Repainting old siding; unsticking buckets and insulating a cabin floor
REPAINTING OLD SIDING
Question: Can I paint the old Hardieplank siding on my 26 year-old home? The surface is flaking, especially on the south and west walls, but the siding itself is still strong.
Answer: Yes, you can certainly repaint. Hardieplank is one example of the kind of fiber cement siding that’s made by a handful of different companies. Fiber cement siding can last indefinitely, so repainting is definitely a good idea. Wood and even vinyl siding can be repainted, too.
Sanding is the all-important first step. Sanding levels the surface and smoothens rough areas where peeling and deterioration has happened. You don’t need to remove all the old paint, just the loose stuff. The second reason for sanding is to boost paint adhesion. Use a 100% acrylic latex primer and exterior paint and great results will last a long time. Choose the lowest sheen paint you can get and it will hide brush strokes much more thoroughly than a glossier paint.
To make sanding practical, don’t attempt it by hand. That simply won’t work. Ideally you should use a six-inch random orbit sander spinning an 80-grit abrasive disk. You could use a more common five-inch random orbit sander, but it will take about twice as long to do the job. Since your home is 26 years old, there’s no way it could have lead paint on the outside. This stuff was banned in Canada in 1978. Just the same, wear a good dust mask while you’re sanding, then use a leaf blower to knock off all dust before painting.
Q: Do you have any tips for separating plastic five gallon buckets that get stuck together? I have stacks of them that seem impossible to get apart.
A: I keep half a dozen plastic buckets like yours at my place and I use them for all kinds of things. When buckets nest together too tightly and won’t come apart, I’ve had good luck pouring very warm (not scalding hot) water over the outer bucket. This causes the plastic to expand slightly, making it easier to pull apart. Pour water over the entire outer bucket, and if it doesn’t come apart, keep pouring. Plastic expands a lot when heated, and the buckets usually simply fall apart with enough warmth.
INSULATING A CABIN FLOOR
Q: What’s the best way to insulate the floor of a raised cabin that I want to turn into a four-season home? Should I enclose the space under the cabin and heat it, or should I insulate the floor from below?
A: Neither. Although it’s not unusual to enclose the area under a raised cabin, don’t do it. One reason is moisture. Enclosing and insulating the space can (and usually does) trap moisture that migrates up from the soil. Also, animals love to burrow into enclosed crawlspaces and cause mischief. And finally, you’d be surprised how much energy it takes to heat a crawl space. Your idea for insulating the floor from underneath is better, but there’s still the problem of rodents and vermin chewing their way into the enclosed joist spaces.
I’ve insulated a few different cabin floors over the years and the most successful approach involves insulating the floor from the top using rigid sheets of extruded polystyrene foam. Two inches is a minimum; four inches is better. You put the foam on top of the subfloor, add another layer of 5/8-inch plywood on top of the foam, with deck screws driven down through everything and gripping into the underlying floor joists. This system offers the best insulation performance (much better than batts between the joists), and there’s no risk of vermin damage. If you bring a freeze-protected water line up into your cabin and have all water pipes completely indoors, you’ll enjoy reliable year-round running water.
Steve Maxwell, syndicated home-improvement and wood-working columnist, has shared DIY tips, how-to videos and product reviews since 1988. Find him online at baileylineroad.com or on Twitter: @baileylineroad