Prep before you paint

Our house painting project is in full swing. We’ve worked a full month of weekends on prep work alone.

Let’s take a look at what we’ve been doing.

Step One: Clean & Disinfect

Uncle Terry started by power washing the entire house to loosen any flaking paint and blast away the dirt build up. Once that dried, he sprayed on a bleach solution to kill all mold and fungus.

Step Two: Scrap & Sand

A few days later, the boys (Terry, my cousin Moses & Nate) started scraping flaking paint. As Nate and Moses worked on the walls and shed, Terry scrapped his way around the roof line attacking the redwood fascia boards.

You would think a concrete house wouldn’t have much prep work, but we had some seriously weathered wood.

I started sanding the porch overhang and then followed Terry sanding the fascia boards.

Its hard work and slow going. This weekend we will continue the process. We are about 75% done. Its going to take a few more days to get the prep done.

Step Three: Remove & Transplant

When doing all this work, you also have to take in consideration the landscaping. Our overgrown camellias bushes would not allow anyone to paint. Luckily, it’s the perfect time of the year to start pruning and transplanting plants and bushes.

We removed the camellias along the front of the house last weekend. Unfortunately, they were just too large for the planters. We will replant with something that grows only 1-3 feet tall and potentially hangs over the planter.

Step Four: Prime & Paint

Once the prep is done, we will prime all the raw wood with a hardy exterior primer. Terry will then spray on the house color and trim.

I can’t wait. It’s time to give our house a fresh start. Stay tuned for the big reveal and final color choice!