My house is 50+ yrs old; through the years various owners have painted over old peeling/cracked paint. It looks horrid. The siding is soft redwood. I have had up to 10 painters/contractors/questioned paint stores about what to do/use to prep/paint–as I am planning to sale in about a year.
Most have said “pressure wash” to remove as much peeling paint as possible. (I’m having GREAT difficulty finding someone just for that), then most said to scrap the remaining peeling paint.
Question: I’ve scraped some of what I can reach.. saying the pressure washing doesn’t remove those edges– do those edges need sanding to make everything smooth? Then, here’s where I get conflicting advise. 1-2 say “use oil based primer, then water based paint”, 1 said “no, use water based primer & paint”, another said “can ONLY stain that soft wood”; then all variations on these advises. I am stumped and afraid to move forward. I hate to sell my home and the owners find it peeling in a couple yrs.
* note* my 88yo neighbors told me 45 years ago those owners “didn’t prime, so it has always peeled within a couple yrs”. I bought it 5 yrs ago. She had had it painted 1 year prior to that. It looked HORRID up close, peeling all over.
