How to Paint a Victorian House

When we first bought this house in 2012 we knew we had to start on the exterior within a few years. It had ancient asphalt shingle siding on everything but the trim, and the roof was just about done with its shelf life. The siding might have been from the 50s, because we were told by the asbestos company that tested it that it was a very early version of that sort of siding and thankfully- no asbestos! It wasn’t available anymore and had severe hail damage all over, plus it was falling off like giant scabs! Our roof was red and we couldn’t get red shingles anymore either.

So we put in some insurance claims with an amazing roofing company and got a new grey roof, the shingle siding removed and the whole house painted! That was in 2014. It cost $10,000 to paint it.

Fast forward to 2022 and we realized that the paint was starting to peel on the north side. Paint estimates were now $25-30,000!!! There was no way we could afford that. So we did what we’ve always done as working class plebs- we decided to do it ourselves.

What an overwhelming feeling it was to look around this huge place and think of painting it. Plus the playhouse and carriage house needed painting too. I started to do research. The best advice was to only scrape off paint that was coming off, and to take it one side (and in our case level) at a time- even if it was only one side a year!

Here is my best advice to you if you are undertaking a HUGE exterior paint job like we have:

-It is NOT all or nothing. Very often it is whatever you can do when you can until it is done. This advice has helped me so, so much. Play the long game.

-Our paint job will take almost 3 years total, but we will save about $27,000! We have to spend about $800 every time we rent the lift, and about $200 on paint. Since we do not want to go into debt, we save up money when we can, wait for good weather and a good season and paint! (It also took so long because of my health and other projects we had to do like renovating our wood porch.) It will cost us less than $3,000 for the house and outbuildings- all debt free!

-“Listen” to your house. Use a period appropriate paint scheme. Ours is a very colonial Victorian so we used soft colors and did not make it a painted lady. Our house is very masculine-looking so this worked well. We also followed the original paint scheme we found under the siding.

-You can do an immense amount of work from the ground and from a 6’ stepladder. Starting from the ground also lets you make all the mistakes a novice might make and be able to easily fix them.

-Lifts are scary, but they are so much better than ladders! Plus, they won’t drop you. They aren’t safe in high winds though. Know your forecast before you rent one. You can also work a lot faster and longer on a lift than using a ladder.

-Only scrape off paint that wants to come off. Be agressive, but don’t try to remove everything. My favorite Hyde scraper is a heavy-duty replaceable blade, that also has a knob that can hammer popped nails back into the siding. (Paint often chips off around nails first as they naturally move with temp. changes.)

-Use a hand-held, electric orbital sander to sand any greyed, silvered or sun-bleached wood back to fresh wood, or your paint won’t stick to weathered wood. I learned the hard way. Wear your respirator!

-No matter what, assume that there is lead paint on or underneath the paint on your home. Lead is EXTREMELY TOXIC and you must be responsible and take precautions. This means buy yourself a decent respirator and eye protection and wear them! Cover the ground with a tarp and put paint scrapings in a thick garbage bag. After you come inside leave your clothes at the door including shoes. Shower and wash your hair. Wash your clothes and shoes. Wear the respirator anytime you are scraping or removing paint. I know it sucks and its hard to breathe in one, but you have to do it. I do not recommend using heat to remove paint- it can vaporize lead and you can breathe it through the respirator and you can easily catch a house on fire.

-Only paint the bare places. Try not to put a layer of paint on already painted surfaces. More layers mean more paint will start to come off. Fill chips and feather out for a smoother appearance. Honestly though- if you can’t see it from a prancing pony, other people won’t see it either, especially from the road.

-You don’t have to buy a super expensive brush, but buy a nice one. Even if you plan to throw it away- you need a good brush. You are going to abuse it trying to poke paint into all sorts of nooks and crannies and under your clapboards. You need it to last more than a day. (A brush is best for our kind of job, but I recommend using a sprayer if you are repainting your entire house.)

-Two to three coats at the most- the thicker you put it on the faster it peels off- but you do want adequate protection. 1 coat isn’t going to do it. Plus, you will see through it so you will know!

-When you go up in the lift keep all your tools in a 5 gallon bucket and bring a stool to sit on. Sit as much as possible so you can work as long as possible. Be organized so you don’t waste time and energy!

-When I’m working this hard I do not fast and I listen to my body. I eat when I’m hungry- which is a lot, and I take breaks when I need to. I also drink tons of water. You don’t want to get too hot up on a lift. If you start feeling nauseous and shaky, or dizzy go inside by the ac and drink water immediately.

-Speaking of the weather, fall is the perfect time in my midwestern state to paint. It usually rains a lot here in the spring, our summers are brutal, and our winters are a crapshoot. In mid-October it’s much cooler and calmer. So we shoot to rent a lift to paint over my fall school break every year until it’s done.

-The lift is not easy to get used to. I came to this house not liking heights at all and through increments I can now confidently and comfortably paint 30 feet in the air! (I haven’t been able get to 36’ or the third story- but I hope too next time- just need a bigger, more stable lift.

-Buy the best paint you can, even if it is the cheapest Sherwin-Williams like we did. The cheapest should last 8+ years as least. Longer with regular maintenance. Our colors were Extra White and Majolica Green in satin finish. We use acrylic paint on the house and oil-based on our porch floor. Paint is usually on sale in the fall. Take advantage! Store leftover paint sealed in 5 gallon buckets (or original buckets- not cans though) inside your house or garage. We are still using paint from 2014 and it’s fine. It’s too expensive to let it ruin.

-The north side is usually the worst- this is usually the wettest, coldest side of your house and the paint doesn’t last as long.

-Take lots of pictures! You will be surprised how motivating looking at before and afters can be!

-No matter how much you get done, when you are done with what you could do- celebrate!

Two years ago I started on the bottom. I scraped all the way around, and painted only the bare places.

Then last year we rented a lift and did the second story north, west, and south tower sides.

And this year we rented a lift again and did the east side and the north and east second story of the carriage house. We also did window repairs and putting new putty on our windows with a/c units that don’t have storm windows on them. (I highly recommend investing in storm windows- they will save you tons on heating, cooling, and window maintenance!) I did half the playhouse this summer.

Weather allowing, over the next few weekends we will finish the front and side of the garage and repairs to our porch posts. Then we will take a looong winter break! All we will have left will be the third floor…

I’m so proud of us for all the courage this has taken. Our prayers, blood, sweat, and tears are in this work too!

May Courage and strength go ahead of you in any positive endeavor you undertake that makes your home and ultimately community a better place.

Cheers!

-Jaime