Clapboard is painted board by board
Horizontal wood siding has a lot of edge. Every board has a face, a bottom lip that sheds water and a lap where it meets the board below. Paint has to cover all three, and the bottom edges, where water hangs, are where failure usually starts. That's why a clapboard repaint takes longer than the wall area suggests, and why its price depends so much on condition. Here is what a painter weighs, without figures; those come only after a visit.
Keeping the original boards
Lynchburg's Residential Design Review Guidelines say concealing original siding with vinyl, aluminum or other synthetic siding will not be approved, while fiber-cement that replicates wood will be considered for replacing horizontal clapboard siding on rear or side elevations.
Where those guidelines apply, the wood siding stays, and keeping it painted is how it's protected. That makes the condition of the old paint, and the care taken to prepare it, the heart of the price.
Reading the old paint
A painter walking the house looks for:
- chalking, which needs washing off before anything else;
- peeling in sheets, often a sign of moisture behind the siding;
- alligatoring, the cracked, scaly pattern of old, brittle layers;
- bare wood, gray and weathered, which needs to be sanded back to fresh fiber before priming;
- mildew on shaded sides.
The more of the house shows these, the more scraping, sanding and priming time goes into the bid.
Scraping, sanding and feathering
Loose paint is scraped to a sound edge. The edges are then sanded or feathered so they don't show through the new coat as ridges. On badly failed siding, a painter may suggest stripping some walls fully. Each step multiplies the hours, and each is worth asking about.
Board repairs
Split, cupped or rotten boards need attention before paint. Small checks can be filled; rotten sections are cut out and replaced with matching boards. Ask whether the painter does carpentry or brings someone in, and how added repairs will be priced once scraping uncovers them.
Primer, caulk and coats
Bare and weathered wood takes a primer suited to exterior wood. Vertical joints, corner boards and trim joints get caulked; the horizontal laps generally shouldn't be sealed shut, because they let the siding breathe and drain. Two finish coats are common on siding that has been heavily prepped. Our exterior painting page explains the sequence.
Storeys and access
Two-storey walls, gables and walls on slopes need extension ladders, staging or a lift. Porches, roofs and shrubs below the walls make access slower. Expect height to show up clearly in the price.
Doing some of it yourself
Under the EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting Rule, anyone paid to do work that disturbs paint in homes built before 1978 must hold lead-safe work practice certification; the rule generally does not apply to homeowners working on their own pre-1978 homes.
Some owners cut costs by doing part of the work themselves. If your house was built before 1978, the hired part of the job falls under the rule, and scraping old siding is exactly the kind of work it addresses. Doing it yourself doesn't make the dust any safer, so if you take on any prep, read up on lead-safe methods first. Ask the painter whether the firm holds that certification before they start.
What a siding proposal should list
- the walls and storeys included, with trim, soffits and fascia;
- washing, scraping and sanding methods;
- board repairs and how surprises are priced;
- primer, caulk, finish products and coats;
- containment and cleanup on pre-1978 homes.
The pricing guide explains how these factors combine, and paint sheens and finishes covers sheen for siding and trim.