Exterior Painting

EXTERIOR PAINTING PREPARATION

• When we strip houses, we follow this procedure:
• Set all nails below the surface using a hammer and nail set.
• Scrape any paint that will come off with scraper.
• Strip all paint agreed upon with chemical stripper and or sanding. We cover the ground to catch all paint being removed and clean up daily.
• Neutralize stripper with tsp substitute. Applied, scrubbed and rinsed with hose.
• Sand all wood with 80 grit paper and palm sanders. Wood is bare at this paint and does not put out paint dust.
• Clean siding. (Cleaning is done by hand with damp painting rags folded flat)
• Putty all nail holes; caulk all cracks and seams, and spackle wood defects. (Do not caulk along horizontal undersides of siding. Not designed for it. Will hold water and cause peeling.)
• Sand all spackling and clean siding again.
• Prime siding by brush with first coat exterior oil primer thinned about 10% with paint thinner to promote penetration into wood.
• Do second prep. (Spackling, wood defects again, etc.) When wood is primed, it shows up any wood defects missed, or nail holes needing more putty.
• Sand all siding with 120 grit sandpaper. This will sand down any wood fibers that stiffen with first coat of primer, and second round of spackling.
• Clean siding again.
• Prime all siding by brush again with oil primer (full strength) to fully prime and prepare for painting.
• Sand primer lightly by hand.
• Clean siding again.
• Apply by brush first coat exterior paint.
• Check for defects, and hand sand lightly if necessary.
• Apply by brush second coat exterior paint.

When we do not strip the paint, our preparation includes:

• Set all nails below surface. Using a hammer and nail set. Putty, sand and prime.
• Scrape any paint that will come off with scraper.
• Sand all wood and paint with 80 grit paper and power sanders. Removing more, and feathering paint.
• Spackle all rough areas and defects on siding and trim as agreed upon or specified. Generally most, especially around entrances, porches, etc.
• Caulk all seams, cracks, etc. Using Big Stretch caulk.
• Prime all bare wood, repairs, and any bare metal.
• Sand all primer by hand.
• Clean all areas.Apply by brush first coat exterior paint
• Check for defects, and hand sand lightly if necessary.
• Apply by brush second coat exterior paint.