Exterior Painting tips for a DIY novice

[Miss Inquiry]

Can anyone tell me anything about exterior painting. I'm a total DIY novice. The front of my house is stone and the paint is really badly peeling/flaking off around my bay windows, it looks awful so I need to do something about it. How do I go about getting the paint off (some of it is simply coming off if you pick @ it), do I need to put anything on the stone before painting it, how long should I let it dry, what kind of paint do I need to use? Any suggestions would be really handy.

[raysparx]

Hi,

Is the stone work a good quality? if it is why not have it sand blasted and repointed,it would look so much nicer than painting, if you don't want to do that,take a wire brosh to the paint and remove as much as you can,then apply a stabilising solution,you then use a good quality masonry paint. hope this might help you,good luck,Ray

[Miss Inquiry]

Thanks Ray, really appreciate it. The stone underneath the paint looks like it is in a pretty good state. Sandblasting?? Will that not damage my bay windows (like I said I am a total novice)?

[raysparx]

Hi,

Sandblasting won't damage windows as they are covered completely and then grit is fired at high pressure onto all the old paint,exposing the stones,but don't just get it done, ask a specialist if the stones are worth exposing,if they are,although sandblasting is qiute expensive it will add value to the property,look nice and less maintenance in future,worth thinking about anyway,if you can't afford it now,after just moving in,it could be done in a year or two,and in the meantime just give it a coat of masonry paint to make it look smart again, Good luck, Ray

[Miss Inquiry]

Thanks I really appreciate it.