Our house is about 8 or 9 years old and the paint on the front porch columns and railing has started to chip off. I know NOTHING about painting or outdoor stuff but I'm guessing I'll want to repaint as soon as possible to protect the wood.


So, what steps would I follow to paint it? Do I need some kind of sealant? Or just regular outdoor paint? Or, is there a special kind of paint I should use? Do I need to remove all of the old paint or just the loose parts?

 

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Wow, I can't believe it needs painting after only 8 or 9 years. I thought you could buy outdoor paint that is suppose to last 20 years. Of course, I could be wrong too.


When I've done painting on exterior projects, I definitely scraped off any loose old stuff even used the water blaster thingy to get it loose. Make sure you buy a quality exterior paint. I'm sure your hardware store people could give you good tips on prep and suggestions on paint. Good luck. And when you are done, you will be at karati too. Wax, Wax off, Paint the boards, etc. (Just watched Karati Kid again this past weekend.)

 

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I'm wondering if they used a cheap paint or something. The house itself has the no-need-to-paint siding. It's just the front porch columns and railings that have a problem.

 

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8-9 sounds good to me. Power washing would help. Either way, it might be a good idea to bleach the porch first with a garden sprayer and half bleach and water solution and power wash it off or hose it off after a few minutes. Then scrape off all lose paint, then sand it down real flat and even. Then prime it. Then paint it.


I prefer pro shop paint to hardware store paint.