Washing Wood Siding Before Painting

Before weathered wood can be painted it will require extensive prep work to ensure that the paint stays on for more than just a couple of years.

Washing wood siding before painting.

The same holds true of washing your house s siding before painting the very best results will be achieved by hand washing with soap water and brushes. But realistically it is very difficult and time consuming to wash an entire house by hand and a pressure washer can do an adequate job in a manner that is much much easier. Clean the entire surface with soap and water or a pressure washer to remove any dirt and grime that s built up over time. Before sanding scrape loose and flaking paint from the siding.

Potential of siding damage water injected under siding or dirt remaining on house. Step 2 point your pivotpro hit the trigger and start spraying cleansing water against your dirty wood siding. Work a paint scraper from every direction keeping the blade flat against the wood so you don t create gouge marks. Wood siding dries more slowly.

When you schedule the painting job keep in mind that it may take your house two or three days to dry after you pressure wash it depending on the siding material. Stain bonds well to unpainted weathered wood. Before painting apply primer to the old wood surface whether it is indoors or out. Houses painted before 1978 may have paint that contains lead according to the centers for disease control cdc lead paint should be removed by contractors who are certified by the epa.

There are ways to safely clean your house before painting using a pressure washer including using lower psi pressure washers widening the spray and standing at least two feet back. Washing decks and cleaning exterior siding. Preparing exterior wood for painting isn t difficult but it does require some prep work to ensure that your new paint has a smooth stable surface to adhere to. If you plan to paint or use a solid color stain set any nails that the carpenters missed below the surface and fill the nail holes with caulk.

Primer helps paint stick and improves the coverage so you can dramatically change the color of the old. Prepare the surface with old buildings such as my 130 year old barn water blasting the loose paint is not a recommended practice. If you plan to paint sand or power wash the wood to smooth siding that has been exposed to the weather for more than a few weeks.