Anybody Paint Their Own House?

[Wrecked944]

Wondering if I should do it myself or pay someone to do it. Here is a pic of the patient...



The red parts are painted cedar shingles. The off-white parts are just regular old painted wood. House is 90 years old. Not sure what would be involved in painting but I guess I need to do it now as some parts are peeling. Some people say I'll need to "scrape" the paint off. But that seems like a PITA - wouldn't using a chemical stripper be easier? Overall trying to figure out if it is worth my time to do it myself. House is in New England so I assume I'll need to do some wood repair - whatever THAT means.

[Superman]

Chemical stripper would be a colossal mess. Scraping is bad enough, but itis the easiest and best way. Easiest, but not at all easy. Like all painting jobs, the real work is in the prep. If you want a good job done, then somebody needs to spend a fair amount of time scraping and possibly sanding. Then use an oil primer on the bare wood. Then paint. The painting part is the easiest by far. The better the prep job, the better the paint job.

Oh, start by pressure washing. That will cause 80% of the paint chips to FLY off. Still, the scraping will be hours. Maybe many hours.

[rcecale]

Janus,

Several months ago I decided I was going to paint my own house. Figured it couldn't be THAT difficult. I mean, I've seen the commercials for the Wagner Power Painters and the like....they have the whole neighborhood painted in a matter of seconds!!!

Picked up some prep supplies from the local Home Depot. Wire brushes, sandpaper, bondo for replacing any rotten wood, etc, etc, etc...

It was a Saturday morning, around 10ish, I believe. Started out, wirebrushing peeling paint, sanding it smooth....30 minutes of this and I had enough. by 11:00 I had all my stuff cleaned up and was in the house calling local painters to schedule some appointments for quotes.

By the next weekend, I had found the painters I wanted to use. They were scheduled, and two weeks later, my house was finished. It looked marvelous!!!! Even my neighbors tought so!

Personally, I'd contract it out.

Here's a couple shots of the back of my house. The other three sides are brick....not a lot of paint there, except for the trim and soffets.



Have fun!!!!

Randy

[juanbenae]

if you have more time than money get some painting clothes on. if you have more money than time get a pen and sign a contract.

if you are to do it rent a pressure washer and airless. for what you save doing it yourself you could prolly buy the items i mention.

[bryanthompson]

wow, gorgeous house, Randy. very nice!

[juanbenae]

randy did you know your wife was naked in front of the upstairs window when you snaped that shot?

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

Get some local high school kids to paint it...

I made a couple extra bucks over the summer painting houses..

[pbs911]

I've painted about 9 or 10 houses when I was a teen ager. I would always get into trouble and my parents would have to bail me out. In order to repay them I had paint one of their rentals. Each house, smaller rental properties (about 1,200 sq ft.) would take about 2-3 weeks, 6-8 hours a day. And that's with stucco.

Hire someone unless you really enjoy the work.

[rcecale]

Originally posted by k911sc
randy did you know your wife was naked in front of the upstairs window when you snaped that shot?

Shhhhhhh! That's not MY wife!!!!

Bryan, thanks, buddy. The house may look nice....but the upkeep will either break my back or my wallet...possibly BOTH! I sometimes find myself wishing I'd have bought a mobile home instead!

Randy

[Paul K]

Don't do it. Wife and I did ours- absolute nightmare, and the paint underneath wasn't too bad. Turned out okay,
mainly due to lots of blood, sweat, tears and determination, but never again...



Cheers,

Paul.

[rcecale]

Originally posted by procon
Since the majority of your home is cedar shake shingles, it might be cheaper just to replace them.
I would check with a local roofer & get a bid on removal & replacement.
This way "you" could paint the shingles before their applied.

That's a great idea. He can just spread them out all over his drive way and paint them with a roller!

Randy

[Rob Channell]

I just painted most of mine inside and out. The outside was such a pain I would never attempt it again. I will hire it out next time. The inside was much easier, but I still might consider contracting it out.

As an aside I was having some engine work done on my 1972 911 and all I could think of while I was painting was:
"Here I am doing the work I hate(painting) while I pay someone else good money to do the type of work I enjoy(working on Porsche). What's wrong with this picture?"

[azasadny]

Interior - paint yourself
Exterior - hire a professional

Randy,
Your house is beautiful! Looks like you've done real good for a jarhead! (former USN Corpsman here)!!

[rcecale]

Thanks, Art! Truth be told, it was my wife who picked our house out. We spent some time shopping them when we moved here to Georgia in 2001, and this was the one she liked the most. Personally, I think the house is just a tad on the large side for just the two of us. But, who am I to argue???

I think it may be my 20 years of USMC training that has kept me in shape enough to look after it all!

Randy

[red-beard]

Painted my house in Albany in July 2001. 4 stories, and just under 50 ft high. No tengo dinero!

Rented a 48 ft fiberglass extension ladder for a weekend. Bought paint in 5 gallon buckets and bought a scraper. You need to buy the really good scraper. I had to position the ladder almost vertical, so I tied it off through a window on the 4th floor everytime. Painted top to bottom in about a 5 ft wide swath. Scraped the brick by hand, every inch.

2 days and it was the hottest weekend of the year. I finished all but the lowest part of the building, which I finished with a small ladder.

I also did the back, but there was a deck and that made easier with my next door neighbor's extension ladder.

Don't use a pressure sprayer. The paint can travel and cover other peoples cars etc. I purchased Wagner power rollers. They sell battery operated ones for about $50. Fantastic. If the walls have any texture, buy the thick fuzzy rollers.

What you can't see from the pictures, is that the power lines are right in front of the house. They are about even with the 4th floor, and maybe 8-10 feet from the window.

[red-beard]

[Wrecked944]

Hey, thanks for the great replies! I'd never before heard of "Hardy Board" and now I'm thinking that it (or something like it) might rock. Maybe paint it on the ground with a sprayer and then rip the old wood off with a crowbar. Attach the new siding and declare victory. Are there any composite siding products that don't need paint? This might be a good time to make a permanent change.

[RickM]

If changing over to a new exterior material then consider manufactured stone: http://www.coronado.com/redesign/product_index.html

If you have a compressor then you could buy a pressure paint tank and spray your house. I bought one at Sears years ago and did a friend's entire townhouse interior, then used it on my homes interior 8 years ago. I don't see why it wouldn't work great on the outside. BTW, I used an old 1 HP/13 gallon Sears compressor which worked perfectly. That and 50 feet (x2) of light weight air and paint hose, and an old (Sears/Devilbiss) spray gun head and you're in business. You can even place a gallon paint can in some models and avoid most of the mess.

Also, consider the possible legalities when removing the old paint. If lead is present MA may require a certified individual/organization to remove....kind of like with asbestos.

HF 2 1/2 gallon pressure paint tank(only) @ $39: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=37515

Here's a used Binks for $100 http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=26228&item=7518503023&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

Ebay listings: http://search.ebay.com/pressure-paint-tank_W0QQfkrZ1QQfromZR8

EBAY Entire pressure paint setup now @ $51 pressure paint tank

[vash]

ok, my house is a tiny turd compared to the ones shown above. but i still hired some guy to do the work. everytime i saw a house being painted i would stop by and watch them work. i found the master this way. took me two months. but this guy did excellent work. he considered his spray gun just a method to get the paint on the walls. he followed up with a brush. he had to sand down one exterior wall.

i painted my interior and it looks it. i would hire out the work. get a contract for sure.

[speeder]

I've stayed off this thread because I am a painter and a little biased and tired of the whole subject right at the moment, (just worked 20 days in a row in ~100 deg. heat), but house painting is a lot of work to do right. It is mostly the prep that's a killer, (and makes the job), obviously some jobs require more prep than others.

There are definitely health and legal issues with removing old paint, but it usually has to be done. I've done a lot of prep-heavy, renovation type work. It can be rewarding when it's done, but in between obscenities I usually think about the degree I never earned.

Here are a couple pics of jobs I've done: