PAINTING THE PICTURE WITH WORDS. (Exterior Painting Made Easy)

Name: thingywhatsit

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Product:	Exterior Painting Made Easy
Date:	17/03/06 (750 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A general overview to help those that want to improve.

Disadvantages: Not being able to show pictures of how it is done.

EXTERIOR PAINTING MADE EASY.

I have split this subject into different areas in order that someone seeking advice does not have to plough through information which is not relevant to them. The headings are as follows :

1.What kind of work are you proposing ?
2.Deciding the right materials.
3.Preparation.
4.Protecting bare wood.
5.Exterior Walls.
6.Undercoating wood areas and railings.
7.Top coating.

1.What kind of work you are proposing.

On the outside of a house, there are many areas that need a home owners attention. Wall painting products are abundant on the market, as well as products promising things that they cannot fulfill. Railings and exterior ironwork need upkeep as do windows and doors, and, at the start of each season, it is helpful to work out exactly what you want to achieve in the coming year, so that you can decide the order in which you will tackle the tasks efficiently. It is not much use painting walls for example underneath windows where you are liable to be painting later, and risk splashes against newly painted walls. Order is everything, and doing the tasks in the right order can actually help you achieve a professional look. List the items that you need to do and here, it's a good idea to walk around the outside of the house and decide priorities, so that when you get to the stage of purchasing materials, you will have a good idea of what is needed to complete the job in hand. All too often, people approach the work in the wrong way, guess paint quantities, don't think in advance of the job as a whole one, and end up with the exterior of their house actually reflecting their disorganisation.

2.Deciding the right materials.

Here, it is important having listed the jobs that you have to perform to decide what materials you will need in order to perform the tasks in hand.

Windows :

Do the windows have cracked putty ?
Is the wood on the windows and doors solid or flaky ?
Are the exterior walls clean or do they need washing ?
Have the walls ever been painted before ?

One of the most important materials to the preparation of exterior work is an exterior quality filler, and here I would personally chose a filler that has a good reputation. Cheap ones can leave disappointing results. Make sure that you ask the stockist questions about the suitability of the filler that you buy for the jobs you have to perform. For example, a filler used for wood may not necessarily be suitable for cracks in walls. There are new products coming on the market all the time. Research their uses, and ask questions because it is only by asking and learning that you can produce good results.

If the windows are old and the cills maybe not as solid as you wish, and you have decided that for the moment, they will have to be decorated as money does not allow replacement, then the preparation will help these to last. Around the puttied areas of the window, look for cracks in the putty, as these can make a difference between a good finish and a bad one. Buy putty, and when buying it make sure that it has a good consistency, i.e. Not too runny, but also not lumpy. Lumpy putty usually means that its shelf life has been exceeded and putty that is too runny will be difficult to use.

Where flaky layers of paint are apparent, total stripping is actually more effective than trying to hide the dips in the surface by filling. Here, an electric stripper is a very effective tool, and there are also products on the market for the job, although if you have pets or children in the vicinity, I believe that the stripping products are dangerous enough to warrant careful thought.

Walls that have never been painted will need a coating of a stabliser, and what this does is make the porous surface of the wall less porous, and able to take a coating of paint. A wire brush can remove any flakes to bare cement or brickwork before coating with the stabliser, which actually stops the flaky nature of the wall from remaining under fresh paint. Pressure washing walls is an option, although this should be done in dry times when the walls will have a chance to dry thoroughly before the next stage of painting.

Exterior paints range in textures and quality, and if your walls are a rough surface, here the Sandtex textured paints may help cover, using a large brush with long bristles is essential, whilst on flatter walls, an exterior roller would work well. Exterior rollers have a longer pile thus holding more paint, and in effect making the work less tedious and easier since the more paint you have on your roller, the less times you have to refill it.

A good quality scraper is essential, as well as coarse, medium and fine sandpaper.

3. Preparation.

The job will only be as good as the preparation that you put into it. Following the guidelines below, your work will be more satisfying, and I learnt the hard way, and hope this advice helps.

WINDOWS/DOORS

Sanding down windows and doors is essential. If the paint on them is layered (year after year of paint beginning to flake), then stripping them with an electric stripper will be wise. When stripping windows, be careful not to let the heat gun get too close to glass.

Repairing putty work is simple and will enhance the appearance of the finished product. If there are little splits in the putty, try rubbing new putty into the splits, and with a putty knife (here I actually use an ordinary kitchen knife as I prefer it, run a line of putty against the existing putty in order to achieve nice uniform lines of putty work against the glass.

Filling should be the next stage, and raking out rotten areas is important here, as if not performed actually traps the damp underneath the paint, and helps your windows to deteriorate. Scrape back to solid wood, and then fill, being sure that if the holes in the wood are deep, a couple of applications is better than putting too much depth of filler into a hole, as this causes problems with drying. When the filler is dry, rub down with a medium sandpaper, and then eventually with a finer sandpaper ready for the undercoat stage of the painting.

As a final gesture, a good dust brushing down is essential because if this is not performed, then what happens is that all the dust the sanding process created will stay in the area of fresh paint, and will ruin a good finish.

WALLS

On walls, cleaning is important and removing flaked paint or render is important because simply covering it in paint does not alleviate the problem and the paint will eventually flake in the same manner. Having wire brushed the area involved (and perhaps even washed if necessary), the next step is to coat the whole surface with a stablising solution. This is a runny product and I know that there are many makes and many prices and although it is tempting to opt for cheapness, I feel this is a great mistake because it's the efficiency of the product that you pay for and a good choice at this stage can make a world of difference about the way in which you paint job wears and lasts.

RAILINGS

Railings can be a tedious job, although products are getting better, and not all products currently available need undercoating. Wire brush the railings to remove flaking areas and to give your paint a good solid surface to cling to, sanding down with medium sandpaper, and dust brushing ready for coating.

4.Protecting bare wood.

In inclement weather areas like the UK, the protection you give your wooden surfaces matters. Even though makers claim One coat products, I don't actually believe that these give the protection that a good solid undercoat does. Undercoating with a good quality undercoat means that the wooden areas are protected, although before undercoating, if there is bare wood that has never been painted before, it should be borne in mind that both Knotting (a product that stops knots in the wood from bleeding), and primer should be used before the undercoat is applied, and that after each process, rubbing down when dried is essential.

5.Exterior Wall Painting.

As many exterior walls are high, it is always wise to work only within comfortable reach of your work. If you are unaccustomed to working at heights, here I would suggest hiring scaffolding, because this aids safety. Peace of mind at heights is essential and stretching from the top of a badly placed ladder is dangerous. Always make sure that the scaffolding is evenly placed on the ground and solidly stood, and here the lightweight aluminum ones are super because moving them from one place to another is done by simply putting the wheels down, and can be performed with minimal effort, being sure to lock the wheels before performing the next bit of wall.

Be sure to have a paintbrush at the ready for cutting in areas around windows, or next to the eaves, and a larger paint brush or roller for large areas, working from top to bottom. (Let's face it, everyone splashes and splashes go downhill !).

6.Undercoating wood areas and railings.

By the time you get to undercoating stage, all the filling and preparation come into their own, and show whether or not your preparation paid off. Think of the undercoating as being the foundation of your eventual top coating. It needs to be uniform, and will show up areas that you did not rub down properly. It also allows you to give added attention to areas that need more rubbing down before the top coating stage. Undercoating on windows baffles some people who are afraid of getting paint on glass. Here, my advice would be to not be afraid to load your half inch brush with paint. Cut in around the glazing first, and then paint panels, from top to bottom with a larger brush. If you use a small brush for cutting in around glass that is well loaded, what you actually create is a nice neat line, by working from one end of the putty to the other in one sweep. If you spill paint, wipe it whilst it is still wet, and get rid of traces that may spoil the end product.

For areas where you are going to add darker colours, a battleship grey undercoat helps the colour to take better and to cover sufficiently. If you decide to undercoat railings, the same rule applies, although in this case, a universal undercoat suited to ironwork is recommended.

7.Top coating wooden and railings.

By the time you get to this stage, you deserve some reward, and if you have been careful in your preparation, and have chosen products through reputation and quality, this is the fun bit. Getting a finish on windows and doors can be so rewarding. It has become more fashionable to use satin finishes although here, I would not recommend satins on exterior work. Gloss paint is much more suited to areas that are exposed to ultra violet light, and will last longer.

There are choices with paints between a gel like “non drip” glosses, and liquid ones and here I find that the liquid ones are the ones that give the better finish, and are less likely to clog the paintbrush. Liquid gloss gives a superb finish, and working in the same manner as for the undercoating, start with the areas that need cutting in, and then tackle panels on doors are windows from top to bottom, thinking of the paint as a layer that should be applied smoothly and going over areas several times in order to avoid runs. Two thin coats are better than one badly applied thick coat that will leave runs.

Top coating railings is satisfying and requires patience. Areas that are unseen from one angle become apparent at another, and I find that working along one piece of railings at a time being sure to cover both the upper and lower parts of swirls and straight pieces works well. Here, I would advise that some kind of dust sheet is used because nothing spoils the finish more than finding spots of paint along the wall below the railings, and this type of paint is not easy to remove from stonework.

In conclusion

I really do hope that any one tip I have given has helped someone in their attempts at exterior painting, because it is satisfying and can make a house look so well looked after if performed with care. I love painting and take a pride in what I do, and hope some pointers may help those who are just beginning to learn to look after their home.

Rachel

Summary: It's worth making the effort.