Painting pillars and coping stones?

The pillars and coping stones outside the house are looking quite shabby, and the paint is peeling and chipping away, so I want to re-paint them. Do I have to sand off the old paint first or can I just have at it?

WhoAmI said:

The pillars and coping stones outside the house are looking quite shabby, and the paint is peeling and chipping away, so I want to re-paint them. Do I have to sand off the old paint first or can I just have at it?

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Yes. Preparation is the most important of the job especially outside. If you simply paint over flaking paint the new job will go the same way before long.

You may find some good advice here [broken link removed] or [broken link removed] also.

There are some previous threads with advice on this also.

If you just paint over it, you WILL be painting it again next year.

I said this in a previous post:

Use a scraper to get of the heavy flaking old paint. Use a wirebrush and sandpaper as already stated by you to remove other flaking paint. Brush off all dust and particles. For a good seal to reduce the possibility of flaking occuring again. Apply a stabilising solution like the one here [broken link removed]

Then apply the paint on top of this solution when dry. For a long lasting finish, apply a minimum of 3 coats. Don't worry about the old paint, there is no need to take it all off. As long as you have prepared the surface like mentioned in first paragraph all will be fine. If all of your sills are flaking. Id definitely recommend applying the stabilising solution. Its a godsend for old worn window sills.