A short while ago a new follower arrived, and left a number of comments. It turns out this person was a former owner of the property, and apparently has some issue with the condition of certain elements, most notably the front porch. I sincerely hope this is not the same person who actually painted the front porch, of which I have taken a couple of pictures in its present condition.
The porch in 2001 when we bought the property had already lost a significant amount of its paint, both the top coat, and the primer coat beneath it, leaving the wood bare in large patches.
The owners we purchased it from (Mike and Dana) had evidently slapped on a coat of paint to make it look presentable when they put the house up for sale in 2000, as I am assuming they had no incentive to actually do anything more, as they were not going to be living here anymore.
This begs the following question. Who painted the porch and why had it already peeled completely by the time Mike and Dana put the house on the market in the summer of 2000? I doubt that Mike and Dana painted the porch at all, except to cover up the mess when they sold the place. Was it painted a long time earlier, and they never got the time to do it properly? Or was it simply a poorly done job that deteriorated within a few years of it going on?
Perhaps the painter of the porch was Mr. Hilcox, who seems to take a remarkable interest in the peeling paint! He implies that I am being lazy in my efforts in maintaining the property, as evidenced by his blog (I have included it in my blog list in the right banner).
I would then guess that the porch was painted sometime in the late 'eighties, up to the mid 'nineties, giving the lifespan of that paint job somewhere of the order of less than ten years before it completely failed. I do have some experience painting, and am of the opinion that a properly painted exterior surface should last in the order of 20 to 30 years, and the primer coat should never peel from the surface. Perhaps Mr. Hilcox's suggestion that I pick up a paintbrush to take care of the mess that I adopted is also telling: Wielding a paintbrush is the least important step in applying a long lasting, proper coat of paint. Far more important are proper stripping (with either mechanical or chemical strippers), and then properly cleaning and rinsing to ensure the wood surface is thoroughly prepared for painting.
I have estimated that 'painting' the front porch is likely an 80 to 100 man hour job, so at least two, if not three weeks to get it done right, so if the weather looks good in August, I will probably do it then. And then I will sit back, knowing that it will be about about 2032 AD before I have to sand and clean it, and renew the top coat again.
The porch in 2001 when we bought the property had already lost a significant amount of its paint, both the top coat, and the primer coat beneath it, leaving the wood bare in large patches.
The owners we purchased it from (Mike and Dana) had evidently slapped on a coat of paint to make it look presentable when they put the house up for sale in 2000, as I am assuming they had no incentive to actually do anything more, as they were not going to be living here anymore.This begs the following question. Who painted the porch and why had it already peeled completely by the time Mike and Dana put the house on the market in the summer of 2000? I doubt that Mike and Dana painted the porch at all, except to cover up the mess when they sold the place. Was it painted a long time earlier, and they never got the time to do it properly? Or was it simply a poorly done job that deteriorated within a few years of it going on?
Perhaps the painter of the porch was Mr. Hilcox, who seems to take a remarkable interest in the peeling paint! He implies that I am being lazy in my efforts in maintaining the property, as evidenced by his blog (I have included it in my blog list in the right banner).
I would then guess that the porch was painted sometime in the late 'eighties, up to the mid 'nineties, giving the lifespan of that paint job somewhere of the order of less than ten years before it completely failed. I do have some experience painting, and am of the opinion that a properly painted exterior surface should last in the order of 20 to 30 years, and the primer coat should never peel from the surface. Perhaps Mr. Hilcox's suggestion that I pick up a paintbrush to take care of the mess that I adopted is also telling: Wielding a paintbrush is the least important step in applying a long lasting, proper coat of paint. Far more important are proper stripping (with either mechanical or chemical strippers), and then properly cleaning and rinsing to ensure the wood surface is thoroughly prepared for painting.I have estimated that 'painting' the front porch is likely an 80 to 100 man hour job, so at least two, if not three weeks to get it done right, so if the weather looks good in August, I will probably do it then. And then I will sit back, knowing that it will be about about 2032 AD before I have to sand and clean it, and renew the top coat again.
9 comments:
Give'm hell, or let them come over and scrape themselves silly on the way to Hell. I agree with you, a good paint job is 90% prep (and very little clean up after if one has done a good job). I am determined to finish painting my mottled old 1875 victorian village farmhouse this year, taking my time to gently and thoroughly scrape the remaining old paint. As happened to your house, a transitional owner here had merely come in with some cheap beige (!?beige?! - that alone is enough to damn that person to paint hell, LOL) Benjamin Moore paint and they just sprayed over everything. The best revenge is painting well and afterword sitting on the porch basking in the glow of a job truly done well.
Thanks for the support! I don't know but maybe I insulted Mr. Hilcox in my second post in this blog (ramblings of an occasional perfectionist - oct 9 2008). If he actually starts to annoy me I will give a detailed account of every deficiency and improper repair I have encountered with the house, and start laying blame on the person(s) responsible! I think in that earlier post I was pretty tactful in describing the overall condition of this magnificent home, but if the guy continues to imply I am a lazy sod I will take the gloves off and get pretty harsh about all the things that neither he nor any of the previous owners ever addressed (and a hundred years is a long time to get a few jobs done!), things I decided to 'look past' when my wife and I bought the house.
How is the wood underneath what is, or was, the paint? Any tricky/fiddly filling or replacing needed?
The wood underneath is actually in excellent shape, and not to worry, as David has found the secret weapon for any areas that maybe be less than perfect. A few companies produce a special wood hardener liquid, that when applied onto soft wood, hardens into something like concrete. I don't know the name of mine offhand, but I think it is produced by 'MinWax'. My paint guru at the local lumberyard introduced me to two products for preserving and filling wood, both which I have occasionally used with fantastic results!
Those two MinWax products are good (the liquid that you soak remaining damaged wood with, to turn it into a kind of plastic, then the wood filler), but they will only stave off the inevitable, so use the time you buy to see if you can find how water was getting to the affected area to damage the wood over the years, and think about replacing the repaired damage at some point. And use gloves and stand back, the fumes will get you!
Sorry I have'nt been in touch for a while David. Guess I lost interest in our little fewd.
Anyway, the paint. I believe the company that painted the house about 1987 or so was, Maplewood Painting. Looked pretty good at the time and I suppose even the best paint job has it's limits.
I have little interest in exchanging insults with you.
Al
Well that's I company I won't be calling... I agree, the best paint jobs do have their limits, but I don't think total failure in 10 to 15 years is particularly reasonable... Now I am just waiting to find out when my sister will purchase the Infrared paint stripper she needs (wants?) for her place...I haven't been very happy with either chemical or abrasives, and standard heat guns are too slow, This (relatavely) new device strips away all paint using IR waves, removing a rectangular patch about 8" by 20" in less than two minutes, with no caustic chemicals, or harsh abrasives, and no potential burning of the wood underneath.
Glad to see that all resolve. I am still half way through painting my own house, rain rain rain!
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