Our most recent project in the beautiful Columbia neighborhood of Sammamish, WA. We are thrilled to have 10 or more clients in this neighborhood.
Colors
Preparation
We masked windows, concrete patios, power outlets, front rocks, etc. We also caulked all imperfections on the wood trim, and all butt-joints on the fiver cement siding boards.
Protecting the neighbor’s plants, while spraying the fence.
Paint Application
As always, we Apply two coats and back-roll both coats to ensure the material is being rubbed into the surface, as supposed to a quick one day spray job.
Pressure washing was completed on Tuesday May 28th. We removed some mildew from siding and gutters, spider webs, bee’s nests, etc. As with all our cedar siding projects, we allow plenty of drying time.
Step 2 – Preparation and painting
July 1st, 2013
We started with masking windows and covering up plants, walkways, front porch, rear deck, etc.
What we’ve done so far:
Apply 2 coats on siding, two coats on spindles front and back. 1st coat on Garage retainer walls, 1st coat on about 30% of the trim and windows.
Application started with spraying, and back-brushing 2 coats of Benjamin Moore Solid Oil based stain on cedar shakes. Why not use paint on the shakes? If paint ever fails (chips) on shakes, then they would need to be replaced. Paint is never recommended for exterior cedar shakes. The correct product for shakes is solid stain, which looks like paint but it does not chip or peel. Next time, the shakes simply need to be washed, and re-stained.
Getting into tight spots
We had to get a little creative to get behind all the plants to paint every square inch of the siding.
A fully protected plant was gently peeled away from the house and covered up. Once paint is dry, it will simply be pushed back into place.
An extension pole was used to push a covered plant away from the surface while the paint dries.
Application
We spray and back-roll or back-brush to add 3-5 years to an already durable Benjamin Moore paint job. Manufacturer recommends “knocking out” the sheen seen in this photo to improve durability.
Second coat
As always, we apply two coats, and back-roll both coats to increase adhesion, and produce an even layer.
Sample progress report from an actual project in Redmond/Fall City WA
This Classic Northwest home is being prepared to go through a major Elegant Makeover. This house belongs to one of our all time favorite clients who we have known for many years. We painted the interior about 6 years ago and refinished the decks in 2009. Now it is time for the exterior to go through what we like to call…..An Elegant Exterior Makeover!
Power washing
Power washing was completed on June 3, 2013. We were able to remove a large number of bee’s nests and massive spider webs. We also removed any of the previous stain that was in poor shape. Luckily we were able to accomplish this task without any water going inside the house through any of the doors or windows.
Next step of this project begins on June 13th, 2013. Plan is to Mask off all windows, roof, decks, patios, and driveway, and prime all exterior surfaces, including eaves, porch ceilings, dormers, and trim. for this paint job, we will be using an oil based exterior grade primer to seal, protect, bond, and produce a workable surface.
Once the primer is dried, we will have some fun installing window trim on all windows. We will be using 1×4 pre-primed spruce, attached with 3.5 inch 16 gauge finish nails. Then the nail holes will be filled with “HM Ready Exterior” and edges caulked with our Benjamin Moore Morelastic adhesive. At that time, we will go through every square inch of each wall, and fill any cracks, gaps, joints, etc.
Possible color choices
Looks like we will be going with some shade of grey. Like all our exterior projects, we applied several popular Benjamin Moore samples for our home-owner to live with for a few days, and view in different lighting, and different times of the day.
Day 1; Preparation
By the end of our first day, we managed to mask all windows, mask roof, front porch, and deck, and apply a coat of oil based primer to about 70% of the house.
Priming complete! Since this beautiful house has never been painted before, we applied one solid coat of oil based primer on every square inch of the siding and eaves.
As always, we did a thorough job of cover-up. So far, zero primer on any plants. We take covering-up very seriously. A flawless and durable paint-job looses all of it’s value if there are drops of paint on plant, decks, or patios.
We used a roof pad to place a ladder on top of the hot tub, this is a piece of plywood with a 4″ sponge glued on the bottom to spread the weight and protect the surface.
Day 2; Rain….and window trim.
By the end of day #2, we managed to install trim on about 70% of the windows, and unmask front windows. The rain finally stopped by the end of the day, allowing us to finish priming the siding 🙂
Caulking
Once primer was dry, we went through every square inch of the siding and caulked any imperfections. Caulking must be done after primer. Similar to paint, caulking materials adhere better to primer than they do to the previous finish. These imperfections include cracks, nail holes, dents, bumps, bruises, or anything else that might allow the wood surface to hold moisture. Butt-joints are not caulked to allow the siding to move freely in changing temperatures. The only time we caulk butt-joints is when it has been done previously and we have no choice but to repeat the mistake.
Day 3; More rain….
Window trim Installation is complete and colors have been selected. 100% chance of rain tomorrow….We cleaned up well knowing we will be rained out tomorrow and are now hoping to complete most of the painting on Friday and Saturday.
Day 4; Painting
We finally had some nice weather and made some great progress. We now expect to finish this project on Monday June 24th. Plan for Saturday: finish the house. Plan for Monday: Finish doors and deck.
Back Rolling
This photo shows how effective back-rolling is. The effect is not just cosmetic. While the sprayer lays the paint on top of the grain, the roller forces it into the grain, making it one with the surface, Making it difficult for the siding to release the paint as time goes on. We believe this method adds 3-5 years to the already durable Benjamin Moore paint job. Corners, where the roller may not reach, are back brushed to make sure all surfaces receive the same treatment.
Second Coat
As always, we apply 2 coats, whether it is needed or not. Both coats are back-rolled to ensure an even spread.
Elegant Painting offers exceptionally low bids on homes with fiber cement Siding
What is fiber cement siding? Fiber cement siding is a type of popular artificial siding that can withstand all kinds of climates, including our damp Northwest weather. Currently 5.5 million homes in America are being protected by this type of materials. Fiber cement boards are made of sand, cement and cellulose fibers. Complete with artificial texture, this siding resembles wood siding and even imitation shingles. Once installed and painted, the exterior fiber cement boards require very little maintenance, and is not susceptible to termites or rot.
Do fiber cement boards need to be painted? Yes. James Hardy of Hardieplank siding recommends painting the siding using a 100% acrylic exterior paint, such as the Benjamin Moore Exterior SuperSpec used by Elegant Painting. If fiber cement boards are not painted when a paint job is due, the moisture content of the substrate falls bellow normal levels, and they may warp, bend, and crack.
Does it cost more to paint a house with fiber cement siding? No. Elegant painting bids are lower for homes that have fiber cement siding. Fiber cement boards take and hold paint extremely well, and are less labor intensive when it comes to back-rolling the paint, resulting in lowered labor and paint costs, which are handed directly down to home-owners.
Does it need caulking? Yes. Per manufacturer recommendation, joints and gaps will be caulked to prevent moisture and wind driven rain from entering the walls. We also caulk around windows, doors, eaves, and other edges to make to prevent leaks. Using our premium flexible, rubber based calking called Sika, which is manufactured by The Sika Group of America. This is not ordinary caulk. This material dies into a hard yet flexible rubber that is similar to materials used in car tires. It remains strong and flexible well after it is dried and cured. Failing caulk on previously caulked joints are removed and a fresh coat is applied.
How does Elegant painting apply paint on fiber cement siding?
After our standard preparation procedures, paint is applied with airless sprayers, and the surface is back-rolled before the paint dries. Back-rolling is absolutely essential on all exterior siding. This method forces the paint into the substrate and produces a very even finish. Back-rolling adds 3-5 years to the life of our already durable paint job.
Each of our pressure washing outfits consists of two machines. A 13 horsepower Dewalt with a Honda motor, and a small 6.5 horsepower machine as a backup. We avoid losing time due to equipment malfunction by always having two machines on the job site. The larger machine has a drain plug while the 6.5 Honda requires us to get creative in order to remove the oil. Let’s talk about how to change motor oil on a Dewalt pressure washer. Buy this washer on amazon
How often should you change the oil in a pressure washer?
We change ours every 6-8 houses. Each house takes an average of 5-6 hours, so the oil in our machines is changed after every 30-40 hours of use. The machines in the photos are 6 and 10 years old and they have both worked flawlessly the entire time, with minimum maintenance.
What type of oil to use in pressure washers?
We use automotive 10W-30, and as I mentioned we have had great results for several years.
What you need: Wrench to undo the drain Container to hold the used motor oil Motor oil 10W-30 (automotive engine oil) Funnel PVC pipe for the machine with no drain Cleanup rags
