On Tuesday, March 17, 2020 at 3:32:46 PM UTC-4, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 3/17/2020 2:01 PM, Robert11 wrote:
Hi,

Live in New England.

Haven't painted house in a (very) long time.

Some paint, here and there, on wood clapboards is peeling.

Question: should I have the house (the Painters all suggest doing so) pressure
washed first ?

I don't know how well the majority of the paint is adhering.
No way to really know, i guess.

But wouldn't pressure washing "peel" all of the marginal paint from
the clapboards ? And likely a lot of the paint that is adhering fairly well too ?

How really "necessary" is pressure washing ?

Wouldn't the new paint just cover up any dirt on the existing clapboards ?
Or, would there likely be bleed-thru of ?

Would appreciate your thoughts and suggestions.

Thnks,
Bob

Well, your description of the washing taking off the marginal paint is
one of the main reasons to do it. Good paint over old crap adhesion
means the new paint has crap adhesion.

The key to a good paint job is the prep. Painting over dirt, loose
paint, oxidized wood will cut the life of the new paint in half or less.

Your choice is the follow the recommendation all the painters have or to
cheap out and do a half assed job that will look like crap in a few years.

Listen to the pros.

+1

Make sure it dries out well before painting too. A few days minimum, more depending on weather.

It's wash, scrape if needed, fill cracks, caulk, prime bare spots, then paint. Most of the work, the important work, can be the prep work.