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E x t e r i o r    R e s t o r a t i o n    P a i n t i n g

         Homeowner's Checklist
    for a Lifetime Exterior Paint Job

       Siding and trim are stripped and restored to 
       "like new" condition for less than half the 
       cost of wood replacement.

Part 1    Checklist        Part 2    About Me        Part 3    My Procedures

   
      Click on any thumbnail image throughout this
      document to see larger versions of the images.

Part 1 - Checklist

After the wood has been stripped:  

 All architectural shapes preserved?
 Wood smooth enough? 
 Board edges rounded? 
 Nails set and filled?          
 Wood conditioned?
 Problem boards treated differently?
 All cracks, seams and joints caulked? 
 Lifetime elastomeric caulk?
 Lifetime coating?
 Three coat process?
 Wood storms and screens restored on all edges?
 Wood storms and screens trimmed for free fit?

Part 3 - About Me

I've specialized in whole house paint removal and recoating
in Minneapolis since I began painting in 1976, with scores 
of projects completed in this manner.

I also perform all necessary carpentry repairs.

The procedures described below will assure the longest 
possible life for your house's exterior.

  
  Containment is very important to me. 

              

Part 4 - Procedures

1.  Stripping paint

There are six basic methods used for complete stripping of
wood:

    1. Electric infrared heat (radiant)
    2. Electric heat guns (convection) 
    3. Chemical stripping
    4. Propane torches
    5. Carbide siding strippers
    6. Power sanding (grinding)


I use electric infrared heat for most stripping.  This
is radiant heat which will not scorch wood or present
any fire hazard.  Electric convection heat guns are 
used for certain small architectural elements.

Electric convection heat guns are also flameless and pose no 
fire hazard if all surfaces are caulked prior to applying heat.  
Absolutely thorough pre-caulking is my standard procedure when 
using convection heat guns.

Both types of heat methods strip paint at no more than 1/3 the 
cost of chemical stripping, which is the only other method I 
can endorse.

Power sanders and carbide strippers are far too dusty and
noisy to be acceptable for large scale paint removal.

(I use a power sander primarily for smoothing wood after I've 
heat stripped it and for smoothing old checked paint prior
to encapsulation.  Another good use is for sanding wood 
storms and screens, working in an isolated, protected area.)

I never use propane torches or open flames of any sort.



Pro Prep Scrapers



These scrapers greatly boost heat stripping output.  Keeping them 
razor sharp is the key.  These scrapers will insure that all 
moulding elements on your house are thoroughly stripped without 
any alteration of their orginal shapes.


2.  Get the wood smooth

It's important to be gentle with the scrapers as wood is stripped
of paint.  Often, a 60 grit hand sanding will suffice after heat
stripping.  More often, I find it necessary to power sand.  
50 grit or finer is needed for final power sanding.

All board edges (including siding boards) must be rounded off by
hand sanding prior to applying any coating, as the paint film is 
too compromised at sharp corners to be trusted.


3.  Set the nails

All nails are set, if possible, then filled with a quality filler.  
Now your nail heads are well isolated from moisture which could 
cause rust and subsequent failure of the paint film at that point.

Nails that resist setting are rust primed with a pure red iron 
oxide primer, then carefully finger wiped with a high stretch
caulk.

If niether of the above procedures are followed, you will have 
paint film failure at nail heads.  This failure will allow moisture
into the wood and cause further failure to adjacent areas.


4.  Condition the wood, don't just prime it.

I use a clear polymer for conditioning wood prior to priming.  
I've tested clear polymer wood conditioners extensively 
since 1990 and found them to create success where oil primers had 
failed.  They're very elastic, yet good penetrators, reacting 
strongly with wood fibers, staining the wood to a rich color upon 
application.  


5.  Problem boards

Boards with horizontal hairline cracks as well as larger
cracks need to have elastomeric caulk troweled into their
cracks. 


6.  Caulking.

Caulking is perhaps the procedure that most separates the 
good painters from the best painters.  It requires far more 
patience than any other procedure and takes a surprisingly 
long time to accomplish, thus the tendency for otherwise 
good painters to fall down in that area.

All joints and seams must be caulked using a 40 year or lifetime 
silicone acrylic caulk.  To topcoat these high stretch caulks 
with long term success, one must use a highly elastic paint such 
as Sherwin Williams Duration Lifetime Coating.  Polyurethane
caulk is used on architectural joints.


7.  Duration Lifetime Coating

Sherwin Williams' best exterior paints have always had the 
best ingredients in the optimum percentages.  My own testing
of Duration in 1997 demonstrated that it is in an entirely 
different league than ordinary premium house paint and can 
easily last a lifetime, as it is guaranteed to do.

As sensitive to overbrushing as acrylic paints are, 
Duration is more so and needs to be either sprayed on
or applied by brush by a top notch applicator.  It must
never be applied using the "spray and back brush" method.

There is a strong tendency for people to overbrush latex 
coatings and to spread the coating too far.  The idea is 
to apply a film of protection on the surface, not to 
just color the surface.  The goal is to transfer the 
acrylic substance from the can to the surface in a 
uniform film with as little disturbance of the paint
resin as possible.


8.  Three coats everywhere

There should be a minimum of three coats of film forming
product everywhere (except well shaded soffits).  This 
might take the form of a conditioning coat followed by
two coats of Duration, or a conditioning coat followed by
an acrylic primer, then Duration.

Anything less does not adequately seal the surface.  
When moisture penetrates into the wood often, the surface
wood fibers lose their integrity and the film fails at
the wood surface, ultimately as the result of hydrostatic
pressure acting on what has become a poor bond.


9.  Wood storms and screens issues

Wood storms and screens that fit too tightly will cause
rotting of the storm or screen as well as the window sill
or frame.  I find that I have to trim at least two edges
of almost every storm or screen I take off a house.

I also find that almost every storm and screen needs some
serious carving/conditioning/filling on its bottom edge,
and frequently carpentering to replace really bad corners.

All edges need to be sanded, conditioned and painted.

Well, if you and I can't connect for a painting project, 
I at least hope you'll connect with a painter who subscribes
to the procedures I've described here.  Be patient, and enjoy.