Most efficient way to paint this??

My house is 4 years old, and I noticed the trimwork below the roof overhang is flaking severely. A few pieces of the countoured / decorative trim is even breaking away (harsh west facing sun vs poor paint job to start off with?)

My question is how to tackle this in the most efficient way (DIY). My house have several roof peaks and brick walls.

Prepwork: remove all decorative wood trim and replace with synthetic trim?? or do I powerwash / sand scrub all flaking off

Is priming necessary? If so what (I'll use latex paint)

What is the best way to paint this: Spray paint (any specific suggestions....rent / buy, nozzle type?) or should I use brush / roller. I am worried about overspray (windows and brick walls?)

Please see pictures of problem:







Thanks a stack!!

 

Pressure washing will remove the loose paint and the dead gray wood cells. It also looks like you have mildew on the wood, you will need to kill it - I have used bleach / Jomax solution for years for this purpose with great results.

With pressure washers you need to be careful not to force water into places that you don't want it to go. So, I would be careful not to force water under the shingles, hit the wood only with the water fan.

Allow the wood to dry out (a day or two of good sunny drying weather)

Prime with Xim UMA or Zinsser 123 Bullseye, then paint.

Brush the paint. If you spray you will shoot the under side of the shingles, and risk overspray all over the top side of the shingles. There is no time saved by spraying exterior trim, there is too much masking off required.

Now, as to why the paint peeled in the first place....... judging by the finger jointed - joints, I am going to guess this was preprimed trim. I have noticed lately (last few years) that the primer on a some of the preprimed trim fails if it is not painted almost immediately after installation and exposure to the elements - could that be the case here?

 

I don't trust factory primers much so I almost always reprime!

While a pro might get by with spraying, I'd never recomend it for a diyer on a house like yours. Besides, brushing the paint/primer on gives a better job than spray alone - spraying should be back brushed/rolled over many substrates.

If you aren't comfortable using a pressure washer, a garden hose will do just fine. Apply your bleach/water solution with a pump up garden sprayer and rinse off with the hose. It's not as fast as a PWer and may require more scraping.

As always you will find better coatings at your local paint store than you will in a big box paint dept. Builders often don't pay the painter enough for a quality paint job so usually the coatings they use are bottom of the line.

 

Depending on your carpentry skills, and from what I've seen, I would take it all off and replace it, any fix will likely be short lived. Buy replacement molding, wood or plastic, prime and finish it all the way around with oil or latex paint. Do the low sstuff first until you get your system figured out and then tackle the high stuff, one peak at a time.

Billy

 

You should replace that trim. Do not get finger jointed wood wet - that should be obvious from your photos. Not only is finger jointed trim bad for outside, that factory primer on that trim is useless.

If you replace the trim with something else that is pre-primed from the factory, be sure to reprime it with an oil based exterior primer.

If you dont replace it now, you WILL be doing it again sooner than you think.