Painting Exterior Trim

The trim on my house needs paint, especially in the rear which has a southern exposure.

I have had this project on my mind for some time now and wanted to get this started before the winter's rain. I'm starting on the top deck where the paint seems to be at its worst and where it is very easy to tackle with a step ladder.

It really bakes up here. This sill, which also must hold morning dew the longest, was down to the wood. This was the original paint, which is about 9 years old. I don't know if that is considered good longevity for a paint job or not (kind of not to me but whatever). 

This is actually a pretty easy paint job. The window and doors are clad so it really is just the wooden trim around them and the fascia at the roofline that needs help. We used a few methods to prep the surface -a scraper, wire brush and a random orbit sander. 

As an aside, it appears that everything -doors,windows, trim has faded in the sun. My recollection when buying the windows was that the cladding was billed as resistant to fading and chalking. The cladding color has held up well everywhere except the sill. I've read that Loewen recommends car wax to bring back luster to a clad surface so I will be trying that after I finish painting.

Oy. That looks like rot to me. I really cleaned that out and then filled it with Bondo All Purpose Putty. 

This stuff is toxic as shit but really works well. It's totally non-porous so it sands smooth like a gem and has a very quick ready to sand time (15 minutes).

I use a pretty wide putty knife to get a wide repair that is easier to sand invisible. The random orbit sander cuts through this very quickly with 100 grit.

There were also a few other splits and cracks that I filled and sanded. 

It took two of us only a few hours to scrape, fill, and sand to be fully prepped for primer. 

I used Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 to prime. Because this is a very sunny area and August's heavy fog has of course now decided to dissipate, I've tried to squeeze my painting work into the morning before the 9:30 or 10.

The trickiest part of this project is getting a perfect color match for the paint. Of course, a more organized person would have the formula for the original paint used here. Unfortunately I can't find that paint can anywhere -I probably absentmindedly recycled that long ago.

I've had one fail so far, mixed at my local hardware store -too dark. I'm going to try another place in the city. Fingers crossed and I'll photo and post completed project later.