leaves the workshop for the first time:

As you can see, those tiny wee white granules do catch the eye a bit. 

Why is the first coat of paint patchy?

Right, before we get to that, there are two things that are important to know:

1. The life expectancy of the 19mm Scandinavian Redwood we use is 30 years? 
2. Every coat of sadolin applied adds 5 years to the life of your timber building? 

So, your Gillies & Mackay building leaves the workshop with 35 years of life in it. That’s immense!

However, there is one thing that sometimes catches out excited Sheddies when they see the finished product in their garden for the first time: the first coat doesn’t look very good. 

This is because the first coat is purely preservative and not decorative in any manner.

The second coat that you’ll apply is where the aesthetic property of Sadolin Superdec truly shines. Not only this, but it protects the timber even further from harsh weather, moisture, and water ingress.

It’s seriously good paint, but that first coat applied by the workshop is just to keep it as protected as possible, to begin with.

It’s like any first draft of anything; needs some polishing, but lays the foundation for what is to come. The second coat should be painted later (say 3 weeks after delivery).

That’s right folks, it is up to you to make sure your Shed looks beautiful once erected in the garden. We’ve done everything we can to ensure it lasts a lifetime – and looks damn good in the process! – but it is ultimately up to you to ensure that beauty is maintained.

All of the above reasons are why we stress the importance of getting that second coat on. After that, you only need to repaint every 5 years (approximately) to ensure that your Shed is living its best #ShedLife. It’s worth it folks, trust me. 

• Related content: Painting your G&M building: the second coat explained

Your Shed’s First Coat of Paint: Explained

Let’s summarise with some quickfire closing thoughts for you to chew over:

Why is my first coat of paint so patchy?

Because it is only a preservative paint applied by the workshop; external aesthetics come into play after it has been erected.

Why do I need to do a second coat of paint?

The three key reasons are:

• Extends the longevity of the wood and helps negate any swelling and warping of the timber
• Adds so much aesthetic value to the building
• Helps combat any water ingress massively

When do I need to do the second coat?

Three weeks after delivery, give or take. This ensures that the timber has had ample time to settle with its base coat.

Need some proof of the effectiveness of the second coat of paint for your timber building?

This is a Summerhouse with its second coat newly applied. The colours just pop at you, and it really does add another layer of beauty to it.

Overall folks, I hope this clears up why the first coat of paint on your new Shed or Summerhouse is looking quite patchy. It’s not an oversight on our workshop’s part, merely the nature of a first coat. It will look even more gorgeous after you’ve got that second coat on. Just wait three weeks, and crack on. 

Thinking about how your garden is gonna look with a gorgeous Shed in it after its second coat of paint? Book in for a consultation to get your Shed on order ASAP.