Stripping T111 to prep for paint

[rmw]

I have a two story house in bad need of paint and I was wondering if any one new of any new equipment or products that could do a good job removing paint before I repaint. I don't like to paint and want to accomplish this task as fast and good as I can so as not to waste my summer with a old fassion scraper and paintbrush.

[pushkins]

There are a few paint stripping products available but I wouldn't recommend any for T1-11, it is very porous and holds paint very well with it's rough surface, any remover you apply will soak in deep into the wood and pretty well nullify the purpose of the stripper. Strippers work when they can chemically attach themselves with the paint and make is soft thus enabling you to remove it.
Unfortunately I believe your best option is a hand scrapper. Have you thought about a high pressure washer, with a wide fan nozzle you probably will be able to remove most of any loose paint this way, just be careful it's very easy to dig into the wood.

[Nestor]

RMW:

When repainting a house, NO ONE scrapes off all of the old paint before repainting.
Why remove old paint that's putting up a noble fight to stay on that wood only to replace it with paint that won't stick any better? Why not just paint over the old paint instead?

In fact, that's what painters do. They remove any paint that's loose or comes off easily and then just feather edge the paint that's still sticking well with sandpaper so that a "ridge" doesn't show through on the new paint.

I would just use a pressure washer to remove any paint that's not sticking well, give the siding a few days to dry, sand down the edges of the remaining paint so it doesn't show through the new paint, and prime only the BARE siding. Then paint.

Maybe turn the pressure down on the pressure washer or hold the nozzle further away from the wood to avoid digging holes in your siding with that high pressure water.

[pushkins]

If you have not tested the paint for lead or you think it might be lead do NOT sand the paint, in all states it is illegal to sand paint that is lead based without HEPA filters especially when sanding. Even if your hidden away from prying eyes for your own safety dont sand unless you are certain no lead paint was used.
Do NOT prime ONLY the bare siding, make sure you apply the primer over the entire to be painted area, primers are not just for sealing bare wood they are instrumental in forming a bond on older paints and ensuring a uniform color finish.

[Nestor]

Are you saying to prime all of the siding, including the siding where the old paint is still sticking well, before re-painting it, Pushkin?

If someone were to want to repaint the INTERIOR walls of their house, would your advice be the same? That is, would you tell them to prime over all the old paint first, and then apply new paint over the primer?

[HayZee518]

interior paint

we're not talking about interior paint, that's a different issue. stay on topic please.

[pushkins]

Are you saying to prime all of the siding, including the siding where the old paint is still sticking well, before re-painting it, Pushkin?

Yes, not only does it make the work easier to do than "spotting" with a brush it helps with the uniformity of the finish work.

If someone were to want to repaint the INTERIOR walls of their house, would your advice be the same? That is, would you tell them to prime over all the old paint first, and then apply new paint over the primer?

Never once mentioned interior work, but since you brought it up there are times that yes priming an entire wall over old paint is a must, covering (correctly) over lead paint without having to remove it is one time, downgrading a gloss finish is another, covering dark based colors with light colors is another.

We do a lot of historical renovations, often with historical society overlookers, among the many trade people I bring in are professional painters to cater for clients paint requirements and the extreme range of siding conditions we experience. In all cases regarding flaking or peeling paint on wood exterior cladding they remove the loose material before priming the entire job.

[Nestor]

When you prime over the entire house, are you using a tinted primer in order to get a "head start" on the colour change?

Or, more to the point, would you still prime over the old paint that's still sticking well if you were simply repainting a building the same colour it was? (like a wooden military building that needed to be the same drab greenish gray after painting as before so as not to stand out against all the other greenish gray buildings on the base)

While I can see that if you're changing the colour of the house, priming it all white would produce a more uniform colour in the house after painting than not doing so. After all, it's easier to arrive at a uniform final colour if you start with a uniform initial colour. But, that's strictly an esthetic issue. I can't see any reason why priming over the old paint would improve the durability of the paint job. That is, I don't see why a coat of primer over the old paint would help in making that paint job last any longer than if you'd just primed over the bare wood and then painted over everything. And, I can think of one reason why priming over everything to turn the house white, and then painting over the white primer with the same colour paint as before to turn it back again would serve more to shorten the life expectancy of the paint job.

And, that reason is that wood swells and shrinks as it's moisture content changes with seasonal changes in temperature and humidity. Exterior oil based paints and latex paints stretch and shrink with the wood as it expands and contracts. But, the more layers of primer or paint you have over that wood, the more force you need to exert to stretch those layers. And, that means that the more stress there's going to be at the wood/original primer bond. When that original primer lets go of the wood, that's when the paint starts to peel off the wood and you need to replace that paint to keep that wood protected. So, the more coats that need to stretch as the wood expands, the greater the stress on that original primer bond, and the more places it's likely to let go of the wood sooner as a result, necessitating earlier repainting.

[pushkins]

You arguing a point about painting techniques that is used by all reputable, professional painters seems odd, there are always exceptions to the rule like an 1820's home with many many coats of incorrectly applied oil based paints applied over incorrectly prepared surfaces, but they are exceptions.
The reason of painting wood (besides aesthetics) is to slow down the swing in the wood's expansion and contraction, the paint is retarding the amount of moisture the wood absorbs during rain (for example) and how fast it dries out during hot spells thus stopping the massive expansion contraction that causes the wood's grain to open up and exasperate the problem. This is one reason why any new wood used in any work we do is primed on both sides and especially primed on both finished cut ends.
Painting only peeled paint removed sections not only takes much longer it means you have a stop line in the primer at the point of new primer and old paint, this is like a hairline crack in the paint. if you paint slightly up over and onto the old paint now you have a raised paint brush line on old paint which once you apply the finish coats of paint will make the finish look even more patchy.

Now if the siding issue was just a few random spots of peeling paint and the rest of the paint was in good order and it was just a "freshening up" of the house I could see just spot priming before final coats (2) but the OP mentioned serious paint peeling.

[rmw]

Wow

I am a former general contractor that moved to the bush of Alaska and now do plumbing and electrical. i just thought may be their were some new products or devices out in the last seven years to remove old paint. It sounds like I will be pressure washing and priming the whole house.

[pushkins]

Sorry rmw, it's one of the few areas in building that still requires old fashioned techniques...

When you say "bush" in Alaska, just how bush is it where you are ?