Best methods for scraping and painting the house?

I am going to scrape and repair the wooden siding this year. Then of course paint the house. We are trying to get a few more years out of this siding before replacing w/ vinal. The house has several layers of good old house paint that is cracked and flaking everywhere. The paint is so thick someplaces!

My idea is to get a pressure washer and try to remove most of the paint that way. I would try to blast downward to avoid spraying water up under the siding. Then scrape and peel whatever is left.

Then I would go around and caulk seams, cracks, voids, ect. I will use a paintable caulk.

Then I guess a primer would be in order? Any suggestions? Can I spray it on, or do I need to use brushes?

Then of course what kind of paint to buy? I would like it to hold up at least 5 years...

 

Your on the right track
Resist the urge to use too much pressure as it may fuzz up the wood. It won't hurt it's ability to hold paint, just won't look so good unless you sand it. It's usually best to caulk after priming. Don't caulk the bottom edge of the siding.

Generally it's best to use an oil base wood primer although a latex primer is better on older homes that don't have a vapor barrier and/or poor insulation. Latex is usually best for the top coat[s].It's ok to spray but it's best to back roll/brush the paint/primer so it can be worked into the siding - not just lay on top. While it's best to back brush every coat, back brushing 1 coat will help a lot. Remember spraying creates overspray! Make sure you take precautions to keep overspray off of anything you don't want painted. Overspray can travel a good little bit - more so on a windy day.

You will find better coatings [advice too] at your local paint store. Big box paint depts tend to stock cheaper coatings and usually have poorly trained help. If you go to SWP, their A-100 primer followed by super paint should give you a good job. Duration is their best latex paint, it like a number of paints, claims to be self priming. That doesn't mean you can skip the primer but rather that if a spot or two of raw wood doesn't get primed - it will be ok.

 

Good advice from Marksr, as usual! MY method of scraping and painting......get someone else to do it. (not a painter) Glad you have the gumption to get it done!!

 

We'll see how long the gumption holds out! I had a quick quote done by "collage kids" painting and they wanted about $4000 to scrape and paint the house. Rather save that money for the new siding later on.

And considering that there will be some "interesting" areas, this is a 90 year old house with orignal siding and paint layers, I'd like to do the work myself to see it gets done to my liking.

I'm considering a 2000 psi gas power washer. I think it will handle most of what I need it to do.

 

If any of the original paint is still on the house - it will be lead based. Not that big of a deal as long as the paint chips are contained and disposed of properly.

 

I'd imagine that all but the last 2 or 3 layers are lead based. And thats only if the old guy bought new paint every time

I will keep it in mind as I scrape. If it gets dusty, I'll put on a mask. And my wife will make sure I clean up completely!

Thanks- Wish me luck this weekend

 

The dangers of lead is mainly inhaling dust from sanding or ingesting particles and of course soil contamination if the chips are left on the ground. Residential paint has been lead free since the mid to late 70's.

no luck needed, just lots of elbow grease