# Painting a shed



## BoxAlarm (Apr 22, 2011)

Have this shed outside in my backyard, needs some tender loving care. Goal is to have a fresh coat on soon. 

Here's some pics of it. My pressure washer has removed some, but not all, of the old paint. I imagine all that old paint needs to be removed before I put paint on it. 

How should I sand this damn thing?


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## Thunder Chicken (May 22, 2011)

You don't need to strip every last bit of paint off. It looks like T-111 paneling. If it survived a power washer the existing paint is on there pretty well. 

Scrape off anything that may appear loose, clean it, let it dry completely, prime and paint.


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## BoxAlarm (Apr 22, 2011)

Any good advice on how much paint to remove?


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## Thunder Chicken (May 22, 2011)

If the existing paint is really sticking there is no reason to remove it. Just take off whatever falls off with a light scraping. If nothing comes off, you're done and ready to prime and paint.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

Good time to concider going over it with vinyl siding and not have to deal with the peeling paint and rot that you will have at some point.

PS, make sure you prime it all before painting it.


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## BoxAlarm (Apr 22, 2011)

I like the wood actually. I'm cool with a little maintenance in exchange for the look.


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## BoxAlarm (Apr 22, 2011)

This might sound dumb but what's the best way to sand this t1-11 siding? Paper? Random orbit? I have a belt sander too.


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## Windows (Feb 22, 2010)

I would get a box of 80 or 100 grit paper and go with a random orbital sander.


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

Before sanding ,get one of these and use it, it will save a lot on sand paper.


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## BoxAlarm (Apr 22, 2011)

What the heck is it?


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

carbide paint scraper


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## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

Glad to hear you're painting the T-111. It actually paints up pretty well. Only other thing you might consider is putting gutters on your shed or some sort of gravel splash zone for the rain runoff. When rainwater splashes up near the bottom of the shed, that really does a number on the wood on the lower half of the shed.


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## BoxAlarm (Apr 22, 2011)

Ok so Ive power washed this t1-11 siding. Here's the result. I'm going to take my random orbital sander to it in a couple days when it dries a little. The remaining paint is pretty engrained. 

How "smooth" should the wood be in preparation for primer?


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## ltd (Jan 16, 2011)

imho your over prepping . take a scraper over it a few times with medium pressure, you can also take a wire brush to the groves,finish off with a palm sander.don't worry about removing all the paint ,just the loose stuff.now if you want you could brush on a product called peel stop.this will glue down the edges of the peeling paint ,but i think this might be over kill also .ok so scrape ,give it a quick sand ,bonding primer oil or latex then paint .this will give you a lasting paint job .personally i would not be restoring T11 sideing but i cant say your wrong for doing it:thumbsup:


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## BoxAlarm (Apr 22, 2011)

Well I consider myself without an option truthfully. It's a 20yr shed. I think a new coat of primer and paint would help out tremendously. I'll surround the shed with a rock bed to curb any organics growing back onto the material, and to aid with moisture accumulation. 


Just out of curiosity.. I've heard several people infer that this isn't something they'd normally do ie: the T1-11 isn't worth repainting. So, if you wouldn't repaint it, what WOULD you do?


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## 95025 (Nov 14, 2010)

ltd said:


> imho your over prepping . take a scraper over it a few times with medium pressure, you can also take a wire brush to the groves,finish off with a palm sander.don't worry about removing all the paint ,just the loose stuff.now if you want you could brush on a product called peel stop.this will glue down the edges of the peeling paint ,but i think this might be over kill also .ok so scrape ,give it a quick sand ,bonding primer oil or latex then paint .this will give you a lasting paint job .personally i would not be restoring T11 sideing but i cant say your wrong for doing it:thumbsup:


I agree. 

I have nothing at all against that kind of siding, but it is not "top end" stuff, and no matter what the OP does, it's only going to be about so good. 

Scrape it well, get all the loose stuff off, prime it, paint it, and call it good.


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## Thunder Chicken (May 22, 2011)

BoxAlarm said:


> Just out of curiosity.. I've heard several people infer that this isn't something they'd normally do ie: the T1-11 isn't worth repainting. So, if you wouldn't repaint it, what WOULD you do?


It's worth repainting, that will clean things up nicely. You just don't need to grind off every last flake of old paint to prepare for paint.


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