Paint Failing - Opinions?

[Tom Breslawski]

I spoke to Chad about this earlier, but thought I'd put it out for some more feedback;

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59.86 KBthe paint is failing on the exterior of my house, mostly on the west wall. Wife & I decided to repaint this year. We've been here just over 10 years and haven't painted yet.

Checking it out this morning, here's what I came up with;

I use a scraper to get started but afterwards, the paint peels off in large sheets. It's clearly not adhering to the cedar siding, but this is only on the west side.

The previous owner must have caulked in between the siding gaps (most are about 1/8 inch). Any idea why he would have done this?

I'd like to paint with linseed oil paint, however this condition is only on one wall of the house. The rest of the house can probably just be painted with exterior latex, so I'm not sure that I want to strip the entire house when it's not necessary.

The other option that I'm aware of is sanding followed by priming and painting. What type of primer would you recommend for cedar like this? Oil based?

Do I have any other options that have been overlooked?

[Marc]

I thought that wood shingles weren't supposed to be painted. They breathe moisture and paint gets in the way of that.

Marc

[Tom Breslawski]

Yes, that's what I've always thought too. There always seems to be some disagreement out there about it.

The house was painted when I bought it 12 years ago however, so we're making the best of the situation.

I thought that wood shingles weren't supposed to be painted. They breathe moisture and paint gets in the way of that.

Marc

[mjr6550]

From the photos of the paint chips it looks like it adhered to the shingles, but some cedar came with the paint. If the cedar was heavily weathered it should have been scraped, sanded, or power washed (which damages the shingles if not careful).

I think you have to get rid of the UV damaged surface and then you should use a pigmented stain. A paint film on old cedar is probably asking for failure.

[Tom Breslawski]

Thanks. I'm going to keep working on it over the next few days. The paint only failed like this on the west side of the house. It's in really good shape on the rest, which is why I'd prefer painting instead of stain.

We'll see how it goes.

I still can't figure out why he caulked between the shakes.

This guy liked caulk.

From the photos of the paint chips it looks like it adhered to the shingles, but some cedar came with the paint. If the cedar was heavily weathered it should have been scraped, sanded, or power washed (which damages the shingles if not careful).

I think you have to get rid of the UV damaged surface and then you should use a pigmented stain. A paint film on old cedar is probably asking for failure.

[Scottpat]

Cedar has a good amount of natural oils that are most likely keeping the paint from adhering. The sun has most likely brought the oils to the surface more so than the other exposures.

[Marc]

...

I still can't figure out why he caulked between the shakes...

That's the thing. He wasn't figuring.

Marc

[John Kogel]

Try using a chemical cleaner on your cedar before repainting. Spray on, wait 10 mins, wash it off, and the cedar comes out looking like new. I can't think of the trade names right now.

[Marc]

Try using a chemical cleaner on your cedar before repainting. Spray on, wait 10 mins, wash it off, and the cedar comes out looking like new. I can't think of the trade names right now.

Sodium hypochlorite?

Marc

[Tom Breslawski]

Try using a chemical cleaner on your cedar before repainting. Spray on, wait 10 mins, wash it off, and the cedar comes out looking like new. I can't think of the trade names right now.

Thanks, I will definitely do a little research on this and see if there's one for the job.