Need help on exterior painting :)?

Question

me and my boyfriend are painting a 1920's garage. we are scrapping all the paint off that we can. should we use a primer or is exterior paint good enough for the job! ps can you paint vinyl trim that goes around the windows. its blue and i want to change the color. do they make a paint for that?

Answer 1

....WooooHooooo, 1920's was a lovely time to sing and love life.....yeah, scrape the loose flaky paint off, then lightly sand the left-overs to taper the edges feathering it with the wood, try to create a semi-smooth surface

....my philosophy is "...if i ( or others) look at it often, or it can be easily seen, i spend more time on that area first, but if the back side of the garage are not seen, i would scrape and paint without much sanding

....by scraping you are removing large pieces of paint that no longer stick to the wood....just dont gouge the wood..that is overdoing it

....wooden structures often need rescraping and repainting every year or two....depends on weather, exposure and preparation between the coats

....after scraping and sanding the areas to be painted, brush it off too, try to knock off the dust.....or spray it off with a hose and s***w-on spray nozzle...and let it dry a day, or afternoon, with temps this year, it won't take too long to dry

.....then apply a base coat or primer

....if you are  using an exterior latex FLAT....that would be fine as a base coat ....then just apply a 2nd coat over that

....not knowing your weather temp ranges, i can say my method will be fine in Texas...i have painted wooden houses many times here....and we do repaint every couple of years to be sure...otherwise the exposed wood rots quickly

(....over stone or stucco, always use a specific primer coat then paint)

...as for the aluminum trim, wash that with some soap and water, towel or brush, and dry removing all moldy dirt and mildew.....then brush on new exterior latex....that is real easy to repaint.....

.....are you the 'owner' of this property?

....seems like a nice place to have a garage with some trim, it will be cute, cottage style

....i had a huge 1920's garage once, i painted like a cottage and cleaned the windows, and added an exterior door as well to the exisiting aluminum big door.....it had a concrete base, it had plenty of room, so after a few insulating efforts i added an evaporative cooler and set up a room where we kicked back...i had an aquarium there with freshwater tropicals, some lamps, a tv and stereo and fridge. With the cooler, the temps stayed steady 76-78F.....my black lab enjoyed her doggie door to the new room too, she would lay on the braided rug in front of the aquairum and take her naps....and the old trees shaded the structure nicely

Answer 2

Yes you should prime any bare wood and yes you can paint vinyl. Make sure it's really clean and sand it so you'll get better adhesion

Answer 3

yes a good quality primer should be used.. It will seal the edges of the old  chipping paint so they don't come loose. and adheres to the bare wood better.  I don't know about painting the vinyl trim.. I don't think any paints will stick for very long.