[billg123]

A part of my house is CBC with a 2x12 fascia running around the perimeter. The wood is original to the house, so late 40s/early 50s. I've repainted the whole thing (after stripping down to bare wood in most spots) with good success, except for the side that faces west. It gets a lot of sun, and I've recorded temperatures over 120 deg with an IR thermometer. My paint job from less than 5 years ago is peeling and cracking on this one side (I primed with Zissner alkyd primer and used a Sherwin Williams exterior topcoat, don't recall which one, whatever was recommended).


Does anyone have experience with exterior paints that might hold up better? I'm open to suggestions like marine/epoxy coats, but it's not something I'd want to do unless I'd heard that people had good results.


Thanks!

 

[woodco]

It really depends on which sherwin paint you used... THey have bad paints and..... well.... Less bad paints. lol

Actually, I dont have a problem with their exterior paints. But, theres a difference between using A-100 and Duration.... Duration is a better paint, but the fact that its thicker, might cause premature peeling under the right circumstances.

Also, what color are you talking about? Light or dark?

It also might have something to do with the state of the raw wood you primed... It might not have been stable, so expansion contraction may have pulled the coatings right off of it.

 

[SPS-1]

I used BM Aura Exterior white on a wood garage. Supposed to be good stuff but 6 years later, the South side peeling pretty bad. Typically peeled down to the bare wood, so maybe the Aura was not fully to blame.

 

[billg123]

Thanks, all. I'm attempting to paint it white, nothing fancy (looks-wise we treat it like trim).


I've been wondering about the wood myself, but I also thought a lot about this when doing it. I stripped the old paint using a combination of "safe" chemical strippers and an IR lamp during the winter. In the spots where I used chemicals I washed it off as directed. The wood had another two weeks to dry out (yay winter time) before I had a chance to prime it anyway, so really it should have been in as good a condition to paint as could be. Primer went down, and a few (dry) days later, the topcoats went on. I don't really see a difference between the spots I stripped with chemicals versus the spots I stripped with the IR. It's all peeling/bubbling/cracking.


Meanwhile, before I stripped it there were multiple segments where the original ~70 year old white paint was still flat, smooth and even (and heavily leaded, safely stripping was a big PITA)

 

[mark sr]

I used to work in central fla for an outfit that used cheap coatings. I remember a big issue with fading but not with peeling although that was almost 30 yrs ago.


Is it just the fascia that is peeling or the gable too? as asked above - what color?

 

[billg123]

Is it just the fascia that is peeling or the gable too? as asked above - what color?

It's painted white with a full gloss exterior latex paint over alkyd primer (which itself has come up off of the wood with the topcoat in a few places).



It's a flat roof, so there is no gable -- or other woodwork, for that matter. The sides are CBS and the windows were all replaced ~10 years ago with steel-framed impact glass. There is wood trim (and siding) elsewhere on the house, but most of the other west-facing wood is in partial shade, which I think is making a big difference.

 

[cocomonkeynuts]

I used BM Aura Exterior white on a wood garage. Supposed to be good stuff but 6 years later, the South side peeling pretty bad. Typically peeled down to the bare wood, so maybe the Aura was not fully to blame.

Paint doesn't peel on its own. Heat + Moisture on unsealed wood will almost always lift even with a decent primer. Seal it up with Benite, prime with quality exterior oil primer or acrylic, avoid really dark colors that absorb a lot of heat, and you won't see that come back.

 

[Gymschu]

What type of Zinsser primer did you use? I ask because something like CoverStain tends to get really brittle underneath the topcoats and can create bonding issues with the topcoats. In fact, oil-based primers in general tend to get very hard and brittle in the climate conditions you describe. This might be a case where you need to use a latex primer. I would recommend Duration for your topcoats. It's a bit overrated, but, in cases like this, it's a good coating for a sunny side of the house. Valspar's DuraMax is also pretty good stuff for what you are up against. Breathabiliy and flexibility are of great importance in Florida's weather conditions.

 

[billg123]

I *did* use Cover Stain. I just assumed it would give me a more tenacious bond than something latex based, as it's always been my go-to for projects that I know are going to get weather-beaten.



That said, I used it on another outdoor project that I never got around to top-coating (just a stand for an aerial antenna), and recently noticed that the primer was peeling away in thin slivers -- and that was on a brand new piece of unfinished lumber. So you may be on to something.