How long do you wait after pressure washing wood siding on a house to paint?

We're having a side of our home pressure washed, so that we can remove some of the paint (possible lead based paint underneath LAYERS of paint). What we don't get off, we plan to sand everything down. How long do we wait to paint, so that we avoid the risk of water bubbles later on?How long do you wait after pressure washing wood siding on a house to paint?
Depends on temperature and humidity in your area. In general, if you go down to bare wood, I'd wait at least 4-5 days to ensure the wood is dry. You may want to consider an exterior solid color stain, as opposed to paint. It will soak into the siding, which will resist blistering. In most cases, no priming will be necessary, although 2 coats may be required. Be careful sanding lead paint. There can be health risks. Hope this helps.How long do you wait after pressure washing wood siding on a house to paint?
If you MUST sand...





1) Please make sure all the windows and doors are shut and SEALED !...


2 Try to locate a ';HEPA sander'; That is a sander that's attached to a vacuum with a HEPA filter.


3) Never allow children or pets within 20 feet of the work being done and never downwind of the work.


4) Who ever is close to the work area should ware a 1/2 face negative pressure respirator. Protective clothing (disposable coveralls) is also a good idea.


5) Don't let the dust reach any bare soil. You may have to lay down containment.


6) After work make sure the sanding person decontaminates their cloths if they didn't ware coveralls.





I know this may all seem silly but dry sanding lead paint can be VERY dangerous





For more info you might read http://home.mindspring.com/~wrltc/lswp.p鈥?/a> This is a book I wrote for parents doing re-mod or having it done. It was paid for by a fed/state grant. Which means its your book as much as mine.





For more direct questions please contact me at wrltc@mindspring.com or call if you like. And feel free to pass this along to others.





EDIT:


I had to add this so you can understand the danger of sanding paint that may or not be ';lead based';


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BY THE NUMBERS:


The definition of Lead Based Paint (LBP) is 1.0 milligram of lead per square centimeter (1.0 mg/cm2)





The OSHA maximum allowed exposure is 50 micrograms per cubic meter (50ug/m3)





The EPA/HUD/CDC maximum allowable lead level for floor dust is only 40 micrograms per square foot (40 ug/ft2). This is considered and ';Hazard Level'; because 4.7% of the children living in that condition will be poisoned..





If you sand 1 square foot (1 ft2) of surface that contains 1.0 mg/cm2 you will generate 1,000,000 ug micrograms of lead dust.





Lets say you don't have LBP. Say the paint only has 0.5 mg/cm2. If you sand 1 ft2 you will still generate 1/2 million micrograms of lead dust.