# Forum Home Renovation Painting  Preparing weatherboards to paint

## Rachella

Hi there\
Newbie here, never renovated except for painting some walls... Need help!!
I have read all the threads I could find here on this topic and I am still confused! sorry... 
Our house was built and painted in the 50's. In some areas the paint work looks good, so I feel we could just give it a good sand. But other areas, there has been bubbling and the paint has come away to bare timber. So in that case I feel we need to take the paint off and bring it all back to bare boards? Am I right?
Lastly there are places that in certain light you can see lots of small patches or lumps under the paint, like they painted over an uneven surface. In that case would I need to strip it right back also? Or give it a hard sand to even and smooth surface? 
These are the ideas I have been given:
1. Do a test for lead paint first - anyone know how?
2. Use paint stripper on the house - I shudder to think (I live in VIC,not sure of law)
3, Use an angle grinder with 80 grit paper (??)  - but i hear I could gouge and severely damage my boards? 
Can anyone tell what I would need to do and how to do it? We have an orbital sander but I dont even know what "grit type" sand paper to get for it? Or if it would cut it... 
Hope someone can help
Thanks in advance
Rach

----------


## MobyT

I'm doing the same as you, painting old weatherboards in exactly the same condition.  The house here was also built in the 1950's.  Could have been my post except I'm not testing for lead paint. 
The advice I got from the painter at Bunnings was to sand and use a scraper.  The guy said with the paint I got that I didn't need to use a primer on the bare timber, just patch paint the bare bits before painting the lot properly. 
In the tools section at Bunnings they have sanding paper especially for paint.  You'll need to be smarter than I was and know what sort of sander you have and what size paper it takes  :Smilie:  
In the meantime, till I get back with details of my electric sanders, I picked up a hand sanding tool and a couple of different rolls of paint sandpaper - one coarser and one less coarse. 
It's a pain of a job.  I don't know how much of the thick lumps I'll be able to remove.  I'm attacking anything that looks like a bubble with the paint scraper.  The flaky bits get the sander as well as the scraper.  The more I scrape off paint, the more of it wants to come off.  I plan to go over it all finally with a finer sandpaper, but I don't plan on getting everything back to bare wood - only removing what doesn't seem to adhere to the timber. 
I'm hoping to finish the job by Christmas - lol. 
If anyone has any advice it would be very welcome.

----------


## Rachella

Hi Moby
I have talked to various people now and they have all said different things, but after having a friend over who is an ex-painter, I am doing what you are doing. He suggested scraping bubbles and obvious flaking to the point where it doesnt easily come off then sanding with course grit to smooth those edges. Then sanding over all the boards with a coarse grit (he was anit-machinery, but I will use my sander a bit I'd say and do some by hand also).  
As long as the paint adheres well, and is cleaned and sanded a little, then its good to go, I reakon... I know I will have some imperfections, but thats OK too.... 
Now to decide on the colour, I want to be brave a paint it navy blue with off white trim and a red door, Lots of people think that sounds horrible but... we like the idea!! 
Like to be done by winter next year, I can only work on it time to time due to kiddies...
Love to hear how you go
Rachel

----------


## MobyT

Hi Rachella, good to hear that your friend says the same as the man at Bunnings.  Gives me more confidence to go ahead with the sanding and scraping. 
I'm trying to do about eight to ten boards a day (the boards are narrow and run vertically - not the normal horizontal weatherboard).  That way I've got a target to work to and if I get more done then all the better.  If fewer, then I'll play catch up the next day!   
I can live with some imperfections, fortunately - because I know it won't look like new boards and I'm not an expert painter.   But when it's finished it will look a whole lot better than it does at the moment.  And hopefully the paint will stick well.  That's the main thing. 
Your color scheme could look great.  I always figure to go with what you want.  I went dark last time when I started to paint this place several years ago (I didn't ever finish it - now I will - lol).  This time I'm going for a lighter colour because we've had an extension and verandah in a dark colorbond trim.  So the house will be paler this time (Dune - a colorbond colour) for contrast with the trim  - also to help it stay cooler in summer.  The front door is going to be a darkish grey (Wattyl Urban Grey) with a splash of red and a mustardy colour around the trim.  I can't wait to finish. 
Keep me posted on how you're going.  It will help keep me motivated to know someone else who's doing the same job  :Biggrin:

----------


## attie

Guys, have you thought about taking the paint off with a gas burner and a spatular, it is working OK on my old QLD'er, depends on what sort of paint you have ofcourse

----------


## MobyT

Attie, I thought about this and decided against for now.  I suspect it would lead to a cleaner job when painting, but I wouldn't want to burn the house down like a neighbour nearly did! 
How's it going with your job?

----------


## Strom

I would be VERY reluctant to use a a naked flame or heat gun on Weatherboards..
Embers can (& Do ) ignite after you have finished work for the day and you have nothing left standing  to paint !!
Also be extra cautious preparing any old paints for repainting as there is a high likely hood of lead based paints..
Lead based paint test kits are available from Bunnys etc & the larger paint suppliers..
My preferred method hear is an infa-red stripper or non toxic paint stripper.. 
Goodluck..

----------


## MobyT

Strom, good points. 
I'm assuming some of the underlying paint has higher lead content and am wearing a mask much of the time and cleaning up any bits of paint.  Most of the paint that's being removed is newer Solarguard from the 1990s and the next layer is from the 1980s.  Undoubtedly some of the older paint underneath those layers will come off as chips and from sanding, so it pays to clean up and take care. 
No children while the painting is going on.

----------


## Rachella

Hi all again
Its been a while but the prepping is done and the colour chosen.
To prep we scraped as much flaking paint as we could (hard work but satisfying with a small sharp scraper). Then we sanded with an orbital sander with 80grit paper.
Prep done  - we started painting and the colour (Dulux Snoop - a mid depth blue/grey) looks awesome with the white window frames. 
BUT WE HAVE BUBBLING!!  :Eek:  
Will post a separate question/thread here cos we are stumped and very frustrated. 
I have read as many advice sites as I can and they say that it can happen if:
1. you paint over a damp surface (it was dry)
2. you paint on a very sunny day (it was overcast and around 15 degrees)
3. you paint a very dark colour over a light one (which we did) on a hot day (it was not) 
The bubbling is only happening on one section of our boards (the north facing walls that gets the most amount of sun) 
Any advice? What have we done wrong and how do we prevent it next time?
Do we need to seal our boards? (we used no undercoat but prepped well). Do we need to use a dark undercoat?  
Also we chose a GLOSS paint to paint our walls and it shows up all the flaws . Pretty obvious really!!  :Doh:  
Can we paint a lower sheen paint straight over the gloss paint? 
Thanks in advance
Rach

----------

