Painting old cedar plank siding?

[TheRegit]

I am about to paint the exterior of my 40 year old house. The house has cedar plank siding on it and it appears it hasn't been painted in quite a long time. I am not sure I have only owned the house 4 years and I know the people that owned it before me didn't paint it either. I have a couple of questions?

What is the best way to prepare the house for the new paint? I have a couple of planks that the paint is bubbling. Should I only scrape these planks? or do I need to scrape the entire house?

Also what is the best way to apply the new paint, should I use a brush or a sprayer?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Derek

[spammer]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but, you should scrape the whole thing down. You will ensure that any loose spots that are not apparent to the eye are taken care of. Don't look to get all the paint off, it's not necessary, the loose stuff will come off pretty easily.

Get a good primer, there are lots of good ones out there, and a good quality exterior paint and you won't have to revisit this project for years. It's the prep work that counts the most.

If you've never used a sprayer for this type of project before, I would use a brush. I've mostly found that the prep work and clean up after a sprayer takes as long as if you'd used a brush anyway.

[spammer]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but, you should scrape the whole thing down. You will ensure that any loose spots that are not apparent to the eye are taken care of. Don't look to get all the paint off, it's not necessary, the loose stuff will come off pretty easily.

Get a good primer, there are lots of good ones out there, and a good quality exterior paint and you won't have to revisit this project for years. It's the prep work that counts the most.

If you've never used a sprayer for this type of project before, I would use a brush. I've mostly found that the prep work and clean up after a sprayer takes as long as if you'd used a brush anyway.

[spammer]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but, you should scrape the whole thing down. You will ensure that any loose spots that are not apparent to the eye are taken care of. Don't look to get all the paint off, it's not necessary, the loose stuff will come off pretty easily.

Get a good primer, there are lots of good ones out there, and a good quality exterior paint and you won't have to revisit this project for years. It's the prep work that counts the most.

If you've never used a sprayer for this type of project before, I would use a brush. I've mostly found that the prep work and clean up after a sprayer takes as long as if you'd used a brush anyway.

[spammer]

Apologies for the triple reply, either google or my computer went nuts tonight.

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, I did that on my last house with cedar siding. I had to brush off all loose panit flakes. Then I brushed on Olympic solid stain. When I sold the house it was still in good shape after almost 10 years. Good paint job is depends on good prep. and quality material.

[buffalobill]

the final look will depend on your time and budget. damp climate will happily peel off more paint. in buffalo ny: we have found if you use a pressure washer to carefully wash the partially peeled surfaces to be painted, the water gets pushed into the wood, more paint blisters up, and more scraping can be done. complete drying of the wood is mandatory before any primer. painting a house with success cannot be scheduled just on weekends without perfect drying weather and perfect application by the rules of the paint can. everybody wants to skip something on the instructions but the results depend on specified temperature range, normal not damp humidity, and don't paint in direct sun. your roof and gutters may have blister causing leaks into the eaves and walls. look at the wall outside a bathroom for peeling from indoor dampness. spraying generally requires an unusual condition of no wind, and the finished look will depend on experience, i have explored it and avoided it. painting of the entire house is much more satisfying if done one side per year. start with the house view you see the most often for painter satisfaction. perhaps porch side. or pool side. it's going to be a brush job most likely. unless you have a large crew, only work sections of the house to completion, never the entire house in phases, for a good looking house more of the painting season and the seasons to follow.