Hi All – I’ve been absent for a couple years … please don’t be too horrified by this question:
I have a rental property – 100 yo Victorian in Eastern MA – that is in desparate need of a paint job. It hasn’t been painted in nearly 20 years, and the old paint is peeling badly.
My long term plan is to do a major renovation – add insulation and vapor barrier, move / replace windows, and probably replace the siding which is in tough shape. I’ve delayed painting because I didn’t want to invest anything without fixing the root-cause issues first (ie, I know I have moisture migrating through the walls).
But I have to do something – it’s so bad I’m having trouble renting the apartments.
I’m planning to do the work myself – I’m thinking about doing a quick scrape job (not attempting to get back to bare wood, just a putty knife to take the very loosest paint flakes off), then a single top coat. My sense tells my that a primer coat would make a huge difference – I guess that’s my question – should I bother with the primer or not, and if so, and suggestions on products (again, not going for a 20 year (or even 10 year) solution – just something cheap that will last maybe 5 or so years).
OK, flame away! 😉 Thanks, Bill.
Replies
You definitely must prime any areas that get scraped down to bare wood. Beyond that it depends on the condition and compatibility of the paint you'll be covering.
Definitely prime before painting. Otherwise, all of your work may not even last a year.
Normally, oil-based primer is the stuff to use on exteriors, but if the peeling that you have is due to moisture migration from inside, then you probably want to use a water-based acrylic primer instead. Water-based primers/paints are much more moisture permeable than oil and may allow enough moisture to pass through without causing peeling.
In addition to priming any bare wood, you may also want to prime the whole exterior. A coat of primer will help delay any subsequent peeling since it helps to glue down loose paint edges... to a degree... it's not a cure, but it works better than paint alone.
Even without a lot of scraping, you may be pleasantly surprised how much better a paint job makes things look. I hope you'll even be tempted to put on 2 topcoats.
I would love to see some before and after pics.
The wood under that chip that just pops off is probably weather damaged and I suspect that there is bare wood that is weather damaged.
To do it "right" that I needs to be sanded down to Bright wood.
But that is not going to happen.
I would use a BONDING PRIMER.
Xim makes some.
http://www.ximbonder.com/
Here is another primer selector guide.
http://www.zinsser.com/Primerapps.asp
Some of the Sherwin William primers are bonding primers.
I would be less concerned about the type of primer, but how well it sticks.
Go to a real paint store and see what they suggest.
Get it tinted to the top color. Then with one coat you don't have to worry about hollidays.
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
BillW
Quick and dirty just to clean up and make the place look presentable? Here's what I'd do, I rent or buy a pressure washer and blast all the loose paint away. That's about a days worth of work depending on how big we're talking about. I'd then let it dry for about a week.
Then I'd rent one of those large commercial airless sprayers (those little Wagners are a joke) the kind that holds 5 gallons of paint in a remote pot.
I painted my old house, a 2 story 30x50 place in about 2 hours using one of those. I went from a dark brown to white.. The windows were already white and with care in spraying I didn't even need to tape off the windows..
Not a flawless paint job by any means but looked good untill you examined it closely. I blew on the first coat in about an hour & 1/2 and the second coat went on in 45 minutes..
It was still looking presentable when I tore it down 12 years later..