Painting external wall on new house - any tips?

TP4Cornholio

I bought a newly-built holiday home in the country a couple of years ago and am only getting around to painting it now. I'm a complete novice and determined not to pay someone to do it, by doing it myself.

I was wondering is there anything I need to do before I start slapping the paint on the walls and sills. How many coats of paint should I put on the walls? Is one white undercoat and 2 coats of the main colour paint enough? Any useful tips would be appreciated. Thanks...

Fries-With-That

TP4Cornholio wrote: »

I bought a newly-built holiday home in the country a couple of years ago and am only getting around to painting it now. I'm a complete novice and determined not to pay someone to do it, by doing it myself.

I was wondering is there anything I need to do before I start slapping the paint on the walls and sills. How many coats of paint should I put on the walls? Is one white undercoat and 2 coats of the main colour paint enough? Any useful tips would be appreciated. Thanks...

Hi,

The easiest and cheapest way by far to prepare your new unpainted external walls is by using unibond.

http://www.makingdiyeasier.co.uk/unibond/pva.html

One coat of unibond will be far cheaper than using an undercoat and it makes a perfect surface to paint onto(especially if there might be a lot of lime used in the plasterwork).

I used always paint new walls (external)with unibond thinned out with water, it forms a plastic coat on the walls and helps your paint stick.

Make sure you buy a good quality exterior paint.
Don't be afraid to thin it by about 10% with water.
Apply your paint with a good quality 12 inch roller working in giant letter "M" patterns working from dry to wet areas of paint (this avoids those ugly overlap lines you see on gable ends of so many houses)

The best investment you'll make when doing this job is a good quality painters extension handle.

Any more help just pm me as I know I'll lose this thread.

Regards,

Fries.

TP4Cornholio

Fries - thanks for your quick response. I will definitely look into that unibond stuff when I head to the hardware shop during the week.

cnocbui

If you are painting at this time of the year, research Pliolite based paints. You wouldn't need the PVA as well as the other advantages.

Klim

I'm sorry, and I don't mean any disrespect to the poster above,but coating your house with unibond first isn't a great idea. Unibond is a sealant, so if it goes on first, your paint will flake off over time, as it doesn't grip to the plaster then.

I'm a painter by trade, my advice is to buy good quality paint (Dulux Weathershield imo, more expensive, but worth it), thin the 1st coat to1/5th water, and take it from there. Normally 3 coats.

TP4Cornholio

Thanks for the responses again.

Cnocbui, I won't be painting for a few months yet, butI'm putting a few testers up on the wall in the coming weeks to pick the right colour first. But I'll look into those Pliolite paints anyway.

Klim, yeah, I plan to use a decent paint. I won't scrimp on the price of paint, otherwise I'll only be repainting the house in a few years time again.

Fries-With-That

Klim wrote: »

I'm sorry, and I don't mean any disrespect to the poster above,but coating your house with unibond first isn't a great idea. Unibond is a sealant, so if it goes on first, your paint will flake off over time, as it doesn't grip to the plaster then.

I'm a painter by trade, my advice is to buy good quality paint (Dulux Weathershield imo, more expensive, but worth it), thin the 1st coat to1/5th water, and take it from there. Normally 3 coats.

Hi Klim,

No disrespect taken, I too am a painter and decorator by trade, unibond is indeed a sealant it provides an excellent grip for paint to stick to, especially the more robust exterior paints like dulux weather shield.
I'm sure you've noticed that these exterior paints can form a plastic like skin when left for any length of time in a bucket, tray or kettle, the reason for this skin is that they have many of the same properties as unibond, the reason they last longer is because of the glue like bond between the paint and the plaster.

Unibond prevents the paint soaking into the plaster making the job more economical, and it does provide a sound surface for the paint to adhere to.

Years ago when I was a young apprentice we used to mix unibond into emulsion paint when painting old houses because it helped the paint "stick".

Its been many a moon since I lifted a brush or roller in anger so maybe just maybe you might not not need the unibond.

cnocbui

TP4Cornholio wrote: »

Thanks for the responses again.

Cnocbui, I won't be painting for a few months yet, butI'm putting a few testers up on the wall in the coming weeks to pick the right colour first. But I'll look into those Pliolite paints anyway.

Klim, yeah, I plan to use a decent paint. I won't scrimp on the price of paint, otherwise I'll only be repainting the house in a few years time again.

When I get around to painting my house, it will be with a Pliolite based paint. It adheres to the wall better than normal paints. It adheres so well it is used as the binder in many pool paints. The only two concerns that I can see is that it is a bit more expensive and I doubt you could paint over it with water based paints in the future.

Pva is not suitable as a surface prep for exterior paints because it is not water proof. I believe acrylic primer is the correct product. It is what I used to stabilise an exterior masonry surface prior to painting.