You're done scraping and sanding when everything left is well adhered - sounds like you're there. I would remove caulk since you don't know whether what's there will take paint.
How much scraping is enough when prepping to repaint?
Hi folks, I’m about to repaint a plywood exterior panel above our bay window. The existing paint is cracked and flaking pretty bad. I’ve used a paint scraper to flake off the loosest bits and then a random orbital sander with 40 grit to prep the surface. I’m attaching some pics to show what it currently looks like:
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Two questions:
1) How do I know when I’ve removed enough of the old paint to repaint? and
2) Should I cut out all the old caulk on the joints and recaulk them all or just use some fresh caulk to fill in gaps?
Thanks in advance for the advice!
Two questions:
1) How do I know when I’ve removed enough of the old paint to repaint? and
2) Should I cut out all the old caulk on the joints and recaulk them all or just use some fresh caulk to fill in gaps?
Thanks in advance for the advice!
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Invest in a good carbide-bladed scraper. They are sharp and will remove more paint than what you have removed so far. Combine that with a putty knife and that usually gets off most of the peeled paint. Your wood looks pretty rough. Paint will have a tough time bonding to it at this point. Once it gets that weathered, gray look to it, well, it's getting to the point of not holding paint anymore.
To add, once you have as much paint off as you can take off, sand again, and prime with a slow-drying oil primer. Any latex primer is going to allow that old wood to wick ugly dark stains up through the primer coat and eventually the finish coats of paint.
To add, once you have as much paint off as you can take off, sand again, and prime with a slow-drying oil primer. Any latex primer is going to allow that old wood to wick ugly dark stains up through the primer coat and eventually the finish coats of paint.
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