Painting a House: Tips and Advice?

[steveroberts]

Friends,

I'm getting ready to paint the exterior of my house, eight years after it was last painted.

The house is horizontally wood-sided (with a bit of vertical siding in the front). About 1/2 of the siding is new (primed 1 yr. ago, but never painted) due to an addition to the house. The other half is 50 years old and in some places is very rough with a fair amount of peeling paint (and previously painted-over peeling paint).

We're in the mid-Atlantic and thus there is a fair amount of humidity. So, I've got black mildew (although not too heavy) on a good portion of the siding, and on the shady side, there is some green moss on a few of the boards.

Should I use a pressure-washer to clean the house? If so, what solution to use (TSP, bleach, etc.)?

Any other tips or advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

SR

[spacescape]

Hire someone...

I would scrap any loose paint and do light sanding "IF NEEDED" then if it's really dry anywhere I would prime w/ a good primmer and use a good paint for the top coat. Primming first would probably allow you to only need one top coat.

However, I'm not a professional and actually hate painting.

Bill

[clay]

what spacescape said--hire someone. Seriously. unless you are hell-bent on saving yourself the money or really enjoy painting.

at any rate, if you do it yourself, follow his instructions as well. If you have mildew, it's also good to get rid of that somehow--a mild bleach solution, gloves, and a sponge would be helpful. and just scrape and do some sanding, then apply primer.

goood luck.

[Racer X]

since it happened once, it will likely happen again. there is a mildewcide that you can add to paint that will at least really slow it down from happening again. Any decent place that sells paint will have it. But clean the siding well, and do a good prep job on the old paint first.

[OWC Jamie]

I'd do the mildewcide with a broom/brush and then flush it off with a garden hose.
You're going to need to scrub quite a bit anyway.
Pressure washers can be too much pressure for wood, even tough deck boards can get easily damaged.

You can use a pressure washer, but you're going to ruin a lot of shingles learning what not to do.

[Mike Johnson]

You'll need to prep the bare primer, as well; at the very least, it should be reprimed. Primer oxidizes if it's not painted over within a few weeks.

I don't care for Kilz primer, but I don't think it's as bad as some people claim.

I really wouldn't recommend a pressure washer on siding because it can force water up behind the clapboard. It can also strip all the paint off if you're not careful, and can even gouge the wood. If you must pressure wash, practice first, and figure some way to make sure the water is always pointing down.

Use a mild bleach solution to kill mildew and moss. You can buy mildewcide that you mix into paint, but paint that already includes it is a better choice.

TSP is used as a degreaser and nonfoaming detergent to clean the surface. Use a scrub brush and rinse well afterwards. Wear good gloves when you're working with TSP. The non-TSP cleaner is gentler on your hands, and it works, but not as well as TSP, in my experience.

You need to assume you've got lead paint until proven otherwise. You can scrape up samples of your old paint and send it in to a lab; they'll tell you how much lead is in it. That's a lot more accurate than those lead-paint swabs that turn pink. Exactly what sort of mitigation you'll need will depend on how much lead there is, if you've got kids, and so on. But you'll have to do something about the old cracking or peeling paint.

In places where you can't or shouldn't scrape up peeling or flaking paint, use Zinsser's Peel Stop. It sorta glues down the edges.

[jdc]

Mike hit on it briefly -- LEAD PAINT

it can be very, very, very bad for you -- im sure you house is covered in it if its 50 years old

you really should have a pro come out and look at it, with the combination of things you have, mildew + lead paint + old primer might not be a job for a DIYer

[sunfalcon]

I painted my house two years ago with my brother. I have aluminum siding (white) which was really showing its age. It was dirty and powerwashing would not clean it. We powerwashed the whole house with TSP. Then after it dried for a day, he had his nice industrial paint sprayer (looks like ET sitting over a 5 gallon bucket of paint) and we sprayed the whole house in one day with Sherwin Williams Super Paint - very good stuff. It's been through two winters and two summers and it looks as good as the day we put it on. I paid him $500 and we had $250 in materials since his dad has a contact with Sherwin Williams. Not bad at all. Good luck!

[mrthuse]

I do this when when a painter friend needs help on a crew (and we're in Cape May at the beach). Your difficulty's a common problem. and preparation's key.

You know about starting at the top and working down, outside edges to center.

Pressure wash only if damage/mildew's really severe (pressure washing if not done correctly damages the surface - then you're replacing wood/structure). 50/50 warm water and bleach. Otherwise, hand scrub w/ scrubbing brush on a handle. Rinse w/ plain water from a hose (or pressure washer if you've gone that route). Let dry thoroughly before continuing (2-3 days depending on conditions) You must get all the mildew or it will return quicker than if you hadn't (you'll lose at least 3 years) and the surface must be dry before you continue.

Scrape to get all loose paint free. We use flexible putty knives - rigid for large or stubborn areas - but a scraper's good if you're adept.

Sand all surfaces w/ medium grit paper - palm sander's ok; sanding block by windows - and feather edge where bare wood meets good paint (light touch here - ah, gentle).

2 coats of primer. Kilz is ok, but there are other, more expensive products available. Ask the paint store guy in your area. We roll large areas (thickest nap roller you can lift filled w/ paint; we use 3/4"), and finish edges w/ 3" brush (opposite process from sanding). Lightly hand sand between coats.

1-2 coats of finish. You can get away w/ one if the preparation's been done right and you're putting on a good amount of paint w/ each application. We usually put on 2 coats of finish anyway. Using a very light grit, hand sand - more like barely scratch - the surface between coats of finish - no palm sanders here.

If you use good products and your situations like ours, your finished job'll last about 6-9 years depending on the severity of the weather, the patience you take w/ the preparation and whether you finished w/ one or two coats of color..

It's not a quick job, but it's not micro-surgery either. Patience, good tools, good products and you can do it (you can also save a bundle). Serenity now.

Good luck.

[davester]

I'll just pile on with the lead thing. I've done a lot of lead mitigation and worked extensively with agencies that deal with lead-poisoned kids. Do NOT allow any paint chips or dust to get into the soil around the walls of the house. Cover everything, do wet sanding instead of dry, and make sure that all the dropcloths get rolled up and dumped without spillage. It doesn't take much paint in the soil to poison the next toddler who plays outside, and the lead will stick around for a very long time, so the toddler you poison may be the one who inhabits the house after you have moved on.