Painting a House General decorating topics, questions and answers. find help, tips and advice on completing your decorating projects

[JessicaAaby]

We have a 1920 Craftsman and it needs to be painted. The house is currently dark gray (mostly aluminum sided). We spent all last summer changing the color of the front of the house to a nice barn red. We determined that house painting is not for us and are now looking for a professional to finish the job (it is a big job - lots of scraping of trim and soffits). One of the first guys who showed up to quote gave us a big song and dance that painting the house red would be next to impossible because of the space between the color molecules in the clear tint base they make red from. I am an interior designer and know a little about color; this guy was feeding me a line. The paint we used was not a clear base, it was white and we used a tinted primer underneath. It took two coats of paint after the primer, but he color came out pretty consistent. My question is: Is it really that impossible to paint a house red? I see several red houses in my neighborhood.

[JRS]

Dark grey is a hard colour to cover, Its not impossible but should need a few coats. It could also be a high priced job if it requires an element of danger ie up a ladder in an awkward possition. Unless you are prepared to hire a scaffold.