Thread: Belt sanders v Random orbital sander, filler & paint

My preferred sander for that is a 7" disc sander (a panel beaters sander).
The heavy duty discs last very well. They can be cleaned by soaking in thinners.

For a rigid filler I prefer Agnews Water Putty.
A few tubes of no gaps etc (exterior) are helpfull.

Best paint is Wattyl Solagaurd.

Sanding paint off weatherboards ... hmmm how old is the paint and is there a possibility that it is leadbased?
The answer may have a big bearing on how you go about the initial preparation. If you have kids or there any any in the neighbourhood I'm not sure I'd be filling the air with lead based paint dust.
Sorry to be a wet blanket

The weatherboards are old but there is no evidence of any lead based paint. The top coat appears to be a thin coat and it's fairly powdery.

Originally Posted by impala

The weatherboards are old but there is no evidence of any lead based paint. The top coat appears to be a thin coat and it's fairly powdery.

I wouldn't sand anything. SCRAPE off the big flakey bits and paint over the top with a binder added to the paint. Less work, minimal dust and the same overall effect unless you sand back to almost bare wood.

Cheers

Originally Posted by BobL

I wouldn't sand anything. SCRAPE off the big flakey bits and paint over the top with a binder added to the paint. Less work, minimal dust and the same overall effect unless you sand back to almost bare wood.

Cheers

I have done this with success, but you will never get the same quality of surface that you would if you went back to the bare wood. It depends on how picky you are and how much work you want to put in.

recently a friend advised me to clean my weatherboards with pressure hose and duely loaned me her 8.5hps machine with the promise of a quick, easy and efficient job! ha! no such luck. I unearthed the following problems, paint is thin in many places and began to flake, bubble and generally misbehave, and in other places (being the gungho newby with a powertool) I think I used too much pressure and later the boards bleed over existing paint work. what a mess!.

Now I need to paint sooner than I was planning, I need ideas about preparation. The house was build in early 50's, boards are hardwood, last paint job, looks dodgy on close inspection, and was acrylic. i want a good finish that is going to last. Advise gratefully received.