Exterior Painting: Divinding Line?

[Incubus]

Hi Folks,

I'm about to set about painting the exterior of my house. Its a end terrace house with roughcast :o(

Whats the best way to get a straight dividing line between me and my neighbour? I thought I could just use a small brush and take my time at the edge but because of the roughcast it will no doubt not be perfect.

I thought I might just put a straight edge of something (probably wood) up the wall and take a flat head screw driver down the edge to break of a thin line of the stone and hence allow me to get a neater looking line.

Is there a professional solution to this?

Cheers,

John.

[Palindrome]

Masking tape worked for me...

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Like the other guy said, masking tape, but use the blue painter's tape. Use a long level to make pencil marks, and then apply the tape. BUT....sometimes what's level doesn't always look straight, relative to nearby lines of reference. So, take the time to stand back and eyeball the tape line. You might find that you want to VERY slightly slant the line.

[Don Spumey]

Why mess around with a level? Take advantage of gravity & use a plumb line!

Don.

[Incubus]

Oh yeah, forgot to ask - I was thinking about adding some upva solution to the paint to help seal the building. Is this a waste of time or good practice? (The paint is proper Delux exterior paint)

Also, someone suggested waiting until the warmer weather or the cold building might spoil the paint and need redone in a few years. ANy truth in that?

Cheers,

John.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

Yeah...that, too.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

No truth at all. The paint can might say "Apply at 50 degrees F or higher", but it's all lies. You can paint when surfaces are well below zero.

Sheesh......

[Noozer]

And install a piece of trim... A raw painted edge between two halves of building never looks right just sitting there.

[aemeijers]

A multi-colored building, split vertically, never looks right either. If you need a repaint, likely they do too. Get together and get the whole place done at once so it looks decent.

(Just IMHO, of course, YMMV.)

aem sends....

[DIY]

Only do that if you want to ruin good paint, spoil the colour and waste your money. It will say on the tin how to prepare the surface before painting, e.g., stabilising solution.

No, that is rubbish. It will say on the tin under what conditions the paint should be applied.

[DanG]

Masking tape allows some paint to bleed under. Apply the tape, then apply a very thin bead of caulk along the line, wipe it really tight. The caulk will prevent the paint from bleeding under the tape. Remove the tape while the paint is still wet.

[Larry Caldwell]

The key to a good paint job is prep, prep, prep, prep...

Pressure wash, wire brush, TSP, and pressure wash again. Calk and tuck as needed. Paint. If you use an airless, backroll. Cut in the trim. Done.

[Berkshire Bill]

Build a guide for your circular saw and use a diamond blade or possibly carbide. That way you could saw a dividing line across the face of the stone. As always, wear goggles and cover the shrubs as this will produce a lot of dust.

Don't modify any paint formulas without testing. It doesn't soound like you have a decade or so to monitor the results.

Take the suggestions from the label on your "Delux" paint. Even garbage paint needs some reasonable temperature to flash, dry or cure (you pick the term you want).

Bill

[Andrew Gabriel]

If it's not already painted, I would think twice about doing so. You are creating an ongoing maintenance issue of repainting it. If you are just doing this because the roughcast is dirty, then you're going to have to clean it first anyway, so stop after doing that and have a rethink if you really want to embark on this.