I'm going to paint my own house....maybe.

N80 · Feb 20, 2014

I live in an 85 year old brick house. It was last painted about 10 years ago (before I bought it) and the painters did a spectacularly bad job (which was evident immediately after it was done). It is mostly trim and window work except for a front portico with 4 square columns and a large front door. The current paint, or what is left of it, appears to be oil based but that is a guess. It is peeling badly, mostly because it was painted over the previously peeling paint. In many places bare wood is exposed.

I've done a lot of interior painting before but never exterior. So I'm wondering about how much scraping I need to do. I have an orbital sander for sanding. What type of paint should I use? Does it need some sort of primer or base coat where the wood is exposed? Do you use Kilz on exteriors? Thanks for any advice.

Gunny · Feb 20, 2014

Generally, a scraper is faster than an orbital sander and you don't have to fool with extension cords. If the old paint was oil base, you need to recoat with oil base, the latex will peel away pretty quickly. Definitely prime any bare wood and Kilz Premium is an excellent primer.

super55 · Feb 20, 2014

If you can get your hands on a good powerwasher it is definitely a time saver. The powerwasher will get in the nooks and crannys where scraping would be difficult at best. You need to give it a few warm low humidity days before you can go ahead and hit it with paint or primer but it does do a good job of getting loose paint scale off.

A way to test if it is latex or oil is to rub some denatured alcohol on the paint. If it softens than it is latex.

I believe latex can be used over oil but it has to be scuffed and hit with either an oil or acrylic primer before applying the latex. I'm not for certain on this so hopefully a professional painter on the forum can chime in or a reputable paint store could give you more sound advice.

As for what paint to use. Most of the exterior paints these days are either latex or polycrylics. I'm sure you can still get oil based paint but I'm guessing it has gone out of favor due to workability cleanup and such.

+1 agreeing with Kilz primer, I painted some treated lumber once with it that I only let dry out for a week. I fully expected it to peel in 6 mo but the wife complained my project looked tacky without that painted. Being the loving man I am I appeased her wishes a painted it and it's been a year now and still no peeling or flaking.

dave1949 · Feb 20, 2014

Could there be lead paint under the 10-year-old paint?

aczlan · Feb 20, 2014

Three comments:
1. Power washers are great for paint removal
2. A boom lift is a time and body saver for painting the 2nd story
3. A power sprayer will make you question why you didn't buy one sooner

Aaron Z

N80 · Feb 21, 2014

Thanks guys. Good tips. Will consider the powerwasher. Could there be lead paint underneath? Maybe. Probably. But under many layers. Don't ask, don't tell.

Western · Feb 22, 2014

George,
Best paint IMO that you can use, would be an exterior acrylic latex. Once you determine what paint is on there, then you will know how to proceed. I know oil based chips (like what is peeling) will "snap" usually, where latex tends to bend, also use the alcohol as mentioned earlier. Problem your probably dealing with, is 2 existing types of paint already (thus the peeling) Latex will almost always peel from oil based paint, especially if not prepped good. You can also take some paint chips to a dealer and they should be able to tell you what you have, (I like Sherwin Williams, because that's who we use commercially.)

A pressure washer will get off most of the loose stuff, but be mindful, you can cause the wood to "burr" and become rough from the water and the blasting pressure, BUT is does work great as long as your careful. (You can even use a siphon fed mold/mildew inhibitor if needed). I would pressure wash, then scrape the remaining, even if I had to do it in sections. Dry it out VERY GOOD, sand where needed and re-paint. If you want to live on the edge, you can sandblast with a very fine medium

I think blasting with water is your safest bet as far as inhalants.

You don't want to mess with lead, bad mojo, some paint contractors will burn off exterior paint and if it has lead in it, watch out. It believe lead based paint was outlawed in 78-79, so remediation company's can be in the extreme $$ fro removal. It is approached like HAZMAT.

Wouldn't cost you anything to go to a paint store and ask some questions, but really look into Acrylic latex if that is an option. Also muc info on Google, but hard to beat a true "paint shop"

I paint commercially, but not homes.

N80 · Feb 22, 2014

Thanks Dennis. We do have a good paint store not far from my house. I think it is Porter Paints, but we also have Sherwin Williams so I'll look at both. If it doesn't have oil based paint on it now I will definitely go with acrylic latex.

EddieWalker · Feb 22, 2014

NEVER use a power washer on a house. No house was ever built to keep out water under pressure and the results of using a pressure washer are that you will force water into areas of your walls, soffits and roof that you wont be able to get out. This Old House TV show did an experiment on this and they found the walls to be soaking wet in areas a month after pressure washing it. The moisture can remain in the walls for months and if it's warm out, will lead to mold. It also attracts bugs that like to eat the wood in your house. The pressure washer will remove caulking and paint that has kept the house sealed up, so after you destroy all this with your pressure washer, and after waiting months for it to dry out, now you have to caulk everything and live with the mold and bugs that are now there.

There is not simple or easy way to remove paint. This is a big part of why it's so expensive to paint a house. I can paint it in a day or two, but sometimes it takes a week or two weeks just to get it ready to paint. That gets very expensive, so if you are going to save money doing it yourself, you need to be willing to put in the hours it takes to prep it. Scraping, sanding and applying paint remover all have their place and need to part of the overall plan.

I prefer Zinsser primer and I really don't like Kilz. Sherwin Williams has some specialty primers that are VERY GOOD, but also very pricey. You get what you pay for and when you need what they have, nothing else even comes close. I'm sure other paint stores have some good stuff too, but I don't have a lot of experience with them. I like Sherwin Williams. Home Depot and Lowes both have decent paints, but don't confuse their sales slogan of primer and paint being mixed together so you don't need primer. That is just a gimmick. All they did was improve the quality of the paint a little so it covers better. It does not replace primer!!!! If you buy from Home Depot or Lowes, then be sure to get Zinsser primer and the best paint available.

You really don't want to use an oil based paint on the exterior of your house if you can avoid it. Not only is it miserable stuff to deal with, it is a lot more money without any long lasting results. The primer is where you want to spend your money!!!! The old rules of not painting latex over oil isn't true with some primers. Talk to the people at Sherwin Williams, they know their products and will give you the best advice.

Eddie

Danno1 · Feb 22, 2014

EddieWalker said:
NEVER use a power washer on a house. No house was ever built to keep out water under pressure and the results of using a pressure washer are that you will force water into areas of your walls, soffits and roof that you wont be able to get out. This Old House TV show did an experiment on this and they found the walls to be soaking wet in areas a month after pressure washing it. The moisture can remain in the walls for months and if it's warm out, will lead to mold. It also attracts bugs that like to eat the wood in your house. The pressure washer will remove caulking and paint that has kept the house sealed up, so after you destroy all this with your pressure washer, and after waiting months for it to dry out, now you have to caulk everything and live with the mold and bugs that are now there.

There is not simple or easy way to remove paint. This is a big part of why it's so expensive to paint a house. I can paint it in a day or two, but sometimes it takes a week or two weeks just to get it ready to paint. That gets very expensive, so if you are going to save money doing it yourself, you need to be willing to put in the hours it takes to prep it. Scraping, sanding and applying paint remover all have their place and need to part of the overall plan.

Eddie

This^^^

To add to what Eddie said, most people who pressure wash a house do so from the ground blasting upwards. This is completely backwards as to how a house was built to shed rain/snow/weather. As Eddie said, a sure fire way to ruin a house.

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