Pressure washing before painting

[KSever]

Started the big job of pressure washing the 1885 Victorian house today. Plan on doing this house in stages so I can hopefully do the prep work before painting the correct way so I don't have to do this much work again for a long time.
Plan on pressure washing then sanding everything else that don't come off down to the bare wood, as I get it down to bare wood I plan on priming as I go around the house. I doubt that I will get to the finish color before winter since I have ALOT of prep work to do including the caulking of everything including all the 85 windows. So far I have just one question since I have never used the pressure washer before to strip house paint ( I have always in the past just scraped and painted but them houses were not my own).

Question is how long after you pressure wash the wood on the house should you wait before priming with paint?

[Jakorg]

powerwash

#1 Hey It sounds like this is not your first rodeo make sure & check with DEQ.
#2 You might not be able to use a power washer at all without proper containment (Lead & All)
#3 If you are gonna powerwash anyways, wash to get dirt and loose paint off the building. Remeber use a moisture meter it will answer all you questions.
A.

[lrobertson]

Do you plan on scrapping the paint after pressure washing? I agree that you should use the moisture meter. Take a look at this site for more information on painting techniques.
Let us know how it turns out!

Smiles,

[wvguy]

prep is the key

You are on the right track. Pressure wash but of course don't get yourself in trouble with the lead. You don't need a moisture meter. No one has one and average consumer don't need one. Instead sounds like there will be plenty of work to do after you pressure wash for the wood to dry. Just make sure of two things before you prime. First, remove all loose paint and second remove all loose paint. Then prime with such a old house I would use a oil based whole house primer. I say whole house because most are only spot prime outside. Second topcoat with Latex top coat something that is 100% acrylic latex is ideal. Just make sure you work on one side of the house at a time and don't wait long after you prime before you paint. Never more than 2weeks maximum before topcoating or else your primer could fail.

Hope this helps.