Exterior Paint Job Historic Home
90 man hours and $400 bucks in sandpaper and we haven’t even started shooting the primer or caulking yet. A good paint job is all in the prep, as you can see here we’ve been giving this grand old lady some love this week. You cant just paint over 90 years of multiple peeling paint jobs on one of these historic houses and a scraper wont faze it. We stripped this T 117 siding down bare. Don’t worry, we used full protective gear and the lead paint remediation process. My guy is posing here for the photo!
I’ve seen people pay $18-20k for a paint job like this, stay tuned we’ve got 7 great colors going up playing off the colors in the original stained glass windows still present. Oddly enough after first picking the colors we found that our trim choice was exactly the same as what was underneath all those layers of paint. I guess the builder had the same idea about matching the windows. You can also see here where we found replica T 117 siding and patched some areas.
Just wait until you see it with the original decorative window screens over these new windows. Would have been better to save the original sashed wooden windows but they were too far gone and replacement TM Cobb was not in the budget for this price point.
Exterior paint jobs on historic homes are probably one of the most satisfying jobs we do!
Always enjoy seeing your updates and creativity!
My father used to torch old paint off of woodwork trim on the house, would that work or is that still too time intensive?
Hi Ginny,
Yea I’ve seen the torch off method used as well but there’s such a big risk for fire damage in my opinion. One ember down in the wall on these old houses and you could have a problem. I’ve seen guys doing it with a bucket of water on standby and not having any problems though, I guess its all about what you feel more comfortable with. Its easy to damage the wood using my method, takes a real steady hand on the grinder not to groove the siding. Thanks for the comment and visiting our site!
Love your updates and reading your site. Your finished product is always outstanding! If you ever get the time, I would love a video on how you do your granite. Again, great work!
Carolyn
Thanks for the comments Carolyn. I have been meaning to do a “how to” on the granite slab counter install @ $15.00/square foot, will do this time for sure. Anyone with medium DIY skills can pull it off.
I’m guessing masks are a must while sanding, but do you have to take any other precautions/respect any regulations while sanding, given that some of the old paint may contain lead?
Looks excellent, as usual. As I’ve said before, can’t wait to see the finished product. I think it’s going to be spectacular. The neighbors should be paying you for the value you’re adding to the hood!
You guys have some beautiful propities real estate in america…There so big and spacious….And not all crammed together like they are over here in the uk, i want to move to the states…..Nice blogg…Simon….
Tom, looks great. Looking forward to the next video!
Question regarding location of master closets. I can see the appeal of walking from shower into closet to get clean clothes, but how do you ensure that the master closet off of a master bath doesn’t get too humid? Our little 50s-era bath stays damp for hours— even with the window open and the fan running. The towels never dry and start to get funky after a day or two…. what steps do you take to ensure the master closet stays well-ventilated?
Halbert
Hey Halbert,
Thanks for the comments. The master walk-in closet has a central A/C duct. That way the air stays dry. I wouldnt think anyone would have a wet towel in there, maybe hanging in the bathroom though. It’s very humid in Texas so everyone has central air conditioning here and it takes moisture out of the air.. The vent fans dont really do much anyway BTW and an open window will just let in 80% humidity in San Antonio anyway so its all about efficient central air/heat.
Thanks for the clarification, Tom.
I’m in central California, near the beach. The master bath never seems to dry out, so if our clothes were stored en suite and started to smell like the bath towels, we’d be in a bad way!
Sweet Halbert! We love California. My wife and I moved here to San Antonio from San Diego in 2006. Looking forward to returning real soon. It’s funny how we never even had central air in San Diego, you dont need it. Just open your windows, aaaahhh, the fresh air. I’m not sure why they even make windows that open here in Texas…
Having been a painter for over 30 years, I am surprised to see that you didn’t have the primer tinted to a color closer to the final paint. Pure white is so difficult to cover, tinting the primer saves a ton of time.
Hey Stu,
Great question. That exterior is 8 colors. With this in mind no need to try and get close to one of the colors. It’s best to use straight white Kilz2 primer not tinted. That way all the cracks and holes stand out killer that need caulk or putty. Pure white works like a canvas on wood siding so you can see what you got. We used 80 gallons total, 2 coats of each color, 2 coats of primer. If I was going budget and only wanted to do one color coat maybe the tint would help. It wouldn’t have saved anytime to tint this job or helped any. Thanks for the comments!