Q. What kind of paint is best to use on a wood house: Oil, latex, something else?
A. Being taught old school by my professional painter & decorator grandfather, I should say oil based paints, but I think he might even agree that modern top-quality 100% acrylic paints are the way to go nowadays. Mind you top-quality 100% acrylic paints are not cheap.
Q. What techniques are there to give the house an aged look?
A. I think you referring to the art of "Distressed" effects. Takes some practice and skill, and will most definitely add additional time and money to the project.
Q. What other important information should I know before painting a house.
A. Preparation. Preparation & preparation is everything to achieving a high quality paint job that will last for years...
For the most professional and longest lasting paint job (but will add great cost to the project), remove all paint ie Get back to bare wood, then prepare the bare wood for painting - filling cracks, holes, sanding to a smooth finish...
To save some money on the preparation stage you can leave existing paint on (but only the paint that is still well adhered to the wood). Remove all chipped, loose paint. Fill cracks and holes. Sand to a smooth finish, including the existing painted surfaces. Paint any bare wood with wood-primer...
If you encounter any damp, rotten, etc wood during the preparation stage, I highly recommend removing it. When doing so, cut 150mm (6inch) past the last sign of damage ie Get back to good, solid wood. Preferably re-patch with the same wood species.
Skimming walls is hard to do well, and generally best left to a pro.
An alternative is to put up thin drywall. It is available in sheets as thin as 1/4 inch. While it needs to be taped and the joints compounded, it is much easier for the average craftperson to do a good job with this method than with skim coating.
a fresh look? And also maybe fix that cut.
Best Answer
You can fix the cut by sanding an area about 4 to 6 inches to either side smooth out the area then skim over with a bit of drywall patch 'mud'. You can buy it already mixed in a small tub. Use a 4 inch wide putty knife and press a small amount with some force into the scratch. You can go over it a few times and scrape it away again to get some practice. It is important to know that the better you apply the mud the less sanding you will have to do after.
When the mud is dry, you will need a fine sanding block. The easiest way to make one instead of buying one is to fold a paper towel and lay it on a 8 to 10 inch piece of 2x4 and wrap sandpaper over the paper towel. The paper towel will act as a bit of cushion to push the paper out in the middle so you are not sanding with only the edges. You want to use fine to very fine sanding paper I think 220 grit is good.
Sand softly to blend the repair into the wall, look at it from the side to see if you left a lump of mud over the scratch, you can use a straight edge on the wall to check, but don't be too concerned because often the mud over the drywall seams isn't flat either.
As for the texture, it looks like the paint is more than one layer and was applied with a roller. Your patch will only have one layer and will be smoother than the rest of the wall. if you paint the patch first, let it dry then go over it 2 more times it should blend in well. You could use a thicker paint that will show the roller marks better.
Drew K