Are you a painting contractor? I need some advice. [View all]
I am a widow and live in an antique house that constantly needs attention. Something new has developed and I have been given several opinions.
I last had the house painted 6 or 7 years ago. Never had the problem I am now facing.
The last 2 winters have raised havoc with the paint. The clapboards are peeling and blistering on the two sides that face the brunt of New England weather. The last paint used was Benjamin Moore. I hope the company I hired then primed the areas they scraped at that time but I was working while they were here and I really don't know if they did the job properly.
It looks awful. Since my funds are short, I am trying to postpone work that I know needs to be done. I have no idea whether this has anything to do with what is now happening.
I will have to take a loan to have the house scraped, primed and painted (with some minor repair). I would like to wait until spring. Some of the people I have spoken with say this would be OK, some say that waiting will damage the clapboards and the job will be worse.
I don't know what to do.I have been given the name of 2 companies that have done work for neighbors. One of them is insured, I'm not sure of the other. I know I need an insured contractor. Not contacted either yet.
My thoughts prior to this were to sell my house and rent something. I looked for a while. Ouch!
The rents in my area are so high that it does not make sense to move. I talked to a real estate lawyer and went over the figures. She said I would be crazy to move. A year in a 4 room apartment in my area is about $2000.00 a month plus utilities. I'm going to stay put.
My main question is: Can I wait until spring without doing some terrible damage?
I don't even know if I can find someone this late in the season.
Any thoughts?