# Painting Siding



## FrankSmith (Feb 21, 2013)

Caslon, I want to believe you for my own sake but I have to ask questions as to not accidentally take bad advise from a stranger on the internet. How old are the houses you are spraying? I am interested in how to paint 80 year old houses with mostly original siding. How long after you leave a house before the first paint starts to peal or crack? Are you offering your customers a warranty and if so how long? I would love to see some pictures of your work if you have any readily available.


----------



## Caslon (Dec 15, 2007)

FrankSmith said:


> Caslon, I want to believe you for my own sake but I have to ask questions as to not accidentally take bad advise from a stranger on the internet. How old are the houses you are spraying? I am interested in how to paint 80 year old houses with mostly original siding. How long after you leave a house before the first paint starts to peal or crack? Are you offering your customers a warranty and if so how long? I would love to see some pictures of your work if you have any readily available.


I've done my share of painting houses designated as historical houses by that cities historical committee. Many jobs, I spent a week doing just disc sanding! Then caulking, glazing, filling, priming, etc. The final painting was almost fun compared to the amount of prep work I've done on old houses. 

I don't emphasize warranty on proposals and contracts , there are too many variables and limitations to include in order to cover my ass. For instance, say the customer installs an air conditioner or something and it all of a sudden incorrectly causes moisture to be forced out thru the walls taking the paint with it. Would YOU want to cover that paint failure for free, or have to write up 2 pages specifying such limitations of the warranty? Maybe.

Pictures don't tell much really, so I won't post any.


----------



## FrankSmith (Feb 21, 2013)

Fair enough. I don't blame you for not offering a warranty or for not posting a pic. I am always Leary of putty pictures of other peoples house on the internet. I am surprised by what a lack of info I can find on this topic. I can find people on either side of the conversation who are almost able to talk me into listing.


----------



## FrankSmith (Feb 21, 2013)

Leary = leery


----------



## Caslon (Dec 15, 2007)

FrankSmith said:


> Leary = leery


Got it. Not Timothy Leary. :laughing:


----------



## Ohio painter (Dec 4, 2011)

When I was learning to paint and worked for an old painter, brushing wood siding was the only way to go. 4" was the brush of choice. 
Oil primer and latex finish was how we done them all. Thought nothing of brushing out a big old three story house. 

Now I run my own business I have completely got away from this type of work. However it is still stuck in my to brush these old houses. 

I do a fair bit of spraying and often think about what does it matter how the paint is applied, brush, roller, airless, hvlp, the adhesion boils down to prep and quality of primers and paints, not application. I think the choice of application is towards what is most efficient. 

As far as backrolling after spraying, I consider that step for more of an eveness or appearance concern, not adhesion.

Curious what others think.


----------



## Pete'sfeets (Mar 20, 2011)

when you are crawling about on a wall, you have to admit you are going to see plenty more issues, stuff to caulk or patch than if you were just spraying, but will you climb back down a ladder get the right stuff to fix it or are you past that time to just paint , paint. Spraying is good to do a fast lay down of paint an easy sealed wall but if you find little issues , you sure ain't gonna stop put down the spray gun, turn off the pressure and fix it. I just stained a deck that should never been put where it was or built as it it is, it peels and tons of stuff rot , now I could write a lecture but still it needs to be painted, they ain't ripping it out yet, I constantly hate the thing, , they are just so cheery I'm obligated to painting it really but contacts are for lawyers and accountants,, maybe there are spots on a house that are bound to fail, how do you get a promise fit that issue


----------



## FrankSmith (Feb 21, 2013)

Pete'sfeets said:


> when you are crawling about on a wall, you have to admit you are going to see plenty more issues, stuff to caulk or patch than if you were just spraying, but will you climb back down a ladder get the right stuff to fix it or are you past that time to just paint , paint. Spraying is good to do a fast lay down of paint an easy sealed wall but if you find little issues , you sure ain't gonna stop put down the spray gun, turn off the pressure and fix it.


I don't like this line of thinking at all. If properly examining the wall is the reason to paint in the slowest manner possible then you need to hire yourself a proper wall examiner. This is like my uncle who thinks you should hand nail a roof because it is the only way to know you have the nails depth correct.

I am concerned with comparing hoe well paint adheres to identical surfaces when applied with brush, roller, or sprayer. It goes without saying that a wall with poor prep well screw things up regardless of how the paint is applied.


----------



## Tom Struble (Mar 2, 2007)

nobody can ''pre''notice every sq inch of wall..i don't care who you are..


----------



## FrankSmith (Feb 21, 2013)

Here is my new plan. Spray and back brush an oil based primer after prepping the walls.  At this point I will do all my caulking. I will then prime all the caulk or other wall repairs with oil primer. Once I have gotten the project to this state I will spray two coats of paint with no back brushing. 

This plan subject to change without notification.


----------



## Driftweed (Nov 7, 2012)

Are you going for some sort of world class level 5 finish?

It just seems excessive to me.

Why not prep (scrape, caulk, etc...) spray primecoat, spray 2 coats finish?

I have sooo been trying to wrap my head around all this extra work you guys speak of.

It's like a pissing match. I'll one up your spraying by sanding between coats. 

Oh yeah!?
Well I'll spray, roll, sand, and do it again.

Oh yeah?!
I'll spray, BRUSH, sand, and do THAT again.

If you guys keep it up were all going to be putting 4 coats on soon.. Lol

I'm not saying it's a bad thing but please, please, stop the insane standards. 1 coat primer, 2 coats regular paint should be fine unless "special circumstances" demands more.


----------



## Pete'sfeets (Mar 20, 2011)

heh , heh, heh, I love causing trouble. I have found that a brush applies far more paint than the roller, the spray looks so much better, but it misses all the inside corners. Anticipation is always a difficult prep skill as well , but later when you see where the rain ran down and settled and it seemed so obvious but you somehow didn't see it coming four years later,,, when you are doing it all over.


----------



## FrankSmith (Feb 21, 2013)

I am not priming the entire project twice. I think caulk adheres better to primed surfaces. I think primer paints better when it is primed. That's how that order of operations came to be. 

Exteriors are different the interiors. The customer can tangibly see if you know what you are doing based on the results. I don't think any one is adding steps because they enjoy it. Its about creating a situation where the paint might last for a while. Inside is one thing. You put the paint on the wall and it will still be there pretty much no matter what.


----------



## FrankSmith (Feb 21, 2013)

Pete'sfeets said:


> heh , heh, heh, I love causing trouble. I have found that a brush applies far more paint than the roller, the spray looks so much better, but it misses all the inside corners. Anticipation is always a difficult prep skill as well , but later when you see where the rain ran down and settled and it seemed so obvious but you somehow didn't see it coming four years later,,, when you are doing it all over.


You lost me after "a brush applies far more paint"


----------



## Metro M & L (Jun 3, 2009)

"I think primer paints better when it is primed" Lolz. Paints prime better when the pre primed paint is reprimed prior to prime time prime painting. LOlzlolz


----------



## Metro M & L (Jun 3, 2009)

One thing I will say is that I have had issues several times using miller paints on repaints where the new paint bubbled the old ie the old coating and the new coating bubbled away from the the original substrate. When I primed with pretinted peel bond no issues. When I just painted two coats super paint no issues. Peel bond is a particularly hard coating; i think it forms a shell that kind of isolates the underlying coating. manu specs say youre not supposed to spray it over caulk because it wont flex.


----------



## Driftweed (Nov 7, 2012)

I see what your saying frank. By putting the primer on first your effectively giving yourself a good clean slate?

Had to think about that for a second and let it soak.


----------



## Caslon (Dec 15, 2007)

FrankSmith said:


> Here is my new plan. Spray and back brush an oil based primer after prepping the walls. At this point I will do all my caulking. I will then prime all the caulk or other wall repairs with oil primer. Once I have gotten the project to this state I will spray two coats of paint with no back brushing.
> 
> This plan subject to change without notification.


You need only spray the finish coat once.


----------



## FrankSmith (Feb 21, 2013)

Is this because of better coverage with spraying?


----------



## fjn (Aug 17, 2011)

Driftweed said:


> Subscribed.
> 
> I'm going to be painting my sisters new garage this summer. Its got wood siding of some sort.
> 
> The builders primed it and left..





Sorry to hear that,latest and greatest method for new work,prime all six edges,if it is lap siding,apply one top coat,hang siding,apply second coat. What those guys did is a recipe for disaster.


----------



## Caslon (Dec 15, 2007)

FrankSmith said:


> Is this because of better coverage with spraying?


Yes. Well enough that spraying another coat would be redundant on a properly prepared surface, wasting your time and money and not giving your customer any added benefit.


----------



## mrbloesinger (2 mo ago)

I would recommend masking and spraying it. Bankroll if necessary. 



Http://www.kenmorepainters.com


----------



## avenge (Sep 25, 2008)

mrbloesinger said:


> I would recommend masking and spraying it. Bankroll if necessary.
> 
> 
> 
> Http://www.kenmorepainters.com


9 years late.


----------

