In article , (Jedd Haas) wrote:
You've gotten all these different prices and different opinions because
the painters are all working their own agenda; some are pricing for a good
job, some for a not-so-good job. Write your own specs and have each
painter give you a price. Note how some of them will whine about you "not
needing to do" certain steps you specify. As others have noted, prep is
key; so some of the following steps may or may not be applicable. Here are
the basic steps for a good job:

1. Pressure wash the house.

Definitely *not* a good idea. If there are gaps in the siding, as the OP
described, this will force a lot of water behind the siding. Not a place you
want water.

Even if there are *not* gaps in the siding, pressure washing is still
questionable IMHO: the pressure can be high enough to damage the siding.

If it needs to be washed, wash it by hand.

2. Sand down to bare wood.

The entire house??? Naaaah. Totally unnecessary. Sand the parts that need
sanding (if any).

3. Replace any cracked or broken boards.

Should be done *before* sanding, so that sanding can remove any unevenness or
splintering that occurs during board replacement.

4. Tighten up all the nails.
5. Set the nails below the surface with a nail set.
6. Prime the entire house.

Your steps are out of order again. Priming comes *after* puttying and sanding.

7. Putty/spackle, and caulk all holes and cracks, including all the siding
gaps.
8. Hand sand.
9. Prime again.

Ridiculous. One prime coat is enough -- as long as it's applied at the right
time, i.e. *after* puttying and sanding, not before.

10. Hand sand.

Wrong, wrong, wrong. Prime, then paint. The whole point of priming is to give
the top coat a good surface to grab onto. It's a total waste of time to sand
*after* priming.

11. Two finish coats, oil or latex, your pick.

Got that part right, anyway. :-)