Re-Painting My 1920's Home

Hello there,
I live in a large detached home which was built in the 1920's. We did a load of work repainting and replacing windows with hard wood replicas of the originals when we moved 18 years ago.

I have been a single parent for the last 10 years and have done very little to my home's exterior in that time - I am self employed, have two children now 16 & 19!! but have managed to keep my garden looking lovely :)

My house is up for sale - all part of my mortgage free plan!! BUT my house looks unloved from the outside and I am sure this will put buyers off.

Sooooooo I have decided to start a summer project and to paint the exterior of my home because if I don't sell it I am another year down the line and the situation worsens. It is white pebble dash/render and wooden windows - they're not rotten or anything just flaking paint and back to wood.

I am going to borrow a 4m portable scaffold from a friend and planning on using a roller - I know to protect the windows and pipes with masking tape and paper.

I will have weekends and around two hours each evening to dedicate to this.

I would welcome anyone who can share their advice and guidance and top tips with me.

Thank you in anticipation.

WM
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  • Working_Mum
    Working_Mum Posts: 557
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    Well I had a scout around the web and found some top tips, borrowed some scaffolding and started painting my house on Sunday afternoon.

    I am using Sandtex brilliant white smooth masonry paint. I have masked everything and I mean EVERYTHING!!! I am scraping back the loose bits, brushing it down, paint the scraped bits first, then painting everywhere else using a roller and doing a second coat after 24 hours.

    I have completed one wall which is about 30 feet long without major issue and am gobsmacked at how good it looks. I am working clockwise around the house and started with the north/cool side first - maybe also it is the side where fewer people see it!!

    It has been a really mindful process so far and I am pleased I grabbed the bull by the horns. I am going to have to employ someone to do the gutters and fascias as it is way too high for me but I feel as if I have saved money and made a solid start.

    Would still be grateful for any tips if I have missed anything obvious!

    Thank you for reading!
  • Working_Mum
    Working_Mum Posts: 557
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    A little update for anyone who reading along!

    I have now completed 3 of the 4 exterior walls of my home. I have found the Sandtex smooth render coating in brilliant white really excellent to use - it has taken me 2 tubs so far - I am hoping I will have enough with the 3 tubs as that means the render paint will have cost me less than £100!

    I have "adapted" a 5m long fruit picker to hold my roller and I can now reach level with my top gutters - I have two gable ends with a brick insets so will have to get someone else to do those and my gutters later in the year. They are just too tall for me to feel confident doing!

    I have found that two of my bay windows have the original sills made from terracotta tiles - they have been painted over several times but I'd love to refurbish them and bring them back to life. I have been scraping the flaky paint off as I have been going along and they seem in good condition. Does anyone have any thoughts on this??

    Once I have finished the rear wall it will be time to start painting my window frames. They are hardwood replicas of the original "crittal" glazing which was here when we moved in. They have been sadly neglected so are solid but the paint is flaking and peeling off - easy to scrape off yay!!!!

    I need some help getting the order to paint the frames/openers etc in. I am worried I will get the wrong order and stick an opening window to the frame (if that makes sense).

    Should I base coat and then gloss one or two coats?? What would you recommend? Any idea on what brand of paint would be long lasting and cope with harsh south facing sun??

    I also have a few little gaps where the concrete which fixed the window frames in place has fallen away - it isn't a whole side it is just gaps like missing teeth running vertically - what should I do to replace this??

    I plan on masking the glass - have become ace at masking in recent weeks haha - does anyone know how long the masking tape can stay in place i.e. how long have i got to do the job before it sticks to the glass??

    Any help would be appreciated!
  • Doozergirl
    Doozergirl Posts: 33,781
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    This is the first time I've seen your post but I just wanted to congratulate you on being a supermum and getting out there!
    Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
  • Working_Mum
    Working_Mum Posts: 557
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    Thank you Doozergirl!

    I have really loved the whole process - it's been incredibly mindful to do and I have to say the end result looks great (maybe not as good as a professional but definitely passable!)

    I used to do loads and loads of DIY when I was in my early 20's so I am pleased I have found my mojo again - have neglected my garden a bit whilst doing the painting but it's only a short term thing.
  • jennifernil
    jennifernil Posts: 5,580
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    If these are hardwood windows, I would not be painting them, I would use a woodstain like Butinox or Sadolin.

    Even if they are softwood, I would do the same.
  • Working_Mum
    Working_Mum Posts: 557
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    edited 25 June 2018 at 4:22PM
    Thank you for your replies everyone

    jennifernil sadly I cannot take the window frames back to wood and stain them - it wouldn't look right for the age etc of the house and they've previously been painted so I plan on repainting them as they would have looked originally.

    Okay, so a little update......

    I have completed painting the render on all four sides of the house!! I am thrilled and it looks really great; fresh and clean.

    I am going to start to re-paint the wooden window frames but first I need to put a bit of thought into a patio door (with window on each side) which is metal/crittal glazed. It is in poor condition and the paint is flaking off and the putty falling out of the frames. The frames are in ok condition in parts but at the bottom they've rusted a little and this rust has bled through the (very) old paint.

    Does anyone have any suggestions/top tips on how to renovate/refresh these frames etc??

    There is a wooden sill on this door and it is solid but really, really dry!! Would anyone recommend priming, then undercoat then gloss for this situation??
  • maisie_cat
    maisie_cat Posts: 2,059
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    If these are hardwood windows, I would not be painting them, I would use a woodstain like Butinox or Sadolin.

    Even if they are softwood, I would do the same.

    Not necessarily, my hardwood windows have been painted as the originals were, using a microporous product and it only needed a tiny bit of touch up in 4 places after 10 years.
    I have also painted the entire outside of my 1930's detached this year and used a 5m tower so that I could cut in at the top and around the windows. A huge amount of prep was required because the previous owner used the wrong masonry paint for lime rendered walls and it had to be peeled off.
    I must admit that apart from the neighbours thinking I'm mad up a tower on top of the garage and painting the chimney it was a cathartic experience.
  • Working_Mum
    Working_Mum Posts: 557
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    Our back door is an original crittall windowed patio door - the door itself is wooden with windows but is old and very tatty. Last night I started to strip the paint off the windows - there are serious number of layers and the paint is dry and cracked in place. My plan is take the paint off and get back to the crittall/metal frames, make good any repairs which are needed and then prime and paint them.

    I started last night and have filled in the holes in the wooden window sills - am hoping they'll have dried today so I can sand down and move the project forward.

    I used a Bartoline paint remover - you brush it on and leave for an hour, reapply and then scrape the bubbled paint off. It doesn't have a nasty smell and was easy to clean the brushes etc. It took me a couple of hours last night and I filled a 1L ice cream tub with the scrapings etc - yuk!! and there is still several layers of paint left on the window frames. I am thinking it is going to take real patience to get the frames back to bare metal.....but as they say on Mastermind ...."I have started so I will finish"

    I have masked the glass in the door and will start to paint/prime the woodwork when I have finished globbing paint remover all over the place :-)
  • Hoploz
    Hoploz Posts: 3,888 Forumite
    I've just seen this for the first time ... Well done, you're doing a really thorough job by the sounds of it!

    However I'm a bit confused - are you on the market? Is it really necessary to spend so much time and effort if you're moving?

    Glad it looks lovely :)
  • Working_Mum
    Working_Mum Posts: 557
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    Hello Hoploz - my house is up for sale - it hasn't had much interest to be honest (it is a large old house on a large plot and up for a lot of money) so I thought it'd make it more desirable to any potential buyers.
    I had my house up for sale at the time of the crash (because of a divorce) and got no interest so thought I'd future proof it myself in case it doesn't sell for a while and I have to go into another winter. Sort of try and stop the decline a bit.

    It has cost me £100 for the masonry paint and I have spent another £50 on paint remover and metal primer - I also spent a whopping £2.99 on a little scraper which has been worth its weight in gold :-)

    I continued stripping the paint from the crittall windows yesterday as I had a day off - there must 15 layers on there! I am down to a thick creamy coloured layer which is really tough to get off - I think it must be a primer of some sort. It is just taking time and patience but I can see the metal underneath so cannot wait to get it cleared then I can start priming and painting!!

    I may try and post pics (but am rubbish with technology!).

    Thanks for ready
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