House painting

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brownbear

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Hello all,

I am about to paint the exterior of my house. It is a aluminum sided house. That has been previously painted.

The paint on there now is faded slightly but in good shape and adhered well. No lifting at all.

So my questions are about prep. I plan to wash it with a mild soap and pressure wash it clean.

Now what I wonder about is, do I have to sand it? The finish seems pretty rough anyhow. Also do I have to use a primer?

The colour I am painting is darker than the original colour.

I planned to use a latex exterior paint. Rolled on or brushed.

Will not using the primer make for bad adhesion?

Thanks, BB
 
i would just pressure wash it and not worry about sanding it.

if it were me i would spray it, looks nicer and easier to do.

i painted houses in college a few summers. i hated it
 
I would spray, but I'm worried about over spray drifting around the neighbourhood.

What kinda spray gun? I have a HVLP auto spray gun. It doesn't like thick paints, and I could thin out the house paint.

Also with the spraying I didn't want to have to tape all the windows up and sofets.

Yah I hate painting too. But to hire someone is out of this summers budget. They want couple thousand.
 
I would spray, but I'm worried about over spray drifting around the neighbourhood.

What kinda spray gun? I have a HVLP auto spray gun. It doesn't like thick paints, and I could thin out the house paint.

Also with the spraying I didn't want to have to tape all the windows up and sofets.

Yah I hate painting too. But to hire someone is out of this summers budget. They want couple thousand.

what you want is an airless sprayer, a big one, like this
Painting%20a%20boxcar4.JPG

image here
available at your favorite rental shop
the overspray isn't that bad, depending on how close you are to your neighbours, it doesn't make a cloud or anything, but you definately want to do it on a calm day

masking everything is a bit of a PITA, but think about painting the house in a couple of hours instead of a couple of days and you'll find the masking ain't so bad :D
 
surface prep, is essential for a high quality finish you'll always have better susccess if you spray onto a clean,dry surface.:D i love painting1:cheers:
 
Cleaning real well is the key, TSP works well
 
thanks for the advice. i will check out the rental store to see if there is an airless sprayer here.
 
TSP x2... used to do this to put myself through school. Trisodium phosphate is certainly one of the best ways to prep a painted surface. Use rubber gloves. A couple guys with buckets and big scrub brushes can wash down a modest Cape Cod bungalow in a day. Pre-wash and follow with the power washer - let dry properly. Personally I like the Farrow and Ball paint ... but there are likely others as good or maybe better.

Don't miss doing that work btw!!
 
as long as your not spraying toxic sh$# the over spray will not get on your neighbors, should be fine
 
+1 for airless sprayer. If you rent check the filters (unit and gun) and the state of the nozzle. New or at least serviceable parts will make it a much better experience.

By the time the spray gets to the neighbors the paint will be dry and just dust. You will be covered however, so cover any part of you that you don't want painted. Be careful not to thin too much or it is hard to get decent coverage. If the sprayer is having trouble with thick paint consider buying a bigger nozzle rather than thinning.

I don't mind the painting but, the prep is definitely of the devil and is also the key to a decent paint job.
 
Paint Spray

Depending on the machine you use, the paint can spray to your neighbors house if you are up 15 to 20 feet on the second on third story of the house. Make sure to cover the landscaping below as well as your neighbors house if it is close by.

James
Painting and Flooring
 
You still need to back brush when you spray. Spraying is nice with two people, one to spray and one to move ladders, keep the bucket full and back brush.

I would just paint it with a brush. I have seen over spray become are real problem with houses and cars.

Slap and Smeer

I do one side of my house every year or so.

I dropped the painting from my contracting bussiness because it sucks.

Cheers
 
Hello all,

I am about to paint the exterior of my house. It is a aluminum sided house. That has been previously painted.

The paint on there now is faded slightly but in good shape and adhered well. No lifting at all.

So my questions are about prep. I plan to wash it with a mild soap and pressure wash it clean.

Now what I wonder about is, do I have to sand it? The finish seems pretty rough anyhow. Also do I have to use a primer?

The colour I am painting is darker than the original colour.

I planned to use a latex exterior paint. Rolled on or brushed.

Will not using the primer make for bad adhesion?

Thanks, BB
Yes you know this;)
 
what you want is an airless sprayer, a big one, like this
Painting%20a%20boxcar4.JPG

image here
available at your favorite rental shop
the overspray isn't that bad, depending on how close you are to your neighbours, it doesn't make a cloud or anything, but you definately want to do it on a calm day

masking everything is a bit of a PITA, but think about painting the house in a couple of hours instead of a couple of days and you'll find the masking ain't so bad :D
Yes but they have much power behind them hence over spray is still a issue
 
Brownbear-
I am the only expert on this forum in this particular question.
Powerwash your house. If you want to use a cleaner fine, just make sure you do it again to remove the cleaner residue.

Airless paint spraying will not overspray any of your neighbors at all.

After you are ready for painting, go buy yourself some 48" 3M masking film with a 3M masking dispenser($25-35 for the dispenser)

Film is is about $8-12/roll. It also comes in 72", 99"(prolly won't need) and 24".

Also get some 9" masking paper(dispenser works with this as well)

Use 1" tape for all of these applications.

Use tarps maybe get 3 9x12'ers. That should work.

Use the above items to "prep" your house. Tape up the electric meter, windows, doors, light fixtures, basically anything YOU don't want overspray on.

The only reason you need the tarps is so you don't overspray your bushes, etc. Depending on how close your neighbors are- if they are 3' away, then yes, overspray can be an issue.

Go rent an airless electric spray(Graco would be best). Use a 5-13 tip orifice. Should work great.

Throw latex down your toilet. Try to use a 100% acrylic. Not sure what kind of paint stores you have where you live. Try not to go with a big box store whenever possible, as they are geared for Suzy homemaker.

If you want to prime, you can, however not necessary with a 100% acrylic. The reason you need to use this , is acrylics expand and contract with temperature changes.

For instance- I use a universal primer(oil) topcoated with 100%acrylics on all of my pole barn/metal building repaints.
All of the house repaints I have done, do not require the oil base primer. If you want to use a primer, a 100% acrylic primer is also available.

I think I have covered this to an extent. Good luck and keep me posted.
Best
Scott
 

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