back to the yurt idea

[Carey]

The best painting tip I ever got was to always totally prep the work.. cleaning the work well before adding a paint or stain layer will add years/decades on any paint... and a good quality paint or stain can last decades. And staining wood lasts longer than paint (you can even stain over most painted wood...with the same caveat as any painting job, the top layer must be compatible to the previous layers...)

If the current exterior paint/stain is mostly gone, a good penetrating exterior stain can work wonders on the wood itself..