The Prep Work That Makes Paint Last on a Waterfront Home

When most people think about painting a house, they picture brushes and rollers. But the truth is, the prep work is where a lasting paint job is won or lost — and on a waterfront home, that prep work matters even more. Each project presents its own set of challenges, and we may opt to do a different order of our system, but there are always the main staples to each project.

The goal is not simply to make the house look clean when we’re done; it is to ensure durability. Proper preparation creates the foundation for everything that follows. When working in an environment exposed to moisture, wind, and salt air, taking the time to prepare correctly helps ensure the coating system performs the way it was designed and executed to. Here's exactly what we do before a single drop of paint goes on.

Pressure Washing

The first step once the scaffolding is in place is pressure washing all the surfaces. Houses collect dirt and cobwebs over time, and on a waterfront home like this one in Point Richmond, California, there's a significant amount of salt sitting on the exterior from the SF Bay Area water. We want to pressure wash all of that off so we have a good working surface to begin with. Doing this allows the surfaces to be ready for our next steps but also may expose areas that need further attention. There is a delicate process to pressure washing, and tedious movements are made to make sure nothing is damaged.

Identifying Trouble Areas

From there, we go around and pinpoint all the trouble areas — whether it's rotted wood or areas that need more attention during prep. We make note of specific spots and what will be required to make them weather-tight. Having multiple sets of eyes on each side makes it a lot easier as well all catch different items of attention.

Sanding, Caulking, and Patchwork

We begin the prep process by doing a light sanding on a lot of the surfaces. This agitates the surface and opens the pores so that when we apply new products, they bond properly. We then clean the surfaces. Even though we sand a lot with our sanders attached to HEPA vacuums, there can still be small dust particles left on the surfaces, so constantly cleaning helps the products we use bond well. If there are areas we have touched that show bare surfaces, we then do a spot prime method; this is usually in a different color and signals to us that these areas most likely need patching.

Following up with the patching itself at this point to level the surfaces, allowing time to dry before sanding to the desired smoothness. We then do caulking to seal any gaps. Caulking is a vital step; it can be the difference maker of whether moisture is allowed inside the home or not. We use specific caulking products depending on what strength is needed and all the time use ones that have significant stretch to them; this way, the finished product has a solid weather barrier and is protected from any intrusion into the house.

Repairing Water-Damaged Wood

On this project, we found a couple of areas where water had intruded into

the wood, creating soft spots. Here's what we do:

We dig those areas out and let them dry. Crucial to let the surfaces dry so as not to seal in moisture. Once clean and dry, we apply a two-part epoxy liquid to penetrate the wood. The epoxy cuts off the rot from spreading further and strengthens the wood.

We let that dry over the course of about a day, allowing the liquid to penetrate deep and create a barrier. The epoxy liquid doubles as a primer to the bare surfaces of the wood.

We then apply a two-part epoxy filler to fill in the damaged surfaces and flush them out. There are a multitude of different epoxy fillers, but there are our go tos that we have incredible results with. A lot of them tend to be marine tested epxoies which give better results for a house in this location.

After letting that dry for about 24 hours, we sand it down to smooth the area. We add topping epoxy if needed and if imperfections are still showing. This is a different product than the previous one but within the same brand, which gives the bonding ability a strong result. We then sand smooth and clean of dust.

Priming

Priming is a key part of protecting the work that has been done. Priming encapsulates the area and creates a surface for the new coating system to bond. By using this method, the damaged areas will now last an incredible amount of time and hold strong to the surface. Priming holds multiple functions, as it also can seal in troubled areas, flash a different color, and one of the main reasons we love primer is we use the capability of tinting our primers to the colors of what the house will be finished in. This added benefit helps achieve a more even and uniform color throughout when the final coatings are applied.

Masking

Finally, we mask the windows, door hardware, and ground cover, and cover any plants — making sure those areas stay clean throughout the process. A lot of homes we work on have beautiful plant life that are clients are very proud of, so protecting these while making sure they are still breathing is something we circle as a must on the checklist of to-dos. This is not only limited to plants, but all of our clients also have items, decor, or something specific that they care for deeply, and we assure them that it is of just as much importance to us that they remain unharmed. Our clients’ participation is important for us to have a completed, successful project.

With everything prepped and protected, we're ready for the painting portion.

In Part 3, we'll cover the paint system we chose for a salt-air environment, the spray and back-roll technique that gives us a uniform finish, and how we handle the final walk-through with the homeowner.