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have one of these meters. Painting wood that has above 15% moisture <br />can knock 5 to ten years off the life of an exterior paint job. <br />Power washing is an automatic prescription for paint failure, and is <br />never recommended: The high pressure drives moisture deep into the <br />wood, and in some conditions.it can take as long as six months to dry <br />down to 15% moisture. <br />E) Priming <br />Prime all exterior bare wood surfaces with a good quality alkyd oil <br />primer. One primer that has worked well is Benjamin Moore <br />"Moorwhite" exterior alkyd oil primer. This should be applied by <br />brush, not spray. Cover all areas not to receive paint to assure no <br />dripping or spilling on these surfaces. <br />Latex primer does not bite into the wood and condition it properly for <br />caulk and topcoats. <br />'F) Caulking <br />Use a paintable, acrylic/latex caulk with silicon. <br />Imagine your house under Niagara Falls. Caulk all areas that water <br />cascading water can penetrate, but don't caulk where it can't. <br />G) Two Top Coats <br />Brush on two coats of semi -gloss, acrylic latex paint, as topcoats to all <br />exterior wood surfaces. One type that has worked well is Benjamin <br />Moore, MoorGlo. The Historic Preservation Commission does not <br />regulate color, but, at the owner's request, both the HPC, and the <br />Historic Landmarks Foundation are willing to offer advice and <br />information. <br />H) Paint Maintenance <br />A paint job must be maintained on a yearly basis. Look around the <br />house to see if any paint is failing. Paint failure, on a properly painted <br />house, can be caused by things such as exhaust fans not sealed <br />properly, leaky gutters, or roof problems. Correct the moisture <br />problems first. Then scrape, prime, and paint the failed areas. <br />5 <br />