Should I rent a scaffolding when repainting the exterior?

[MiamiCuse]

Going to repaint my house. Exterior is CBS, the perimter is about 50' x 50', of course it is not a perfect square box, some parts of it like the front and back door have extra exterior lengths as it makes inside and outside turns. But I think it's a pretty good approximation of the length to cover. Height-wise it is about 16' tall at it's highest point and some areas are lower. So a conservative estimate is that I have (50 + 50 + 50 + 50) * 16 = 3200 SF to cover.

I did an inspection last weekend and for the most part there is no chipping and peeling of existing paint. Do I still need to power wash it before I prime?

The metal gutter has peeling paint, and the piece of wood attached to the eave where the gutter is attached to also has peeling paint. Now I need to take those paint off, and I think it's probably dangerous to power wash those on a ladder. So I need to rent a scaffolding? Do they rent out scafolding for painting jobs like this? If so, is it common to rent them for an extended period of time like a month? I can only work on it on weekends and probably using a scafolding I can paint better and will be able to patch spots higher up that I normally cannot reach. How high does a typical rental scaffolding reach? Can it reach

12' high so I can reach the tip of the 16' roof when I stand on it? Are there hydraulic ones that I can touch a button and it adjust it's height? or do I have to take things apart and re-assemble if height adjustment is necessary?

Once rented, is it typical to leave it outside exposed to theft or is it a take down and keep out of sight until need to use again thing?

About the gutter - I assume it needs to be totally taken down, repainted and re-attached. I don't know how else I can properly repaint the board it is currently attached to. I will take a close look to see if there is any rot too.

MC

Thanks,

MC

[Todd H.]

A full scaffolding might be overkill unless you have a very large home and very very difficult to move laterally and re-level on uneven ground.

A pair of extension ladders, brackets and a walk board might be a better choice. Rental houses have these. Getting them home is most of the challenge.

But me, exterior painting is definitely something that's labor intensive enough and "involving equipment I don't own" enough to make me think really hard about hiring some lower cost labor to get it done.

Best Regards,

-- Todd H.

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Wash yes, power wash no, unless you know what you are doing. Over zeleous power washing can do more damage than cleaning.

Sure, they will rent it to yo as long as you have money to pay for it.

I don't know the practical limits, but I've seen well over 50 feet. How high is the Statue of Liberty? That was encased by scaffolding.

You can rent lift trucks for height. How much money do you h ave as they can be $400 a week or more. You can get a single section of staging on wheels so it can be moved around the h ouse as you progress.

Depends on your neighborhood.

Probably the best way, but I can't see it so I can't say for sure.

[Muvin Gruvin]

years ago painted my house myself......course I was younger ....it was a split entry home....luckily for me it was built into a hillside so the only high parts...the front of the house over the garage area and one side. No matter where you live you should wash the house with a bleach solution. Depends on what type of siding if you should attempt power washing. Covered a dark brown paint & it required 2 coats .....all this I did with a hand brush. Bout 6 wks later ended up with tendonitis in my hand from holding that danged brush. Was able to do the whole house without scaffolding. Used a 16 ft extension ladder......did have to borrow my neighbors ladder as it was taller for the side of the house.

[Norminn]

Warm climate? Concrete block/stucco? Pressure wash after rinsing with

10% bleach. Fascia board, if it has open seams or is warped should be replaced (new one primed on all sides). Pressure wash removes chalking and mold, as well as loose paint. Tradition is always, as far as I know, pressure wash CBS in Florida.

Before you rent all of that stuff, I would consider having a contractor paint the first time - reputable, with confirmed and reliable references. By the time you buy paint at retail, rent pressure washer, buy ladders, etc., you might be approaching the same cost as having a pro do it. Plus, watching a pro is very educational. There are extensions for pressure washers that will reach from low ladder. If you do it alone, there are lots of stops and starts - weather, limited time after priming to get paint on, etc.

[SQLit]

I would not rent scaffolding for the job. Sure they will rent for almost any situation. You can even specify that they install and remove the scaffolding.

If so, is it

Rentals are usually done by the month.

I can

I have seen scaffolding installed against a building well over 100 feet high.

Can it reach

Not hydraulic but electric ones. I doubt you have the money for them. They would cost more than having a pro do the job.

or do I have to take things apart and re-assemble if height

Usually the planks (to stand on) are installed every 4 or 6 feet vertically, depending on the application

[Bill]

Unless you've got a LOT of time on your hands AND are physicaly fit, I'd get some bids from pros. Check with the BBB for complaints first though..

I've done tileing, interior faux painting, laminate flooring, plumbling, and electrical. I would never paint the exterior. Way too much work. Especially with lots of woodwork and gutters.

[I R Baboon]

if you are going to spend the cheese to rent scaffolding why not rent a small boomed manlift. we get them at work from the local rental company and are like 150-200 a month and they do deliver. easy to use and will speed up any exterior project.

[buffalobill]

this applies to buffalo ny where the best painting weather is june-july-august. subject to temperatures, humidity, and rain, this will mostly apply to you. go up somebody's ladder to the top of your house for the knee knock test. if that fear of heights kicks in you'll be hiring a painter for the upper floor work if not the whole house. if you like running around the rooftops and have garage space to lock them up, buy some ladders for the job: 6 ft stepladder, 8 ft stepladder, 16 ft extension ladder,

28 ft extension ladder, 32 ft extension ladder. the scaffold idea is one we have used, it is too heavy, requires extra setup time, and difficult to level because of its weight on the various sidewalk and driveway pitches. and ours was a free loaner. it's scarier than a ladder. part time painting of the home is best done in sections, where you complete all phases of the targeted section in the weekend and enjoy your beautiful home all week. pressure washing will take days to dry out so pressure wash one weekend before starting any primer. this weekend schedule requires the weatherman to cooperate by not raining on your scraped home for a couple of dry days.

read all manuals and cans first. buy lots of 2" blue masking tape and tarps. start at the front of the house and have extra scrapers and brushes and refreshments for the curious friends and neighbors to help as they stop by.

1. pressure wash/dry 3 days or more until thee wood is dry.
2. scrape and caulk and allow the caulk to dry.
3. fully prime once. fully reprime after first coat is dry.
4. paint once/ repaint after first paint is dry.

[mm]

I"m only talking about painting. My house didn't need any caulking, although a corner piece needed replacing. I painted it, and the walls underneath it , before I nailed it in place.

16 is not much, imho. Mine was about 26 and I did it with just one extension ladder.

I got the roller with the extra paint in the handle (the brand that made this style famous. I'll check what brand that is if you care) , so I didn't have to go up and down the ladder all the time, And the long handle meant I could do at least 4 feet on both sides of the ladder.

I considered the powered roller, but the fact that it relied on batteries bothered me.

I also have very little trim, but I used the medium length roller I think because T-111 has a texture.

If you're 6 feet tall and your arm goes almost 2 feet above your head and the roller goes another 2 or 3 feet, that's about 10 feet. You only need an 8 foot ladder, although a little taller might make it easier.

Someone said to start at the front. Is that the best advice for a newbie? I started at the back for some reason, and I think I was a lot more competent by the time I got to the front. Not that I made mistakes on the back, but I might have. At the front, I had a lot more experience. :)

That is quite a bit. I guess the 3 side of my house are less than 100 feet. Still you can do the lower 8 feet with no ladder at all. Maybe do some of that first, to see how fast it goes. That way you can plan, esp. about renting.

My first floor is brick. Above that is T1-11, with what they call Latex Stain. I"m not sure what the difference from paint is.

But it never peels, that's good. So I don't think I had any reason to power wash, and I think it would have taken off some of the wood, no? My neighbor powerwashed his fence and it seemed to do that.

You have to take loose paint off before you can paint. Can't you powerwash a gutter 16 feet high while standing on the ground? I don't know. I've never used one, but I thought they were rather focused.

to rent scaffolding, or to rent a scaffold.

Like he says, depends on the neighborhood. If you borrow or rent and it's stolen, you'll have to pay for it. Full price, I would assume. And I would find it more frustrating to pay for something that I had to return. So I paid and had nothing.

I have a piece of cement patio where I drilled a hole and put in a lead anchor and screwed in a big steel ring**. When I borrow a ladder, I chain it to the ring. The roofer used it too, when rain kept him from finishing in one days. **I'm supposed to build a shed on this cement, and the ring was to chain my bicycle.

It depends. I don't see how you are going to replace the gutter by yourself.

I hate to annoy the other people here, but if it is aluminum or galvanized, iiuc it only has to be painted enough to look good. The back side that can't be seen doesn't have to be painted.

Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let me know if you have posted also.

[Dan Espen]

I painted the house I'm in now exactly once. With a brush and a ladder. That was soon after we moved in.

A few years later the house started to look like it needed to be painted again. That's when I realized vinyl siding is the way to go. We spent a lot of money on some really nice siding and never regretted it.

25 years later, the siding still looks new.

Here's a picture, just to show vinyl can look pretty good:

Forget exterior paint, it's been obsolete for years now.

[Todd H.]

[lots of stuff that makes a great case for siding!]

Great post. But man does it make me happy with my siding!

Best Regards,

-- Todd H.

[Trekking Tom]

If your going to do it get a good ladder and a Stand off bracket, this slips over the top rungs and will hold the ladder much steadier and hold you away from the house. Easy to pressure washer with this setup.

The board behind the gutter is called Fascia, look into the aluminum soffit and fascia you could just use the fascia and slip it behind the gutter and nail it on. Provided the wood is sound enough to hold the nails.

Tom