At 64 I am ready to paint a house for the first time. I have scaffold (ladder?) jacks and a pair of 24′ wood posts and a 16′ wide aluminum platform ($65 at a garage sale (!), all now in excellent working condition and secured to the house). I added a railing and an extra bridge to house brace – much more comfortable. I’ve done a thorough pressure wash (bleach and then rinse). The clapboard nails and trim boards and fascia have been replaced where necessary (SS nails and plastic wood). Now it’s actually time to paint.

I bought a $400 airless sprayer, I have plenty of drop cloths and masking materials, and I am using the most expensive Behr solid exterior stain on the cedar clapboards, and Glidden Endurance Premium exterior latex paint on the trim. I have read instructions, but they are always incomplete. People who do this daily have lots and lots of practical tip and answers to questions.

Is this the correct procedure?
1) Cover (ground, shrubs, deck, etc.) and mask everything (trim, doors, windows) that I don’t want to paint with the solid stain
2) Paint the clapboards first, working from the bottom up
3) Spray the stain on and then brush over it, going side to side (although I will only be doing 50% of the house width at a time because of the limited length of my platform)
4) Jack up the platform and repeat until I reach the top
5) Lower the platform to the bottom and apply coat # 2, raising the platform as I go
6) Lower the platform and paint the trim after removing any masking, raising the platform as I go
7) Clean the sprayer, brushes, etc.

As I write the above steps, I discover questions about some of the details in certain steps. And I wouldn’t be surprised if some of my basic steps have flaws. My questions are:

1A) Should I mask the trim or will the solid stain provide a better surface for the latex trim paint to adhere to?
3A) Should I feather the finish in the center of the house to decrease the possibility of a visible line where the two painted areas merge?
5A) Can I apply the second coat of solid stain after just 2-3 hours?
5B) Do I need to brush in the second coat after I spray?
6A) Should I prime all the trim? The power washing has removed a lot of paint – only the new boards are pre-primed or plastic.
6B) Do the plastic boards require priming?
6C) Should I just use a brush and roller for the trim?
6D) Is there any worry about removing any masking on the trim as soon as the second coat of stain has been applied? If the answer to question 1A is “don’t mask the trim”, how long should the stain dry before I paint the trim?

WHEW! The more I know, the more I discover I don’t know. THANKS!