DIY Record Shelves - Still Tacky

Toblerone

Toblerone

Active Member
I moved a few months ago, then moved again into the first permanent house. Still getting situated. I'm putting a minor music/listening room into this one. Record shelves are built. And painted....

The paint is still slightly, slightly tacky. It's been a week and a day or two. I used Behr semigloss, not a bargain paint.

This is delaying the rest of the room. I have boxes of records to unpack but I'm concerned about putting them on the shelves if they are still slightly tacky. The entire house was painted with flat paint, the walls are good without issue. What's going on here?

Any advice would be appreciated.


(This may not be the right section to post this. I couldn't find another. If someone knows, message me and I'll request to have it moved.)
 
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reardonp6 said:
Don't! ...Wait until they are completly dry! Wait for low humidity, open windows if you can. Been there done that. Enjoy that music!:)
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Wait for low humidity he says....

Well, hurricane Nicole hit this morning and is rolling thru until Friday it appears.
 
I recently had the same problem, even here in bone-dry SoCal summer. I applied a couple of coats exactly as per instructions, even allowing extra drying time. Still stayed tacky for a looooong time. It was a good quality paint, certainly not the cheapest. I'm inclined to think it's newer formulas and types of paint that are the problem; this is the first time it's ever happened to me and I've been painting household projects for years. As previous posters have said, I think it's just gonna take time.
 
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gadget73 said:
I like oil paint on wood, but its a bit late now. It soaks in a bit on the first coat, especially if slightly over-thinned, and the top coat cures very well. Rustoleum isn't just for metal.
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As soon as day 4 hit and they were still tacky, I thought the same thing about oil based paints.

stereofanboy said:
From the title I assumed you were being self-deprecating and also that there would be pictures. Now that I know you didn't mean they were ugly, just sticky, I still want pictures.
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Haha. I'll try to get some pictures as soon as I get things cleaned and straighten up a bit more.

(Edit: And they may actually be a bit tacky... looking too. It's a smaller room. I've never set up a listening space in a room this small. So I converted the closet, removed doors, and put shelving up to house the records. This room is simply to hold me over until I get the second house, which is already delay after delay. I'll probably keep one of the systems here permanently.)
 
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The paint on the shelves is finally dry. Took over a month! I've never had this happen before. Maybe it's the southern weather, I'm from the Northeast originally, Philly / South Jersey. (Or maybe it's the new paint formulas as mentioned above. This was bizarre.)

I started to unload records onto the shelves. I wanted to get them out of the packing boxes. Second house is still on delay... what a world we live in these days.

Nothing special. Just simple and useful. Here are the pics in early stage.... (I'm concerned I don't have enough space for records now. More boxes to go.)

20221127_105450.jpg

20221127_105427.jpg

Edit: I still think it was a good idea to convert the closet. However, the shelves go almost a foot behind the wall on either side. Which hides many albums and makes navigating them slightly annoying. I'll come up with something for that.
 
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Toblerone said:
The paint on the shelves is finally dry. Took over a month! I've never had this happen before. Maybe it's the southern weather, I'm from the Northeast originally, Philly / South Jersey. (Or maybe it's the new paint formulas as mentioned above. This was bizarre.)

I started to unload records onto the shelves. I wanted to get them out of the packing boxes. Second house is still on delay... what a world we live in these days.

Nothing special. Just simple and useful. Here are the pics in early stage.... (I'm concerned I don't have enough space for records now. More boxes to go.)

View attachment 2725071

View attachment 2725072

Edit: I still think it was a good idea to convert the closet. However, the shelves go almost a foot behind the wall on either side. Which hides many albums and makes navigating them slightly annoying. I'll come up with something for that.
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Looks really nice... Elegant the way that the shelves are the same color as the wall. I like that kind of minimal type design. I have the same problem with some built in shelves that came with my house that I use for books and CDs, that they are partially recessed behind the side edges of the thing. Maybe not the most sophisticated solution, but I just find books that I don't ever care to read and stick them on the ends as spacers.
 
Given the slow dry time, I would put a sheet of paper between the sides and the record that leans up against it. I've had paper stick to paint that I was certain was bone dry in the past. You can remove the paper sheets after a year.
 
if you used Behr paint, I assume is was a latex? Latex enamels take quite a long time to cure. For cabinets, I like to use Alkyd enamels, they cure harder and are more durable, even the water based ones. For best results, though, it's hard to beat a 2-part, catalyzed finish, although you'll need a sprayer and a vented booth for them.
 
AudioFeline said:
Given the slow dry time, I would put a sheet of paper between the sides and the record that leans up against it. I've had paper stick to paint that I was certain was bone dry in the past. You can remove the paper sheets after a year.
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Thanks. I think I'm going to do that today. I paused loading the records. I threw an Oppo CD player on there to get it out of the way. When I lifted it today... there was a slight tack. Good grief. Everything else feels fine.

I may remove everything and try talc power. It was suggested in the link from @RobRoy.
 
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