Last summer I had a window seat built in my kitchen. Because I was renovating the whole kitchen I waited to finish it. Now I'm ready but I don't know how to finish the surface of the raw plywood. I don't want to just paint it because I want a smooth surface. I don't want the rough grains of the wood showing through. Any suggestions?
Assuming a colored
(painted) finish, the plywood should be sanded with 120 grit paper, spackled as needed to fill imperfections, sanded to 150 grit, and coated with a primer appropriate for the selected color coat following manufacturer's directions. Two coats of primer and two of color coat, with orbital and hand sanding between coats to a grit of 220, followed by a carefully applied final coat of satin or gloss paint, should yield the desired result.
Paint should not be expected to fill imperfections or even to smooth a coarse surface, so the final coat should be made only after the surface meets your expectations as to texture.
I have been getting good results by applying paint or poly finish with a smooth foam roller -- the small-diameter ones work well -- following immediately with a paint-moistened 3 or 4-inch brush of good quality, to smooth the surface and remove small bubbles. Depending on the nature of the finish material, even the final coat can be sanded with 220 or finer, to remove the last bits of grit. This works with satin finishes. The surface can then be rubbed with 0000 steel wool if desired.
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