Those rails look good dg,to keep what you have paint is going to have to be put on as needed. That is dont wait until you have peeling,flaking and bare wood showing check it every couple of months. Use what ever the last guy used Im not a big fan of mixing latex and oil base. There are several white composite rail around Timber Tech make a good looking rail system if your thinking about replacement. John

As long as the moisture content is good, you are okay to seal. That all depends upon the lumber you are using (air dried or kiln dried and to what moisture content.. KD15 would be Kiln dried 15%) Your moisture should be at 15 or lower. Cabots makes a semi transparent oil that comes in a ton of colors. I use Seacoast Gray for the effect you are talking about. It needs to be redone soon, but you get the idea. Here is a pic of our place at the beach where we have to use gray to meet committee requirements. PS: available for rent in Ocean City NJ if anyone is interested.

I was going to try this but wasnt brave enough. I think the TimberTech railings have more of a flat/satin look, but the sleeves from Lowes/HD are more glossy (HD has some that arent glossy but they end up costing just as much as the TT sleeves). An alternative Im currently using is to get TimberTech builder board for the upper and lower rails, and as the railing cap, along with Lowes/HD post sleeves. Using Deckorators balusters in between, drilling 3/4" round holes 3/4" deep into the upper and lower rails (on center, and evenly spaced). Sandwich the balusters between the holes and screw the rails into your posts. It looks pretty decent.......the posts are tending to pull away from the screws as I try to screw them in, so Im getting gaps at the upper and lower rail. I wanted to put some sort of molding at those joints anyway so any small gaps will end up covered. I also like this alternative because the railings arent overwhelmed with one color (white). One of my neighbors used the Lowes railing system, and it looks nice but I think there is just way too much white. -Chris

Why don't you buy the best paint for cabinetry and trim. Specifically mad e to dry hard as a rock. i.e. Cabinet Coat. BM owns them now. Kilz is for drywall. That's why it was created, and frankly I don't think they do anything else as well. Again, i.e. get a primer that's made for wood or other hard finishes. STIX or BIN. Any adhesive primer. I go with all the advise I got on the paint forum and go oil based primer. It's harder, and very different than oil paint. You should definitely either sand to rough or use a serious dose of deglosser. If you don't all your work is for nothing. I like your color scheme, even all the different whites. Definitely do samples. I discovered why 3 different gray/sage/dusty/greens turned turquoise the minute natural light in my kitchen hit them: There's an environmental coating of some junk on the windows and it's got a BLUE tint. BTW. I admit to painting my cabinets 3 times, too, because I was testing my samples after work, at 11:00 at night. No sunlight. I just didn't get it fast enough.