Painting pressure treated lumber

[krw]

Right. Painting the cut ends is a RPITA. How do you keep the paint from drying in the can? ...On the brush?

[krw]

How much space should be between the Hardie planks? If it's to be caulked, there has to be somewhere for the caulk to go. The house we just bought has some gaps that look wider than they should be (and of course, no caulk).

[Swingman]

Once upon a time it was 1/8", but some caulk manufacturers recommended

1/4" and now, to add to the confusion, Hardie doesn't necessarily recommend caulking (except that field cut ends should be primed, painted, or caulked on some of their products), and strictly states not to caulk on their colorplus product ... so that's been a moving target since day 1.

Personally, I don't like caulking cement siding. If you paint/prime cut ends, and flash the butt joint properly, caulking should not be necessary.

[krw]

Wow! 1/4" is a lot.

[Hell Toupee]

Geez, I replaced my fascia and soffits with PT lumber in 2000. Primed and painted it, and the paint still holds tight and lookin' good.

What did I do wrong?

[Leon]

And that is where I use PT painted. I think others are referring to a surface that is walked on, a deck or porch.

[krw]

Not even walked on. My balusters and rails would peel every couple of years, too. It's places that get and stay wet for periods of time. Fascia and soffits, particularly, don't tend to stay wet.

[-MIKE-]

He was replying to someone who said "PT chemicals prevent paint adhesion," which isn't true.

[krw]

I have no direct information there but I've never had problems with paint sticking to the trim on the house. Same paint. Same prep. The trim wasn't PT, though.

[Swingman]

Case in point ... I started a crew installing 10 squares of James Hardie ColorPlus siding earlier this morning at a jobsite.

While the crew had considerable experience installing siding, they had no experience with this particular product, and I'm dammed particular about how it's installed, both to look good, and to maintain product warranty ... particularly with _not_ using caulk if at all possible, painting/priming field cut ends, and proper butt joint flashing.

No problem ... parked the truck in the shade, pulled out the iPad, sat it on the hood, and with the three man crew gathered around we had an impromptu OJT training film by showing the following video, over LTE, on my iPad3 (which never leaves my hands while on site):

anyone had any questions, we replayed the particular parts. Took about ten minutes, and I left to come back to the shop comfortable knowing that the supervisor and crew knows exactly what I expect, all without regard to any language barrier/misinterpretation.

High tech materials, products, tools and technology make for an all around better job, in all aspects ... gotta love it in this day and age.

[Lee Michaels]

"Swingman" wrote

1) That is a high tech gadget you carry around that creates an instant, in the field tutorial. 2) You obviously have a good crew there. They gathered around, watched the tutorial and even asked questions. 3) I wish a high tech tutorial would have been available, long ago, when my father gave me that obligatory, rite of passage "birds and bees lecture.

[Leon]

Veeeeeeeeeery Interesting!

[Swingman]

Being raised on a horse farm, neither a high tech tutorial, nor parental discussion, was ever actually necessary. Besides, there was Debbie D., a real country girl, who rolled us both up in a blanket one night while camping in the back yard, around the age of twelve, for a "hands on" demo. ;)

[Swingman]

[-MIKE-]

>So I see you're painting the factory edges. Do they take care not to let the paint bleed over to the front, to avoid the color not matching, or does the end paint come from the factory?

Also, is that saw on a worm drive motor?

[Swingman]

>

I just take a piece of the siding to Sherwin Williams and have them match the color for me (buy SW's top, Super paint, not the cheaper stuff). Works, and matches, better than the touchup kits JH sells ... Go figure.

It's my Makita LS1013 SCMS ... using a circular saw to cut butt joints in Hardie's ColorPlus siding is problematic in that the sole plate of the saw, and the framer's square they use in an attempt to square the cut, scuff the product ... Use a SCMS only, or pay the price in repainting most of the project.

[Leon]

>>>>>>>>> So I see you're painting the factory edges. Do they take care not to let

So cutting Hardi with "your" SCMS and the terrible dust, is a Kapex in your future for a replacement? ;~)

[Swingman]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> So I see you're painting the factory edges. Do they take care not to let

Why ruin an otherwise good Festool Kapex on a siding job?? ;)

[Leon]

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

You would keep the Makita as your beater and the Kapex would never see sunlight, so to speak. LOL

[-MIKE-]

>>>>>>>>> So I see you're painting the factory edges. Do they take care not to let

Noted for future reference.