House paint surprises

[Ron Altier]

My house was painted by professional painters 4 years ago. They did a fine job. Here in the Denver area we get hail many times each year. After a recent such storm, I saw some hail damage on the northwest side of my house. Not much, some of the larger bare areas were as big as a quarter. It was and is very puzzling to me. The damage only went up about 10 feet. There is another 2 story house about 10 feet away and it was not touched. I felt good about not having to go up high and only needed an 8 ft step ladder. That is when I discovered that the siding was not wood or aluminum. It was pressed fiber wood and has been there for more than 30 years.  It wasn’t much of a task to paint the bare spots. When I got out the paint out that the painters had left, it was well marked. I made another discovery. The paint cans were NOT metal, but plastic. I remember thinking “This is cheap junk”.  When I opened the cans I was surprised. The paint needed little stirring. There was very little on the bottom and I was ready to go in a few minutes. Those plastic containers made a big difference and the paint was still very much liquid. It used to take some time with an electric drill stir to get it thoroughly mixed. After I was finished I had to admit that I was wrong about cheap stuff being used. As for the fiber board………………There is NOT one good stick of wood in the whole house. It is all plywood and cheap pine. But that is how they make them now days. My old house in Ohio was all Oak and real wood. Times have changed, as I found out

[lew]

My house was built in 1953. The siding was prefinished Masonite. What a pain to keep paint applied. I found out years too late that there had been a class action lawsuit for homeowners with this product. Vinyl now