To achieve a long-lasting exterior paint job, preparation is key. Paying close attention to prep work can add years to the life of your finish coat. Creating a sound, dry surface for a new coat of paint is essential for any successful paint job and will also save you time and money in the long run. This is because the condition of the surface will determine the paint job’s success more than anything else will.
Houses constructed before 1978 may include lead paint. Thus, scraping and sanding the exteriors of such homes must be done with care. Lead is toxic and exposure to lead dust can cause serious illness, such as brain damage, especially in children. Pregnant women should avoid exposure. Wear a NIOSH-approved respirator to control lead exposure. Clean up carefully with a HEPA vacuum.
To learn more about how to protect yourself, contact the National Lead Hotline at 1-800-424-LEAD or log on to www.epa.gov/lead
This project requires the use of extension ladders. If you are comfortable with working on ladders, be sure to practice safety. Always have your ladder at the proper angle and firmly footed. (For a full rundown of more ladder-use safety tips, click here).
If you don’t own any ladders suitable for the job, be sure to check with Koopman Rental. We have a variety of extension ladders and powered lift options available.
STEP 1: SCRAPE OLD, FLAKING PAINT
All surfaces that you plan to paint must be smooth and free of cracks, thus scraping the loose paint off a house is an important step in the process. Peeling paint does not provide a sound surface for new paint to adhere to, so it must come off if you’re going to paint your house right!
The goal of scraping is to remove any paint that is no longer bonding to the surface. If it’s still adhering, it can stay; in fact will be impossible to remove unless you dig the scraper into the wood to the point of damaging the siding.
The best approach to this task is to work in reasonably-sized sections so that your work is thorough and you don’t accidentally skip any areas.
The best tool for the job is a sharp pull scraper. Hold the scraper so that the blade is perpendicular to the wood. Keep the blade flat against the wood so that it doesn’t gouge the surface. Make long strokes that are consistent with the natural “direction” of the siding. In the case of wood, this means going with the grain. Make sure that you keep a sharp blade on your scraper for the most efficient work. Get into tighter areas with a smaller scraper.
Then use a putty knife to clean up any remaining edges. Once there are no more edges of peeling paint sticking up, move on to the next section of your house and get scraping!
STEP 2: FILL GOUGES AND HOLES
To achieve a smooth, uniform surface to apply paint to take the time to fill any gouges and holes in the trim and siding. This can be done if the damage is localized. Badly deteriorated wood should be removed and replaced.
Start by scrubbing any debris, rotted wood and paint residue from the interior of the hole with a wire brush. Fill large gouges and holes with a two-part resin filler such as Minwax® High Performance Wood Filler. For shallow, small blemishes use an exterior spackling compound such as DAP Painter’s Putty ’53’®. Any blemishes deeper than 1/2″ will need additional applications to be built it up.
Allow the repair to fully dry and set. Then sand the filled area so that its surface is at the same level as the area that surrounds it.
STEP 3: SAND AREAS THAT WERE SCRAPED
Any ridges between an area that you scraped old paint off of and an area with a solid surface can break the finished paint surface and allow moisture to get behind the paint. To prevent this, feather the edge of the areas that were scraped with a random orbit sander to remove any sharp edges.
Use a 60-grit paper for heavy ridges followed by 100-grit for a smooth look. Then sand shiny, old paint surfaces to give the topcoat better bite. Also sand all old, bare wood as paint won’t stick to wood once it has weathered.
Most random orbit sanders come with a dust port. To minimize the amount falling onto you or the area below you, hook your sander up to a shop vacuum use a conversion unit (a reducer piece that adapts from the diameter of the sander’s dust port to the diameter of a shop vac hose). This will contain the dust and allow for easy disposal.
Also, don’t forget to turn the shop vac on before turning the sander on, or you won’t draw any of the dust into the canister! This may seem like common sense, but it’s not fun to have to keep climbing back down a ladder just to hit the power button.
STEP 4: RINSE WITH A PRESSURE WASHER
Now that you’ve done all of the intensive prep work to achieve a smooth, uniform surface for your paint, you’re just one more step away from finally taking out a paint brush, cracking open a can of paint and priming!
Using a pressure washer, insert the cleaning nozzle (usually color-coded black) and rinse the house thoroughly. This will remove all dust and debris that was created during your prep work. Now the surfaces that will be painted are smooth, uniform and clean!
For a full run-down on using a pressure washer, check out our blog post Washing Your Home’s Exterior.
WRAP UP
Doing the prep work required for painting is not what most people would call “fun.” It can be time-consuming and requires attention to detail and a fair amount of elbow grease. But if you’re going to spend the time and money to paint your house, it only makes sense to set yourself up for success. It’s better to spend some time and money now and do the job properly. Who wants to waste all of the time and money that will be spent on the painting project only to have it fail? Once it does fail, there’s only one remedy for it; the very prep work that you skipped at the outset!
But fear not! Our paint experts at Koopman can arm you with all of the tools, products and know-how you will need to get your house properly prepared for painting. Stop in and see us! Visit Koopmanlumber.com and find the store nearest you!
