Exterior painting questions.
Hello everyone,
I recently purchased a 2004 GMC 3500 4 window short bus. Mechanicaly it is in excellent shape so I want to move forward with the next major step of exterior painting, exteriorly there are some obvious rust spots, but no actual panel damage. Everything should be sandable and then primered.
My main questions are, I got a quick quote from a local guy and they said $7500~, that is wayyyyyyy outside my budget. Is that remotely accurate?
I have watched a decent amount of YouTube videos on this subject but so many of them are the streamer types with what feels like unlimited budgets, which is not me, I have a fully remote job, but right now I am working on my bus paycheck to paycheck with a lot of elbow grease involved.
Does anyone have a good step by step low budget guide/video they have seen?
From everything I have read and watched, I can take some 220 grit and scuff everything up then roller paint, but how shoddy looking is that and how long would that last?
What is the application process? From what I understand, I sand first, then wash down with degreaser, then???? Rust coat>primer>paint layerx2???
When doing the painting, I can't afford new windows, so the stock bus windows will still be there, but I would like to re-caulk all the edges, should I paint first, then strip out the old caulk and redo or should I do that in reverse, strip>caulk>paint?
Once I am actually full time living inside I will be able to budget more accordingly, but for right now I am just trying to make it look presentable and be livable for the first year.
Again, thank you for any input, this has been a dream of mine for a very long time, been stuck in my current location for over 25 years and it is getting to late in life.