"Robert11" wrote in
:

Hello,

Have a question regarding painting my house.
Concerns really.

House is the typical wooden clapboard style.
Hasn't been painted for about 7 years or so.

I guess the normal thing that they recommend is to have it pressure
washed first, to remove any mildew and clean the surface prior to the
new paint.

The new paint will, I guess, be a coating that adheres to the old
paint, and will never actually see the wood underneath. Is this so ?

Yep, except for spots that have chipped, flaked, etc.


So, if the old paint flakes off the wood, it would take the new layer
of paint with it.
Am I looking at this scenario correctly ?

Yep.


As there are a few spots that do show some flaking (the paint that's
on there now), I'm a bit concerned about the pressure washing
loosening up even more of the original paint.

If you are pressure washing with the tip a reasonable distance from the
surface and it's flaking off then you don't want it to stay on. It's
gonna fall off soon anyway, as you said, along with your new coating. The
nozzle pattern should be some form of fan and not the jet stream. The jet
stream can actually dig a hole in asphalt. Even with a fan pattern, if
the nozzle tip is too close it will chew the wood. It may look like
you're doing a nice thing while doing it but when it dries it will look
nasty. When you paint over it it will look like ****.

But there sure is some light mildew here and there that I would like
to have removed.
Also, I guess a good cleaning will help the new paint adhere better.
True ?

Yep.


Is pressure washing first, therefore, a good idea, or best not to have
it done at all ?

I always pressure wash first to get anything loose off, clean dirt and
mildew off. Sometimes you will wash say like trim that looked fine and
you'll see chunks of paint fly off. Looking closely you'll see the trim
is rotted. Now's the time to fix it. Part of the overall prep phase.


Any thoughts on this would be most appreciated.


As you are painting, always keep a scraper in reach. Scrape any
questionable areas. Doesn't have to be a hard 2 handed scrape. If it
comes off, you want it off.


Thanks,
Bob