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Scraping first: the paint job nobody brags about

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1The short version

Nobody brags about the scraping. Everybody brags about the color, which is exactly backwards, because the scraping is what decides whether that color is still there in five years. The people who write home inspection specs know it too. Their version of prep is dull and exact: clean the surface, take off everything that's loose, prime the bare wood, then paint, all the way the can says. The dullness is the point. Skip one of those and the wall tells on you by the second summer, usually right where the neighbours can see it.

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2The pre-1978 question

Houses built before 1978 need an assessment of lead content in the existing paint before scraping begins, since disturbing old lead paint is a real health hazard, not a historical footnote; a standard repair specification directs owners of pre-1978 homes to their local health department for recommended procedures and a list of certified contractors before work starts.

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3What goes wrong

Priming is specifically mandatory on porous, non-water-resistant materials that will be exposed to the elements, which describes almost every piece of bare exterior wood; skipping it is one of the most reliable ways to get a finish coat that peels early, since the primer's whole job is forming the binding layer the top coat actually needs. Application quality is spelled out too: drips, spatters, flaws, streaking or shadowing count as inferior work under a standard specification, not just cosmetic nitpicks.

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4The first hour

Scraping is the whole first hour, and it's the least photogenic part of the entire job: flakes coming off in strips, a drop cloth filling with old paint chips, nothing yet looking better than when it started. Every hour after this one moves faster because of it.

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