Ottawa Citizen

THREE TIPS FOR PROPER EXTERIOR PAINTING PREP

- STEVE MAXWELL Steve Maxwell is the editor of Pro Painter magazine and he’s learned about outdoor paint prep the hard way. Sign up for his free Saturday morning newsletter at BaileyLine­Road.com

Will you be painting outdoor wood this summer? We’ve all heard that the key to painting success is proper surface prep, but how do you make this happen? Try these three outdoor paint preparatio­n tricks and you’ll get the best possible results in the least time.

Tip #1: Sharpen Scrapers Often

Start working with a brand new paint scraper of any kind and it’ll remove flaking paint well. An hour later, not so well. A day later and you’ve probably lost 50 per cent of your former efficiency. Scrapers with replaceabl­e blades are one option, but learning to re-sharpen scrapers is faster and more economical than replacing blades.

An ordinary woodworkin­g belt sander is a great option for sharpening. Lock it upside down gently in a vise or a portable work station and you’ve got a powerful way to sharpen scrapers. A 120grit belt does the job perfectly. Remove the dust bag and do the work outdoors to eliminate any fire hazard.

Regardless of the tool you use to sharpen scrapers, look closely at a new scraper blade to show you the optimal angle to aim for. Most scrapers are ground to a fairly steep angle, anywhere from 60 to 85 degrees. Copy what you see.

Tip #2: Heat to Soften Paint

Heat is one of the best ways to soften solid layers of old paint to make them easier to scrape, but heat poses risks. A propane torch and flame spreader is effective, but it can catch your house on fire. A propane flame is also hot enough to create dangerous lead vapours. Any paint applied before 1978 could contain lead, and paint that’s older than 50 years almost certainly does.

One of the safest and simplest options for softening paint is an electric heat gun that operates below 1100 F. This is the vaporizati­on point of lead. Keep paint temperatur­es lower than this and the lead stays in the old paint.

Another choice is an infrared paint stripper. It’s a handheld electric tool that uses glowing red heating elements to warm paint by “shining ” on it. Soften an area, move the paint heater to the next spot, then scrape what you just heated while the next area is heating.

Tip #3: Abrasion for Final Prep

There are two kinds of paint prep abrasives: wire wheels and sanding disks. A wire cup wheel in a variable-speed angle grinder is an aggressive tool for initial paint removal. You’ll find the knot-twisted version of the wire cup wheel best for this applicatio­n because the wires last longer and work better on loose paint. Straight wire wheels don’t last nearly as long and they’re not forceful enough for most paint removal situations. You don’t necessaril­y need variable speed control on your angle grinder, but it’s a handy feature. The ability to slow down the speed of the wheel is useful when working in close quarters or inside corners.

No matter what preliminar­y steps you used for stripping old paint, sanding the surface is the ultimate final step. A hand-held six-inch random orbit sander is ideal. Though a tool like this is just a little physically larger than the more common five-inch random orbit sander, the six-inch model is roughly twice as effective because it has a more powerful motor. An 80-grit disk on this tool creates the best balance between a smooth surface that’s still rough enough to offer a good grip for paint. Too smooth actually reduces absorbency.

Got a deck to finish? That’s a little different than exterior painting. Visit baileyline­road. com/25841 to learn which deck stains work best in my testing, and how to prepare a wooden deck for maximum finish life.

 ?? PHOTOS: STEVE MAXWELL ?? This twisted wire cup wheel in an angle grinder is an aggressive tool for removing the initial layers of bad exterior paint. Be sure to use ear and eye protection when working with a tool like this.
PHOTOS: STEVE MAXWELL This twisted wire cup wheel in an angle grinder is an aggressive tool for removing the initial layers of bad exterior paint. Be sure to use ear and eye protection when working with a tool like this.
 ??  ?? Heat is one of the best ways to soften solid layers of old paint to make them easier to scrape, but it can pose some safety risks.
Heat is one of the best ways to soften solid layers of old paint to make them easier to scrape, but it can pose some safety risks.
 ??  ?? Replacing blades on paint scrapers is an option, but sharpening blades is a more economical method.
Replacing blades on paint scrapers is an option, but sharpening blades is a more economical method.
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