I thought I would drop in and get some input from anyone who knows about exterior house painting. I've been getting bids and of course they all have their own reasons to justify why they are better than their competition. That leaves me with two main questions.

1. Is painting via roller that much better than painting with spray gun?

2. Is it true that power washing the exterior before painting is a bad idea because the wood/siding can soak up some of the moisture and cause expansion.

Thoughts? Thanks everyone.

 

Whenever we got our house painted, it was powerwashed first to get rid of all the dirt/flaky paint. It was also done with a sprayer, then the trim was done with a roller. If they dont powerwash, how will they get the dirt off before putting another coat of paint?

 

By hand with wet rags. The most expensive bid is the only hand-rolling company and they are also the ones who dont think power washing my cheap suburban siding would be a good idea. But I dont find a lot on Google to support that, but then again most sites are painting sites either telling you how to do it yourself (spray is easiest) or painting companies trying to sell themselves (cant just trust that)

 

Being in the Building materials industry I will chime in. Fist a couple of questions for you.

1. What is the material that you are having painted, cement block, cement board siding, cedar, redwood, or hardboard siding?
2. How bad is painted surface, chips, flaking paint, chalky paint?

 

Just my opinion here, but chances are that company doesn't have pressure washers or sprayers, or has a lack of the above.

Wet rags are still wet, and won't clean nearly as well as a pressure washer unless they clean the house for days washing the rags out constantly. In either case they need to allow adequate drying time, as they obviously can't paint with water seeping down the house. But really most paints these days are very forgiving, and most often people use water based paints. Since most water based paints can be thinned, some slight surface dampness won't hurt much.

As far as spraying vs rolling, both can do well on most surfaces. Coating depth is easier IMHO to "cheat" and shortcut with a sprayer. It's hard to undercoat with a roller on most surfaces.

 

If they do powerwash it I would make sure they give it a couple of warm days to dry. Excessive moister in what ever material it is will make the paint peel prematurely. I prefer painting by hand for the same reason that signmaster suggested. I would also consider getting your own paint as anyone you hire will most likely use contractor grade paint that is not as good a quality. Good paint costs money, the cheap paint does not last.

 

I would have to guess Hardboard siding. Its cheap compressed wood of some sort.
There is a good amount of chipping and cracking to the paint.

Its the compressed nature of the wood that causes the extra concern with power washing. As I said, there is already some evidence of expansion on some of the planks.

They do have a pressure washer, but they are recommending against it. They will pressure wash but I will need to sign it was against recommendation.

 

If it is compressed or particle wood I would skip the pressure wash. Scrape and sand well and blow off the dust with compressed air.

 

Throw it away and buy a new one.

 

The best way is to spray it and then back-roll it with a roller. Just spraying will not get in all the cracks and crevices but we have stucco here so it may be different for you. A buddy of mine paints houses for a living and that is how we painted my old house.

 

Do not pressure wash it you will have to let it dry for some time before you paint it. I would do it by hand with a brush and roller it will yield a much better result than it would by spraying it. I would do the following steps.

1. Scrape the siding.
2. Prime the spots where you scraped off the paint.
3. Paint with a high quality exterior paint. (Do not skimp on cheap paint, you will regret it if you do)

I would go to Sherman Williams to buy the paint. They know what works the best in your area. Hope this helps.

 

I had my house painted a few years ago. Stucco siding with wood trim.

They pressure washed it and let it dry for a day or two. Spray painted it with Sherwin Williams paint.

Came out great. No regrets at all about pressure washing or spraying the paint on.

 

If they powerwash, I wouldn't let them touch it for at least a week to dry. All bare spots need to be primed. A roller coat is far better than a spray coat. A roller coat will deliver a thicker DRY film to the materail being painted. Spray coats, even airless, are generally thinned to make the job easier. Roller coats don't require any thinning. A brush coat will deliver the most dry mils film of any of the application techniques. Figure spray at .7 mils dry film, roller at 1.2 mils dry film, and brush at 1.5 mils dry film per coat. The brush will deliver twice the dry pint film of a spray. Do not use cheap paint. Avoid the Sherwin Williams 25 year Super Paint. It FAILED, note the word FAILED, on my house at year 10. Ben Moores MorGuard is a good one but there are several out there that are good. Do the Google research and get the right one for your house.

 

My dad has painted our house about 5 times already. All he does is house the house down the day before. Not pressure washing just spraying water. And he always uses a roller. Spraying is easier, but to me and him rolling has a better finish and you dont have to worry about over spray

 

Since he had to paint it five times already I wouldn't follow this advice.