Hi Folks! My first post here. I’m hoping that I can get some opinions on my dilemma.
My HOA is repainting my housing complex. We all have cedar siding and the paint is peeling on many of the homes.
The HOA board has hired a contractor who has said he will only paint siding that has experienced no peeling or new siding that has been put up. This contractor has been given “final say” on whether a board is viable.
The paint seems to be peeling only on the two sides of the house that have the most sun exposure. The house was last painted six years ago. The HOA’s contractor says we need 75% of the boards replaced and he can do it for the price of $16,000. Another contractor who looked at the house says we only need some boards replaced for $4,000.
I just get the feeling the HOA’s contractor is trying to take me for a ride. If I hire anyone else he can say their work is not good enough (which happened to a neighbor) and I’d be stuck.
Anyone have any opinions on how to proceed?
Thanks,
Erika
Replies
Sell and never buy into HOA neighborhood again.
Erika
The real question is why the siding is peeling and what can be done about it so that further painting holds up.
For instance, was it peeling b/4 the last time it was painted?
Most sun side + most weather side? or not.
Was the siding originally backprimed?
Where is your location?
thanks.
You (and your neighbors) probably need a lawyer. It's very likely someone is getting a kickback for this.
It's BS to say that you must put up new siding. A competent painter can remove moderate amounts of peeling paint fairly effectively.
And I too wonder why the siding is peeling in the first place. If properly prepped, (good quality) paint (on top of good quality primer) should not peel from cedar siding unless there's a serious moisture drive problem or some such.
Why peeling
It should be easy enough to tell why the cedar is peeling if someone takes off a single board to check the state of the back side (backprimed or not), and what the WRB looks like.
And if she does decide to replace the siding, she should use that as a chance to have it installed as a rain-screen wall.
First thing - I would be contacting a lawyer to protect you from this abuse.
But can't give an opinioon unless you post some good photos
I've contacted a lawyer
I have contacted a lawyer. I will post pictures soon. Thanks for everyone's input.
Erika
I've contacted a lawyer
I have contacted a lawyer. I will post pictures soon. Thanks for everyone's input.
Erika
Picture of Siding
Here's a picture of the siding in question.
Thanks,
Erika
erika
It looks like the end cuts were probably not sealed (seldom are but a real problem cause-er. Many times the topcoat paint will fail, leaving the primer. Doesn't seem so in this case-no primer showing.
Can you post one of a whole side?
Siding Whole Side of House
Here is a picture of one side of the house.
On the bright side, that paint's so loose you could scrape off most of it with a kitchen spatula. Loose enough that scraping and repainting may be worthwhile, actually.
Ugly
No - not you, b ut the work
Might be 50/50 whether to replace. I was thinking that maybe if there was lead based on that, it can be better to replace than deal with some RRP rules at times, but built in 84, no lead likely.
They probably did use oil based though and that is inflexible.
Primary problem I see in photos is no end sealer when installed, leaving end ccuts to wick up moisture and maybe rot. Is that wood near end joiunts solid or punky?
It may be true what florida guy said, that too much moisture is getting trapped behind that. This contractor may be aware of what that problem is and knows that to fix it, he needs to deal with the whole wall system and not just the surface paint.
I doubt that moisture from behind is a big part of the problem. By '84 houses, if anything, were being oversealed, and moisture drive from the inside was minimized. And it's a pretty short pitch on the planks, so plenty of gaps for moisture to escape. If it was moisture drive the worst peeling would be near the top/center of the planks, but you see the worst peeling near the bottom, indicating that exterior sun/rain exposure is the culprit.
Yeah, if a primer was used, it was tinted to match the topcoat -- I can't see any hint of white anywhere. My guess is that a "one coat" paint product was used.
Sometimes a "factory primer" will be used, and that is apt to fail on either side. But in this case it appears that there was no primer at all -- the paint was put over raw wood, a very bad thing to do, (despite what the paint companies say). (I don't see any evidence that the joints are a particular issue, though certainly the ends should be primed before installation.)
A good alkyd primer, topcoated with a good acrylic latex, will essentially bond to the wood forever (and longer, if the wood is back-primed). The only reason the surface would need repainting in the future is that the surface of the paint slowly erodes over time.
(One thing to determine about this contractor -- is he going to prime the wood, or just paint over raw wood again?)
Yeah, if primer was used
The first contract the HOA signed with the painter had the painter doing a bunch of prep work before painting. After the HOA said the siding had to be replaced, the painter is no longer required to do ANY prep work as who ever you hire to replace siding is to prime the siding in a "long oil primer".
In one letter I received, the HOA's contractor states the main cause of the peeling is lack of flexibility in the coating. He writes that the previous coatings have built up a brittle, thick coating and it has lost flexibility.
In the same letter, different paragraph, it states that the main cause of peeling is moisture.
The house was built in 1984.
I also have a home that is 112 years old that is in the same region. I have zero peeling problems on wood and talk about a built-up thick coating!
Thanks,
Erika
The paint is peeling because water is getting behind it. Looks like maybe some of the boards got backprimed and others didn't. or is it possible that the boards not peeling were replaced during the last painting go around? In either case the HOA has to deal with the moisture or you'll be doing it all over again in a few years.
Just looks like lousy "one
Just looks like lousy "one coat covers" paint to me.
HOA Lawyer
I have a lawyer, who has represented HOA's in the past, looking through everything today. I hope to have a firm plan
of action put in place within the next few days. I shall keep everyone posted and I really do appreciate the help and opinions
that everyone has offered.
Thanks,
Erika
One issue with replacing some and not all almost 30 YO beaded siding is finding the exact profile so it matches the siding that's kept. It may not be standard anymore and involve a special cut. Had that problem with beaded siding a few years ago.
Doug
HOA UPDATE
Erika here again. My house has had bad boards replaced, been sanded and primed. HOA painter came by and said that he won't paint it because every board that had ANY sign of peeing wasn't replaced. I wrote the HOA board and instructed them to paint the house because all the prep was done per the instructions of Sherwin Williams. Mind you, the board got their instructions from Sherwin Williams and claimed Sherwin Williams told them all the boards needed replacement. Of course when I called, SW said that was nonsense and laid out specific instructions for a top quality prep job. The HOA won't respond to any of my letters.
HOA meeting the day before Thanksgiving. If this doesn't get resolved, I will pay to paint out of my pocket and weigh my legal options. So far, over the years, I have paid in $4800.00 in fees for this paint job.
Erika
Thanks Erika
for coming back and filling us in.
I wish you the best of luck on the paint job and hope you come to a satisfactory settlement with the association.
Unfortunately it sounds like there was poor judgment used at various points and I do like how you ended up with a logical approach based on paint manufacturers recomendations. Unfortunately there is still a pretty healthy amount of good judgment involved in it turning out well, so I wish you luck in the long-term results.
As much as I don't like having to use lawyers it is at times important to use them. Along the same lines, depending on the attorny you have, you may or may not be taking the HOA and contractor to the cleaners to the correct degree. Do what's fair, not the maximum your attorney is capable of. To some/many attorneys "what's fair" is the absolute max they can get out of anyone and everyone - that's not right.
Unfortunately
Any litigation will be used as a last resort. All I want is the house painted. Either paint the house, which I have paid for out of HOA dues, or give me the money to do it myself.
I hope the board is uninformed versus malicious. My belief is that their painting contractor convinced them that replacement of anything that was not perfect is the only way to proceed. "Throwing the baby out with the bath water".
I have hired a painter, and 5 of us will tackle the house Friday. That is, of course, we receive a favorable resonce from the board at the HOA meeting on Wednesday.