Exterior painting - 100 year old house

Before you start this project I would strongly suggest you test the old paint for lead. If the house is 100 years old you probably have some lead paint. Sanding, scraping and a heat gun all will release the lend. You can get an inexpensive lead test kit at a hardware store. Wagner makes a paint stripping tool similar to a rotary sander that does a good job of removing and beveling the edges. A little pricy around $75.

Wow, I never even thought about lead. I will do some reasearch on the web and also
Call the city to see if they offer any support in this area.
Thanks so much!

Hi, lindeelouky!

One of the things that I do for a living is that I am a house painter and decorator.

There are a number of possibilities as to why a paint job can be peeling - poor surface preparation such as not cleaning the surface or removing loose paint, not using a primer first, quality of the paint used, applying a paint over that to which it is incompatible, etc.

Please check out the lead thing first: Removing Paint from Exterior Surfaces to Prevent Exposure to Lead: Environmental Health - Minnesota Dept. Of Health

Surface preparation and the kind of paint that you use are paramount to a successful paint job.

After checking out how to deal with the lead paint, I would wear a good dust mask and scrape the peeling paint off.

It sounds like you want the job to look as perfect as possible because you are concerned about it looking patchy where the edges of the old paint show through. They will show through if you don't smooth them out entirely. I would not advise you to use a heat gun because of the danger of fire - I have seen this happen. But, I would suggest using a palm sander to smooth out all of the edges. You can find palm sanders that are not expensive and that will last you a long time. Got my current one at a Farm & Fleet store for about $20.00. Cut the retangles out from larger pieces of abrasive (sand) paper. I prefer to use a palm sander rather than one that goes in a circle because you can see the circle marks underneath the paint. Also, with another type of sander such as an inline one, there is the possibility of removing too much of the material, such as your wood, too easily.

I prefer to brush the paint on because it goes on thicker than if you spray it on. Spraying puts it on too thin. I also like the "warm" look to the paint job that brushing it on leaves. Must make the paint strokes as straight as possible.

Since you have wood siding, I would use a 3 inch high quality paint brush that tapers out to a feather edge for the largest surfaces. Then a 2 inch and 1 inch brushes of the same quality that have bristles set at an angle for the areas of trim.

For durability, I would use at least a satin or semi-gloss paints for the large areas and a semi-gloss for the trim areas. They will last longer than flat finish paints. Consult with the paint store about this. It may not be desirable for the large areas of your home to have any sort of glossy look.

Use a primer first, and apply at least two, thin coats of the paint. There really is no such thing as a one-coat paint - it is just a way to sell the paints. Unless it is applied over exactly the same color and type of paint the was previously used - recently.

For my customers and stated in my contract, I must use either Dutch Boy or Sherwin-Williams paints in order to guarantee my work. Sherwin-Williams owns Dutch Boy. About six years ago, I used a Dutch Boy semi-gloss latex on outside portions of my home. They still look like they have been freshly painted. There are a couple of other high quality brands of paints, but the ones that I have mentioned are my preference.

Keeping track of where you have painted can be tough. A gentle overlap of paints is okay.

I hope that there was a contract with the previous painter that spelled out some kind of warranty, I.e. At least a year to be free from...

Anyway, without going into a lot of other detail, here is a link for some more advise. Please let me know if you have any more questions. Thank you! And, I wish you well with your paint job!

How to Paint the Exterior of a House - eHow.com

Just a few other links for you. They address the issues of incompatible paints. I.e. One type of paint applied over another.

Exterior Paint Problems on Historic Woodwork & Siding - Oldhouseweb.com

HomeTips DIY: Choosing Exterior House Paint

Recommended Treatments for Paint Problems

Wow, you ARE quite the expert. I certainly do appreciate such great advice...and will use it all.
I am glad you don't think I need a heat gun but a sander, and I will make sure not to get an oribital one, I know what you mean about leaving the circular marks.
I can't imagine why the paint peeled. It was not just this last layer, it was every single layer all the way down to the raw wood, like 1/8" thick slabs that peel off. All the paint that was ever on the house it looks like. ;-)
Also, do you suggest I do a patch of the outside at a time or scrape it all and then sand it all, then prime and paint it all? It will make the house look bad for so long, I thought I'd do one side the front, and then the other side.
I will check out your links. GREAT answer, best I've seen anywhere!

Thanks again so much!

I like to get the hardest things done first. And, to me with painting, that would be the things that are up the highest.

Don't know if your home is a two or one-story. I would like to know that.

Are you going to be applying the paint by brush?

Just as an added note of interest, there is a very old house just across the river in Davenport, IA. A two-story. When I lived in Davenport, I would drive by this home on a daily basis. It took them MONTHS to paint to house. The owners were probably doing it themselves. I noticed that they were meticulate in every detail as far as repair, patching, preparation, painting, etc.

That was many years ago and the home still looks great!

One thing that can make paint peel is migration of water vapor from inside to outside. If you were new to the house when you had it painted several years ago, this might be a possibility. Did you change how the house was used (eg, use a big humidifier in winter)? Is the peeling localized near bathrooms (steamy showers)? If it localized somewhere else (eg, is something leaking)?

Chances are slim that a 100 year old house has a good vapor barrier so this could be adding to your problem. 100 years ago you'd be lucky to have tar paper under the shingles.

I am 52, have a 100 yr. Old bungalow style house, have the Wagner stripper and it's easy to use. First I scrape and pull off all the brittle old caulk that will come off. Then I use the stripper across the whole surface because even if it is pretty solid strong paint, the stripper cleans it and preps it for fresh paint. Next I fill all the gaps with fresh caulk. Then I use a primer called Peel Stop made by Zinsser that is made especially for old homes. It goes on milky clear and dries totally clear, but it fills all the tiny little cracks and makes the final look amazing. It reminds me of putting on a thin coat of Elmer's Glue...totally sealing the surface. Then follow with two coats of paint. I am using satin on the body and semi-gloss on the trim. It is a work in progress...but it looks so great. I give all the credit to the glue-like primer. The paint adheres to it beautifully and makes me look like a pro.