Exterior trim should be backprimed. This means that the decorative pieces of wood on the outside of your house should have paint on all sides before they are attached to the house. Without backpriming, the wood can absorb moisture, which can cause warping, rotting, and shorter paint life on the front of the piece of trim.
John Churchill Builder and Cont. Ed. Instructor at Emory University Author of
How fast do they build and sell homes where you live?
Oren "My doctor says I have a malformed public-duty gland and a natural deficiency in moral fiber, and that I am therefore excused from saving Universes."
It's Georgia, fer crying out loud. Warm in the winter, hot in the summer. Perfect place for Harvard graduates that don't have a clue.
What's a clue?
Back prime? wake up houses are not built that way , never have been, and taken care of dont fail from not being Back primed, what a stupid idea.
Calling me "clueless" or my suggestion "stupid" does little to elucidate the merits of the original assertion. If you have a better source that denigrates backpriming, other than your conjecture, I'd love to learn from it.
The Landmark Society of Western New York is the Rochester region's historic preservation organization. They advocate the following:
"Backprime new [porch] decking..."
"Backprime all [column] base parts and end grain cuts..."
"Backprime all replacement boards..."
Source:
its certinally better to backprime, of course you dont have too.
you can just replace more boards sooner:( If your iunto extra work more power to you:(
Agreed. Ransley, sometimes newer approaches work better than traditional approaches, and backpriming certainly doesn't hurt, albeit it costs a little more and takes a little more time. Backpriming is a conservative way of preservation.
I'll wager you also do not waste your time to prime/paint/finish the concealed edges of doors and windows either...
It is not done, it had not been done, on the best of houses , buildings, structures, that are still standing after hundreds if not a thousand years. Take a trip to Europe to visit 1000 year old buildings. In theory it might sound better. In fact the wood is outside it may do nothing since rain hits exposed wood, not the backside. Keep your siding caulked , painted, and it lasts, let the paint peel and it is garbage in 20 years. Now if you still believe it, figure hand paintings cost of a truck load of wood before it is installed, just that cost would be thousands. Just because some historical group says so doesnt mean it is right.
It would be the ideal to back prime, and possibly even the first finish coat for all exterior wood, however money, time and materials always enter the picture. Commercially built houses will never have this happen. Custom built houses may have some items back primed, but the same factors will govern what and when. Craftsman built houses may have more items backprimed, wood siding is a good example, but pressure from the same factors that influence commercial houses will limit how much other trim is done.
If one were to build a "perfect" house, there are many things that could be done and would make the house last longer, but will never be done because the owner/buyer could not afford the cost, materials and the time to do it all, as desirable as it is.
I've seen them do back priming on This Old House. And I've done it myself. I had a piece of trim molding that was badly warped after only
10 years. When I replaced it, I made sure to back prime it. As far as adding cost, sure it does. But you only have to paint the back once. How many times do you have to paint the front and how much does it cost to replace if it warps and fails?Now I'm not saying everything has to be back primed, but it's certainly done sometimes and shouldn't be ridiculed. Compared to some things that people are willing to pay for, it seems very reasonable to me.
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