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Background: The exterior of my house and garage is nearly 3000 sq ft of painted cedar siding. I am in the preping process and will be preping for some time.
I am going to paint the exterior with 2 coats of Sears Weatherbeater Satin Latix as the recent results in Consumer Reports was extremely good.
Question: Can anyone give me information on “Brushing the exterior” versus “Spraying”. I’ve always heard that Brushing is better as it works the paint into the surface ?. If my prep job is good will either application method provide good long term results ?
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There's a good article about this subject in the May issue of JLC.
*G. LaLonde,Thanks for the response, However, what does JLC stand for (January_L..._C..)?
*G. LaLonde,Thanks for the help, but, what does JLC stand for ?
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JLC is the Journal of Light Construction. Go to
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Oops, Sorry about that....It's the Journal of Light Construction. You can check them out at their website: JLCONLINE.COM
*Joseph, Either method will provide good long term results as long as your preparation is thorough and complete. There are some things to consider regarding the two application techniques. Spraying - availability of a sprayer and what type. Are you renting, purchasing or hiring someone to do the work? Proximity of other houses or anything that can't get paint on it and how much covering up to protect these things. One main downfall to airless sprayers is they move a lot of paint, fast and hard. This causes overspray which can "wrap" onto roof shingles at the eave line and also unpainted gutters, soffit,facia etc. if not properly shielded. Even light breezes manage to carry overspray to unwanted places like a neighbor's car parked in a nearby driveway. You'll get better coverage and more uniform film thickness, in one coat, by spraying but because you need to keep the spraygun moving at all times, it's difficult to get paint back into tight areas(such as dormer siding to shingled roof) without a huge build up on surrounding surfaces. It will take more paint to cover the same amount of area using a sprayer. All that overspray is wasted paint. Flip side- paint is cheaper than labor. I personally have not found many situations where it was cost effective to try and spray exteriors. I generally use a 4-6", medium nap roller in a bucket w/gid and a brush. Roll paint on a 4-5' wide section, 3-4 courses at a time, brushing it out as you go in long strokes. I have enough staging planks and ladders to work several courses of siding from end to end to avoid lap marks. If that's not possible, work several courses(as many as you can keep "wet") to natural breaks such as siding seams, doors and windows, or other trim details. You won't be actually brushing the paint into the surface. That theory more pertains to applying a primer or first coat to bare wood and is one I agree with.
*Joseph,For best results in optimum time I would advise you do both. Apply your paint with a sprayer and immediately follow up with a roller or brush to work the paint. This is performed the best by a two to three person team. The "sprayer" does nothing but apply material; the "roller" manipulates the paint and works it into the surfaces as quickly as possible so that it will lay down and get smooth; the "cutter" cuts in with a brush where the larger 'tools' don't work as well, the "cutter" also keeps the sprayer bucket full of material.I've painted many commercial, residential and institutional buildings like this and it's very efficient
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Ditto on what Chad said.
We typically rent a cheapo sprayer from the rental yard (about $30 a day), blow the paint on (I spray both primer and top coat), and then IMMEDIATELY follow up with a long nap brush on a 6' pole, to remove the paint. That's right, remove the paint. We like to spray it heavy, dripping, oozing heavy, and use the roller to spread it out, even it up, and remove the excess, wiping the roller down with a circular tool, dripping the paint into the 5 gal bucket.
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Joseph,
I'm not a painter by profession, so please take these words as second hand. I have read that applying a coat of weatherproofing will add endurance to your paint. There was a town that restored an historic neighborhood and experienced paint failure after an unexpectadly short period. The second time they painted, as memory serves, they applied weatherproofing to one building to see if it made any difference. The treated building has lasted without failure while the rest of the paint has again failed. It's more work, but I would love to get a good argument againe the vinyl siding machine.
Best wishes and good luck,
dave p.
*I would like to thank each of you for sharing your experiences, thoughts and providing some good suggestions on this topic. Based on all the feedback, I have ordered the May issue of JLC for some additional research. I'm leaning towards spraying the paint on followed by brushing it out with the help of some friends (they just don't know it yet). I'm looking further into the possibility of applying some type of weatherproofing treatment beyond just a primer coat to only the new wood trim pieces that i'm replacing.... Thanks again for your help... Any other comments or suggestions would still be appreciated.
*David,I would like to look into this further, Do you remember where you read about this ? Thanks, JL
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Background: The exterior of my house and garage is nearly 3000 sq ft of painted cedar siding. I am in the preping process and will be preping for some time.
I am going to paint the exterior with 2 coats of Sears Weatherbeater Satin Latix as the recent results in Consumer Reports was extremely good.
Question: Can anyone give me information on "Brushing the exterior" versus "Spraying". I've always heard that Brushing is better as it works the paint into the surface ?. If my prep job is good will either application method provide good long term results ?