"David Roberts" wrote in message
om...
Hi,
I'm in need of some help judging the different stories I get from
several painters recently. I've been getting estimates to paint my
house exterior (wood clapboard). Please give me your take on the
following statements.

1a) You should caulk everywhere, including between the clapboard to
seal the house from moisture and prevent pests from getting inside. (
I do have a big ant problem and see them crawling between the boards).

seal it up. see below on how to keep it sealed.

1b) You should never caulk between the wood boards because the house
must breathe and adjust with the moisture and temperature changes.

ya the house must breathe. but not from between these cracks...


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2a) The paint job should last between 15-20 years.

2b) The paint job will last up to 10 years.


this totally depends on where you live, how much sun a given part of the
house gets, etc. that said for latex, its b. a good oil paint job will
last longer.


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3a) Using rollers and brushes is superior to spraying the paint on.

you tend to get a better coat of paint and are less likely to miss areas.
it also requires a bit of a touch to make it look as good but its not rocket
science. and nobody is gonna start that close at it anyway.


3b) Spraying gives a more uniform paint job with no roller marks.

in theory if you put on enough paint it should be as good. in practice ive
never seen a spray job on an older house that lasted anywhere near as long
as a brush job.


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4a) Painting the 1 story house (approx 1675 sqft) should take 3-4
days.

for how many people? for one or two thats just crazy talk. also depends on
some things. see below.


4b) Painting the 1 story house (approx 1675 sqft) should take about 2
weeks.

more reasonable. 1-2 weeks for two guys to do it right. also depends on
trim situation, whether the trim is a different color. lots of factors.

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5a) You should putty over the nail heads to both make it look better
and protect the nail.

5b) You shouldn't waste your time putting over the nail since it will
come off within a few years. The primer and paint will protect the
nail head.

you should make sure the siding is tight to the wall. if you have loose
nails, remove them and screw it down. prime and paint as usual. as for
your first question, when caulk fails between the boards its because the
boards are loose.


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6a) Two coats of paint are essential. The extra coat will extend the
life of the paint job.

6b) One coat is sufficient, and we put more paint on with that coat so
it will protect better.

one coat is never sufficient. the second coat takes 1/2 as long to put on
if its done right after the first.

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7a) Spot priming is fine, only on wood that is bare or where the old
paint comes right off.

7b) It is good to prime the whole house regardless as to the condition
of the wood or existing paint.

the primer job IS the paint job. prime the whole thing.


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8a) The new paint will only look as good as the old if the surface is
still rough. Sanding the wood is for aesthetic reasons, not
protection.

if you want new siding buy new siding. a good paint job entails scraping
the loose paint, lightly sanding the house to rough it up, prime it, then
paint it. if you want to sand the siding, just replace the siding with
something better that doestn need paint and be done with it forever.




I've also been given estimates ranging from $2000-8600 and warantees
from 2 years to 7 years, respectively.

if the 2000 job is guaranteed for 2 years and the 8600 is seven years, you
get more warranty by having 4 2000$ jobs done every two years. this would
probably be better than the 8600$ job... 8600 is also soo00 close to a
siding job that would last for 20-30 years that it would be hard to swallow
that cost...

anyway my 2 cents...

randy