I just stumbled upon this now – 4 years after the question was posted, but I hope it helps someone else in the future.
I don‘t know how easy it is to get OSMO brand paints or Allback Linseed Oil paint where you live – but products like them can only be described as „heaven“ to work with. I painted our 200 year old timber framed house 13 years ago with OSMO Landhaus Farbe (and that is black and dark grey coloured paint in extremely intense sun conditions) and the paint still looks perfect, not having done a thing to it since.
They do not peel, will stick to about everything, and maintenance (depending on sun exposure, etc.) is just brushing off the main dirt and spider webs (no sanding, no stripping needed) and quickly throwing on a thin coat of linseed oil on it to keep the paint „fresh“ (or even one coat of paint if you feel like it). They can be applied over other paints (although better directly on the wood. On synthetic paints they will take longer to dry, as the latex will block them from absorbing into the wood). All you have to do is remove any paint that is peeling off already, throw on clear oil (be it OSMOs oil „primer“ or raw linseed oil for Allback) to help keep the wood conditioned, and you are then good to go to apply the paint. Even if you get some peeling (be it the old paint from underneath or another reason), you just brush that off, and touch up the affected area. And I will be honest: I have not done any maintenance – which is just putting cooked linseed oil, e.g.., – in the 13 years since I painted the black onto the oak beams, and there is still no peeling. The OSMO stained oils I am not so impressed with (although they also are easy to throw onto anything without prep work), but I feel that they dry out quicker than the paint form (called „Landhaus Farbe“ in German).
I was sceptical reading the marketing of these two paint companies years ago,, but it is true. The elimination of the typical prep–work required with latex or acrylic paints alone is well worth it! Then you factor in the ease of maintenance, the lack of toxins,, the ease of touch–ups if a spot gets damaged, the durability, and that the oils keep the wood conditioned (and don’t trap in moisture)... I wouldn’t use anything else. Oh – And forgot to mention the time saved and lack of chemicals when it comes to brush cleaning at the end of the day: there is no brush cleaning required! Just take clips (e.g.: clothing pins) to clamp onto the paint brush and hang in a jar filled with Raw Linseed Oil. I keep separate jars for all the colors I paint with, and never need to actually clean the brush; store the brushes like that for months. And IF you want to clean your brush, just good old Linseed Oil Soap with water which will nicely clean them; no harsh chemicals.
