Talk me out of my crazy house painting idea!

5 years ago

I have a 100-year old wood shingled house that needs painting. The paint that hasn't fallen off is most likely lead-based. It has probably been painted many times, so it has a very uneven texture.

Just painting over it is not an option. It would look terrible and if the paint underneath finally fails, it will take the new paint with it.

Stripping it to bare wood and repainting is one solution. Problem - extremely difficult and time consuming, and would need special lead containment tools for the dust.

Removing all the shingles and replacing them is another solution. Problem - extremely expensive.

My crazy idea is...

Remove all shingles carefully by using a hole saw right over the nail heads. Save and mark each shingle to keep track of the exact location it came from. Then, put them back on in the exact same spot they were originally - upside down! No sanding or paint removal. The lead paint will be encapsulated. Reusing the existing material...also an opportunity to cover the house with Tyvek wrap.

I know this is a crazy idea because I Googled it and there were no hits. This has never been done before.

What am I missing?

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Comments (5)

Debbie Downer
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
If the paint is that thick and uneven, the shingles wont lie snug and flat and fit back together right. Unless you were to take them all to a dip and strip place and have the paint removed? Hmmm. That would involve some time and expense and still might not all fit back together well. The wood might be very fragile and dried out (easily broken) after 100 yrs. The act of drilling/sawing/prying off would release some lead dust although not as much as sanding..

Extremely time consuming - might as well re-shingle.... imho

As an old house fan myself I appreciate that you want to keep the character of the house, How much square footage is this? Why not try some ready-strip or soy gel and experiment in an area - thats a safe way to remove paint cos it all remains in the gel and isnt airborne. You dont need to take all the paint off, just enough to even it out. It doenst need to be perfect. Or try the zinsser thick peel stop formula (a heavy bodied primer that sorta evens out the surface) - Ive not tried it but it looks kinda interesting.
nd64 thanked Debbie Downer
DavidR
5 years ago
Bravo for your goal of maintaining your old house's look and the quality of its materials. I'm really glad you're not proposing vinyl siding for that graceful lady!

Pop a shingle for a look. You may find that the other side has a different texture, not having been intended for public display.

I've never done anything like this either, though, so I could be wrong.

Also keep in mind that most shingles now cut or bored to fit around wall penetrations and the like won't fit right when reversed. You'll have to either refurbish their present exterior surface, or replace them. And then you get to try to make them match the others.

If your house were mine, I'd probably just prime and paint, and not worry about the rough texture underneath. IMO, that's just part of the way old houses look. Character! :)
nd64 thanked DavidR
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cat_ky
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Have you ever removed any of those shingles??? My hubby and I did years ago from an old abandon house near where we lived. We used it for a feature wall in our family room. It was not only very hard work, getting them off without breaking them, but, we had to remove twice as many as we needed, just because so many of them, broke. They are very brittle after all those years of being out in the weather. You might just be opening a big can of worms. The house we took them from, didnt matter, because, it was scheduled to be burned to the ground by the fire department in a very short time, so no matter how many that broke, we were still able to get enough.
kathyg_in_mi
5 years ago
My DH’s sister and husband live in a historic house 150 years old. Every year he scrapes and paints one side. Takes 4 years to complete the whole house. Then he says he has to start all over again. Very labor and love intensive!
seabornman
5 years ago
I have a house with shingles and peeling paint also. In the areas I have removed them I find they are very brittle and the back sides are stained and nasty from bugs, etc. I would suggest finding some other route.

Talk me out of my crazy house painting idea!

Comments (5)

Debbie Downer

DavidR

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