Preparing exterior wood for repainting

SailinAway · 04-08-2022, 01:47 PM

I will be repainting my house and porch this year. I'm not clear on what the esthetic standard is for surface preparation. About wood siding I've heard, "Don't try to get it perfect. Just scrape off the loose paint. Sand the edges where the paint is missing if you want. You won't be able to see imperfections from 20 feet away." Do you agree?

I applied that theory to my porch 3 years ago and did not like the result, especially because the porch had a glossier paint on it so the imperfections are more visible. But scraping and machine sanding the whole porch to get an even surface seems laborious.

I won't be doing this work myself. I'm asking so I know what standard to expect from whoever does it.

04-08-2022, 01:47 PM	#1
SailinAway Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 991 Thanks: 256 Thanked 280 Times in 169 Posts	Preparing exterior wood for repainting I will be repainting my house and porch this year. I'm not clear on what the esthetic standard is for surface preparation. About wood siding I've heard, "Don't try to get it perfect. Just scrape off the loose paint. Sand the edges where the paint is missing if you want. You won't be able to see imperfections from 20 feet away." Do you agree? I applied that theory to my porch 3 years ago and did not like the result, especially because the porch had a glossier paint on it so the imperfections are more visible. But scraping and machine sanding the whole porch to get an even surface seems laborious. I won't be doing this work myself. I'm asking so I know what standard to expect from whoever does it.