Interval between scrapping house and painting
I am going to start scrapping my house in southern NH. but there is no way I will get it done and the house painted before the weather turns too cold. I am not going to be able to paint until the Spring. The siding is cedar clapboard and the paint is peeling pretty badly in places. I figure, even if I have to rescrape some in the Spring, that will be a lot quicker than waiting until then to start the whole project. Is it ok to let the house go through the winter unpainted?
George
Replies
I wouldn't leave bare wood exposed all winter. I would scrape and sand, and then prime and paint the area within 1 week for best results.
Hi,
If leaving the bare wood is an issue then I could prime the bare spots and leave the complete priming and painting until the Spring.
The job can't get completed this year and if I wait until Spring to start the whole thing then it will take too long to complete. Too much to do and not enough time. I'm trying to figure out the best way to start now and continue in the Spring. Love to have a pro do it but too much money to have it done right.
I would prime AND paint the scraped areas. Primer degrades over time, and is not always a good moisture barrier by itself. The paint does not have to be anything special, but I would use a good quality paint at any rate.
Depends on the primer you use. A good long oil primer will probably hold up to the weather better than the paint.
You need to cover the bare wood within a couple of weeks of scraping. Use a good primer, and then in the spring use "liquid sandpaper" or some such to clean the weathered primer and give it "tooth" so that the paint will adhere well.
Not a painter, but,
Have you given thought about scraping only what you can get painted this season and continuing next spring.
A wall a weekend type of appproach.
That'd Be My Approach...
... work on a few boards each session, get them scraped, primed & painted before moving on to the next set.
If in the end you feel the appearance suffers from your having done horizontal sections across sides you can add a second coat of paint all at the same time to get everything to match.