Go Pro or DIY?

Hey I come to you finding myself in a pickle. I am currently looking into painting the exterior of my house, but before I even do that I am stressing about the prep that my house will require to paint. I'm debating on calling in the professionals for this one. I have old aluminum siding on my house and I had a company come in and quote out a price for me. The main thing they said would need to be done was pressure washing. This company ................... seems like they know what they're talking about, but I want to make sure it is something that I am completely incapable of doing before outsourcing this work. Anyone out there gone through his process before?

 

Welcome to the forums!

I've painted quite a few aluminum sided homes over the years. The biggest thing is removing the chalk [where the factory paint has oxidized] Pressure washing and using TSP works best. Often it isn't feasable to remove all the chalk. The simpliest effecticve way to address remaining chalk is to add the appropriate amount of emulsa bond to the 1st coat of latex paint.

I generally spray the TSP [bleach too if needed] on the siding with a pump up garden sprayer and rinse with a pressure washer. Care must be used with the PWer so no water is forced behind the siding. I usually finish by spraying 1 coat of a quality latex paint w/emulsa bond added. There is one house that I drive by most every month, I prepped and painted it in this manner in 1994 [?] and it still looks good driving by at 35mph.

Again, the most important factor with prep is cleaning and addressing the chalk.