Need help with exterior paint/bondo repair on home
lotsofquestions
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I bought a home a few years back which had the exterior freshly painted before I bought it. Now I have large areas of bondo and paint peeling off the underlaying cedar siding. I need to repaint the house but do not know how to proceed with the repairs. Hope to sell the house this year. Can not replace the siding so was hoping for ideas as well as peoples feelings on using bondo for such repairs. If it’s an appropriate fix then why is mine peeling off so badly? Thanks
Replies
Bondo doesn't expand/contract at the same rate as wood. Any repair that's very large is going to be a problem.
Give more detail about the affected areas, and someone here might offer more help.
Often the patch is made w/o taking care of the cause of the
rot (presumably) in the first place. Some painters dig out punky wood, insert caulk usually, then paint over. Looks good till it falls out. The cause of the rot was never taken care of. Could this be the case? Pushed off paint (large areas of peeling maybe back to the original primer usually has trapped moisture as it's source.
Sorry to say but the cedar siding is ruined, as far as I know. Maybe it was in bad condition to begin with and a coat of paint was hiding it. It also speaks of the integrity of realtors and their inspectors.
Cedar is too soft to scrape or power wash. Fyi, cedar should have been stained, not painted. I have heard that tannin level in cedar affects the paint, cedar may have been wet or too weathered. Anyway, all you can do is gently scrape any loose or lifting paint/bondo and spot paint those. Don't chase the loose paint.
I don't know if you are required to point out these flaws to the buyer or the realtor. There is disclosure law but nobody seems to pay this much attention. You can present the house as such and don't talk about it to the buyer. Realtor will certainly ask, since presentable siding will make it easier to sell. How you answer is up to you. Next time you buy a house, hire your own inspector and keep your eyes wide open. One thing, bondo repaired siding should have been apparent, just based on a different texture. Hope it helps.
Fyi, cedar should have been stained, not painted.
My parents bought a farmhouse in 1965 that was built ca 1910, using cedar siding. The siding was painted from the start, and was still in good condition. (Of course, this would have been eastern cedar.)
cedar
LOL, Yes, I suppose a good base can work, but your farmhouse definitely breathed better and probably used oil base paint with lead in it.
Could your parents have used a milk paint or some sort of hide glue paint? I read about these that although they didn't last long they did adhere well.
I'm fairly certain it wasn't milk paint. And of course it was oil-based paint, almost certainly with lead.
But a good alkyd primer will let acrylic paint adhere well to wood, and the combo will breathe sufficiently to prevent moisture "push off".
No reason for cedar to not hold paint or bondo if it is done right.
For a flat surface patch, not only make it clean of old paint and debris of loose wood fibre, but sometimes drill or scrape in a few hole to give mechanical tooth to the patch, or rough it with 40 grit first.
probably that old was not cleaned first. A tack rag or turps rag wipe first, or acetone.