[er240]

Hello.
We are in the process of prepping our clapboard house for painting and have hit a bump in the road.

The house was having major paint failure so we have stripped it down to bare wood (with the exception of some particularly stubborn spots!) and are working on facade repairs, etc. now. Everything I have read suggests that primer shouldn't be exposed for more than a week or two. Realistically, I just don't think we can turn it around that fast since we can only work on the house on the weekends.

We were planning to prime all the replacement parts (some siding and all of the trim) before installing, which means the primed wood would be out there for more like a month.

Should we not prime before installation? It seems like the clapboard needs to be pre-primed in order to protect the areas that overlap. The trim is a little different, and I guess we could just prime the sides and leave the exposed face un-primed until we are ready to paint. Would a month's exposure impact the adhesion?

Just trying to figure out how to make this work and any advice or experience with sort of thing would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks much!

 

[user1007]

If you use a quality alkyd primer like Benjamin Moore Fresh Start you can take your time to a point. Just remember it is going to pick up dirt and so forth so you may have to rinse or wipe it down before painting if you leave it too long.

Priming pieces before installation is up to you. If you have the space, you can do them before.

For clapboard, by the way, I would use a thick nap roller cover, 3/4" or more, and chase with a brush to get it in the joints.

You can finish coat alkyd with either oil or latex. In this day and age, I would use 100 percent acrylic with as much UV protection as you can get.

 

[Workaholic]

Honestly if you pay a reputable paint contractor you will save yourself a lot of hassles, a good contractor will save you a lot of time and stress which is pretty valuable. Exteriors are a lot more time consuming and have more risk of injury than a simple room repaint.

 

[Gymschu]

Paint companies like to protect themselves with the line, "primers should not be exposed to the elements for more than 30 days." Honestly, I have left primer exposed for as long as 3 months before painting and didn't have any problems. I certainly don't recommend it, but, your primer will be ok IMO. Maybe just paint sections at a time.......for example, do the back side first, prime it, let dry, and hopefully get it painted within a couple weeks. Then, move on to another side and go thru the same process. That way, you won't let primer go uncovered for very long.

 

[er240]

Thanks everyone! That is pretty much what I figured, but wanted to see what others experiences have been.

We are priming with BM Fresh Start oil and finish coats will be BM Moorguard. After all of this work, we are really looking forward to the painting!

Gymschu- that is exactly our plan! We are going facade by facade.

sdsester- a roller and backbrushing? interesting. sounds easier than brushing. do you get better or more even coverage also? do you recommend this for priming as well as painting?

Thanks again!

 

[user1007]

sdsester- a roller and backbrushing? interesting. sounds easier than brushing. do you get better or more even coverage also? do you recommend this for priming as well as painting?

Especially for priming and I would do the finish coats the same way. I would not claim the coverage to necessarily be better than using a brush alone. It will speed your progress to use a thick roller though. And with a roller, you will be applying material a bit thicker to be soaked in by your exposed wood with the primer coat. Up to you. Doing it with just a brush will work too.