Cleaning Wood Siding Before Painting

Although paint manufacturers might lead you to believe that the world will end if you don t clean the siding before painting the reality is not quite that dire.

Cleaning wood siding before painting. Make sure to brush the wood clean working from the top down. Caulk after you stain or prime. Give it an occasional cleaning to brighten up its appearance get rid of mildew and prevent discoloration. If your siding is wood or vinyl set the pressure between 1000 and 2000 psi and when cleaning brick it should be even lower.

Work a paint scraper from every direction keeping the blade flat against the wood so you don t create gouge marks. The paint will go on just fine but by painting dirty siding you seriously shorten your paint s lifespan. You want the absolute best adhesion surface for your paint. 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.

Potential of siding damage water injected under siding or dirt remaining on house. 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. Primer helps paint stick and improves the coverage so you can dramatically change the color of the old wood if. 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.

Stain bonds well to unpainted weathered wood. Considering how hard and expensive it is to paint house exteriors it s a. So strong that it will peel old paint from a surface along with the stains tsp is often used for cleaning surfaces in the course of preparation for painting. Prepare the surface with old buildings such as my 130 year old barn water blasting the loose paint is not a recommended practice.

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. Before sanding scrape loose and flaking paint from the siding. If you plan to paint. Clean the entire surface with soap and water or a pressure washer to remove any dirt and grime that s built up over time.

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.