Remove the flaking paint, prime and top coat. Getting it to match the current color will be the trickiest part of the project unless you know what color it was .
Ron

Thanks Ron!

At least the first part sounds easy enough. I can see what you mean about matching the current color--the paint looks such a stark white. I'll have to check the paint cans that the previous owner left us and see if anything looks remotely similar.

--LA

When you climb up to remove the rest of the flaking paint, save a few of the largest paint chips to take in and have the color matched by the store computer. If it's a big enough chip, you should also be able to tell what kind of finish it has; eggsheel, satin, gloss, flat...

If you are down to the bare tin, latex paint will cause it to rust which will bleed through the paint. After you get a good layer of oil based (or whatever the current substitute is) paint covering it then subsequent coats can be latex with no problem.

littledog and judeny, belated thanks for those great tips!