House painting advice

[RyFitz13]

In the next couple months I'm going to need to repaint my house. It's primarily a dark red color, with a lot of white trim. This will be my first full-scale experience painting a house, so I've got a few questions (growing up, my folks' house had vinyl siding, and I've rented up until a few years ago, so it was someone else's problem!)

I plan to scrape and sand a lot of areas where the current paint is chipping and/or beginning to peel. Will I need a primer coat before the topcoat, or should the paint that doesn't get peeled away be enough to serve the role of a primer?

Any rules of thumb for estimating how much paint I'll need? I'm terrible at this type of estimation on interior projects (I always under-buy), so give me the estimating-for-dummies answer! The house, FYI, is a two-story, probably closest to call it a colonial. Mostly a basic square, with a couple bump-out bay windows. I've also got to repaint the soffits (roof overhangs on all sides - more or less a pyramidal roof)

Any general advice? How best to deal with painting around power lines (I assume I can just contact the utility to turn off the juice while I work - correct?). Anything I might not be thinking of?

[atgcpaul]

Your house sounds similar to mine. It might be a four-square house and not
a colonial.

We're thinking of painting in a few years, too, so I'll be following this thread.

To answer your question, I think I'd determine if the exterior paint has lead in
it first. If not, then I'd pressure wash it first to knock off the grime and then
start the scraping and sanding.

I might look into renting scaffolding, too, instead of working on a ladder.

There's some interesting stuff here, too:

http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/phot...180479,00.html
http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/arti...202236,00.html


After looking through these pages, I might also get a few quotes from some
pros first. Painting a house does not look fun.

Paul

[cabinetman]

I'm in the process of painting the last exterior wall as I type this. Actually I'm on a lunch break. I prime all the surfaces, even those that didn't get power washed off or scraped off. As for estimating how much paint to buy, that's a problem. The cans do have suggested coverages, but that doesn't work out for me.

Save the sticker on the can for the type and mix, so your next trip to the store you won't be guessing. I've never had good luck guessing. Home Depot has a 5 gal price break. I would guess you would need at least that. I didn't want to overbuy, but there will always be that second coat.
.

[RyFitz13]

Actually, that raises a good question in itself! Do I need just a primer coat (I intend to use a tinted primer to help color coverage) and a single coat of exterior paint, or would I need two coats of paint?

Edit: I just read the first of those TOH articles, which pretty handily answered this question... 2 coats it is.

[pelligrini]

Any general advice? How best to deal with painting around power lines (I assume I can just contact the utility to turn off the juice while I work - correct?). Anything I might not be thinking of?

It's not easy getting power lines turned off, I'm not sure about cutting off a service drop though.

The majority of your time will be spent on the prep work than the actual painting. Don't rush it. I did some painting for a friend's sister quite a few years ago. She was getting impatient with the remaining prep work. It was a 1920's house with a coved clapboard siding. I told her that if we don't get it right it'll be peeling of in no time. She insisted to start painting. The areas I prepped correctly lasted many years longer than the others.

[Tom Slick]

My advice:
Spray as much as you can
Don't spray on a breezy day
Anything within 30' is guaranteed to get overspray on it.
Plan on at least 2 coats
Prime
If your paint is a dark color then have the primer tinted
Sand/scrape a little more than what you think is needed
don't be afraid of 40, 60, or 80 grits, the primer/paint will cover their marks.
If you do a lot of sanding buy/rent a very good sander. a 5" ROS isn't much help
Use good paint (I like Sherwin Williams Super Paint) it eliminates some headaches.
Roughly estimate square footage, 1 gallon will "cover" 300-400 sqft, whatever your materials calculation is double it and round up. 3 gallons extra don't cause as much grief as 1 gallon short.

In my area they literally cut the power line at the weatherhead to "cut power" to the house, then the wires are still tied off to the house and in your way.

[RyFitz13]

One other thought just occurred to me: I'm dealing with Cedar shakes. I'm thinking the texture of a lot of the shakes may complicate sanding... It's a fairly random mish-mash of what I understand to be shakes (with deep vertical grain patterns prominent) and shingles (basically smooth).

The smooth parts will obviously be easiest to handle here, but what about the grained ones? Apply a wire brush (possibly heat gun too) as well as I can? Something else?

[tommyt654]

I just painted a cedar home last yr. You are probably better off with a solid color stain. I used Behr Premium and sprayed most all of it 2 coats. Pressure wash the entire house being careful not to damage the Cedar as it is soft, Repair any damaged areas and don,t worry about priming if using a sold color stain. Caulk all your windows and door frames and anywhere else air may be leaking out or in. I bought a 2 qt HVLP paintgun at Harbor Freight on sale for $39 with a gun hooked up to the paint container which has a hook to hang it from your ladder. This worked well as you can hold the ladder with the other hand.My house is 60 x 40 on the outside and took 12 Gals to put 2 coats on. On Cedar its important to backbrush to ensure you get the paint/stain in all the grooves.Don,t worry about the power lines just adjust the spraygun to a small stream spray and you can shoot it from 2 ft away. Be very carful on that ladder though or you could wind up with one of these, Good Luck, Tommyt654

[atgcpaul]

Actually, that raises a good question in itself! Do I need just a primer coat (I intend to use a tinted primer to help color coverage) and a single coat of exterior paint, or would I need two coats of paint?

Edit: I just read the first of those TOH articles, which pretty handily answered this question... 2 coats it is.

I think one or both of those articles also advocates doing a primer coat. The
first also says he does his primer coat in a contrasting color from his top coat.
This way if he misses a spot or didn't apply enough paint, it will be more obvious than if he tinted his primer the same color.

The primer coat is something I'd definitely do to extend the life of the paint
job. Painting the house doesn't sound like something I want to do on a
regular basis.

Paul

[mschrank]

I'm no pro, but I'd look for more advice on the primer coat.

I really don't think you need it in areas where the existing paint is solid...just where you scrape.

I'd hate to see you spend all that time and money putting a primer coat over the whole house if it's not necessary.

And I second the advice on scaffolding over ladders...As long as the areas around the house a flat and open enough for scaffolding.

[stocktr8er]

I am in the process of painting my house also.

I have had to go to a primer even over the old paint because I have noticed a slight tint difference between primed areas and painted areas.

Also, in addition to the scpaing and sanding, make sure you get all the cracks and spaces filled with a good caulk. Pull out any old caulk in question. Well worth the time doing it right.

Reason I am having to repaint is he privious owner did a half a$$ job and I have peeling and water damage where they scrimpted.

Good luck

[Tom Slick]

When painting my house I was peeling (not scraping) off an 8 year old paint job with no primer. there was no bond to the previous paint job in certain areas, perhaps from not being prepped correctly. The skin effect that latex has hid the problem during that time.

My high end pro painter friend says at least one coat of primer and 2 coats of color, preferably 3-4.

[cgallery]

Depending on the quality of the existing finish, you may consider getting a Paint Shaver or Metabo equiv.:

http://www.paintshaver.com/

http://www.amazon.com/Metabo-LF724-7.../dp/B0000224QB

I used the Metabo on my garage and it made short work of scraping. I ended up removing more paint (almost all of it on three sides) than I expected because it was so easy. And the Metabo is apparently pretty slow compared to the Paint Shaver.

My neighbor had just painted her house and was dissapointed with the result because of the uneven finish left from scraping. When it came time to paint her garage she actually decided she'd just replace the entire structure with new.

I was done painting my garage before her new garage was done, and the paint finish looks fantastic. It only took about a month of weekends working maybe six hours per weekend due to other commitments.

My cost: Approx. $550 including paint, Metabo tool (which I still have), primer, caulk, other odds and ends, beer.

Her cost: $30k.

Oh, and BTW, I connected the Metabo to an old shop vac with CleanStream filter and put the vac approx. 20 feet downwind of me. I wore a mask and took every precaution I could just in case there was lead in the paint. I tried one of those test kits and it was negative but I didn't trust it.

If I was doing an entire house and if the paint finish needed help, I'd waste no time purchasing a Paint Shaver Pro.

[BigguyZ]

I need to repaint soon too. Any tips on stucco?

[jabe]

Scafolds are a must on 2 story homes. Just set the 1st section level on something solid like CMU blocks, pier blocks, never on bare ground,then build up.
If mildew is a problem, use Zinsser paint products, they'll give you a 5yr. warranty that the mildew won't come back. U would have to use all of their products from washing your home with Jomax to remove any mildew, follow the directions carefully. Prime with their 123 primer (can be tinted), and paint on 2 top coats with their paint (Perma-White) tinted to your color choice. These are all water-base, they have solvent base paints too. They also have a primer specially made for peeling paint. Remember custom color mixes are not returnable, so I would stick with a stock color that is returnable.
When estimating, measure the square ft. of your walls, eaves, do not subtract for your windows & doors and divide by 400 sq.ft. should give u a pretty good estimate on your paint quantity for 1 coat. Remember 1 gal=400 sq.ft. coverage of paint. For example if you calculated 22 gals., I would buy 3 - 5 gal. buckets and 7 - 1gal. cans of paint. If you'er going to prime + 2 coats, the second coat usually takes less paint. Use the 5 gals. first then use the 1 gals. last, then u can return any that u did not open. Remember for consistant color, b4 running out of paint , mix in a new can with the old b4using.
I hate to paint so I prep,prep,prep and caulk b4 painting, THAT IS THE KEY TO A QUALITY PAINT JOB THAT LAST. Use the best quality paint U can afford. 2 tips is if you have left over paint that can be stored, clean the lip of the can & cover, cover it and turn the can upside down when putting it away. By doing this, the paint won't skin on top during storage. Tip 2: U don't have to clean your roller & brushes after painting for the day, U can store your roller cover & brushes in zip lock bags, take out as much air from the bag b4 sealing and keep it in your fridge or freezer. Take it out the next time, leave it in the sun while Ur getting ready to paint, then it should be good to go by then.