Repainting the Outside of an Old House

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 23:59:59 -800

After nearly 100 years, it was time for the old paint on my house to go.
Despite my attempts to keep the green tidy, there were so many layers of (lead)
paint on the wood that the bottom layers of paint were peeling off the wood,
leading first to the ugly alligator look and later to massive paint damage and
eventual wood rot. Solution: remove old paint, apply new paint. Regrettably,
this is _expensive_ as heck--preparing the site for possible lead contamination
and scraping the old paint have to happen before priming, sanding, and spraying
on the new coats of paint. When I bid out this project, there were not many
takers--most painting firms in the Portland area refused to tackle the removal
part, and the industrial paint removal firms charge an arm and a leg. Yuck.
But it was time to repaint my house from
scratch.