Wood – How to paint pine furniture

I don't know about the cedar, but I built a screened porch a few years ago using standard PT lumber for posts and railings and painted it with a coat of primer and a coat of exterior latex pretty much as soon as it no longer appeared damp. Of course the 6X6 posts had been up and drying for a while at that point, probably 6 months or so. The railings were installed last and were probably only up for 2 or 3 weeks when they were painted. When we moved from that house earlier this year there were no problems with the paint, and that was after about 2 years.

Interestingly, the only paint-related issue we had was some peeling on the existing deck railings, about 4 years old and never painted at that point, that I painted at the same time to match the new railings around the porch. I have no idea what caused it, but I can say that I didn't prepare this older wood at all and it probably could have used at least a good pressure washing prior to painting.

Staining will highlight any imperfections in the wood. From the photo it looks like something has been wiped across the grain. That could be when you wiped the sawdust away or possibly if you wiped the stain across the grain.

Having a good surface to stain is pretty much essential as the stain will highlight even the smallest imperfections.

Applying thin coats as John suggests is the best way.

Also, don't forget that the wood will age - especially for something left outside - so any imperfections you see now will blend over time.