How to Prepare Your Home for Painting

If your home in Elizabeth needs to be refreshed, a new coat of exterior paint is an easy, inexpensive option to improve its appearance. So if your house is starting to look shabby or if you are just ready for a change, consider painting the exterior of your home yourself or pay a local painter to do it for you.

Painting a home is a big job, but it isn’t an impossible job for most homeowners. You have to do your research to know how to prepare the exterior surface by scheduling residential pressure washing, as well as what brushes and paints you need to use.

You can even meet in the middle with a professional painter by doing all the prep work by yourself, but then letting their crew come over and do the painting with their tools, safety equipment and professionally selected paint.

Whichever option is right for you, you will still need to know how to prepare your home for painting. Here are the most important things to remember.

6 House Painting Preparation Tips

1. Decide which parts to paint, collect the ladders and all other safety equipment. If you’re planning to do the painting yourself, you’ll be glad you did. Having a plan will make the painting project go much faster as soon as you begin. Organizing your tools ahead of time guarantees that once you start painting, you won’t have to stop and look for needed supplies, meaning that you’ll be able to maintain a wet edge the whole time you are painting.
2. Choose the right paint and brushes. The best part of painting your house is deciding the color or color combination. You’ll also need to choose the right paint finishes for each part of the home. Latex is a lot better than oil-based paint for home exteriors. It is a lot less messy and easier to clean up. The flat surfaces need more of a flat, or matte, finish, versus semi-gloss. You’ll need to us synthetic fiber brushes for latex paint. Rollers and sprayers are time-saving options if possible.
3. Pressure wash. Finally, it’s time to start prepping the surface of your home for its brand new paint! Invest time into pressure washing your home (or hiring a local pressure washing service) to loosen any cracked or peeling paint. The extreme pressure is the recommended way to remove old paint, and it simultaneously cleans the exterior of your home. Some areas of paint will peel right off as soon as you spray them. That’s a sure sign that the paint was deteriorating and needed to be replaced!
4. Remove peeling paint. Now that the old paint has been loosened, scrape it off the house with a metal or plastic straight edge, being careful not to dig deep into the wood surface. Then sand surfaces for a smooth finish. It isn’t necessary to sand each surface down to the bare wood. Any areas where the paint is still adhered need to be tended to and have the edges sanded so the new coat of paint goes on smoothly.
5. Prime. Do not skip the primer! Primer is an important step because it conceals any prior paint (especially important with dark paint colors), results in even color for your new paint, and a smoother surface with less imperfections throughout. Let the primer dry according to the directions so that the first layer of paint won’t mix with it or produce a rough patch.
6. Plan to paint in good weather. A professional painter can look at the forecast and find the most opportune day for applying exterior paint. That’s why they’re experts! If you want to do the painting yourself, wait for a day that is between 75 and 85 degrees, and with very low humidity. This will result in the best adhesion.

Why Painting Your Home is a Good Idea

Not only can a brand new paint job make your home look years newer, it also provides a layer of protection to the overall structure of your home.

Paint can help prevent insects from eating or clawing into your home’s exterior. It also reduces wear and tear from inclement weather. Good quality paint stops wood from rotting and dirt won’t stick to paint the same way it does to wood.

Peeling paint is an obvious indication that it needs to be replaced. If your paint is peeling, you really need to go ahead and have it repainted in order to protect the wood beneath.

Aging paint really takes a toll on your home’s exterior. If you’re concerned about curb appeal, painting your home is one of the easiest things you can do.

Painting is a good idea if your home doesn’t seem to “fit in” in the neighborhood. If your home’s exterior color makes it stand out too much, or if it is the opposite and you really want it to stand out, a different paint color can update its vibe.

Hiring a Local Professional Painter in Elizabeth

After prepping is complete, you might want to hand the job off to a professional painter in Elizabeth (if you hadn’t already chosen that from the beginning!). Hiring a painter is cost effective. It also guarantees that the results will exceed your expectations with little effort from you.

Hiring a local painter to paint your home has several obvious benefits:

• A professional painter will know the most efficient way to do the job, which means the paint will look much better and the project will go a lot quicker.
• Pros don’t typically make a mess. Their results will be neater, without extra paint splattered or spilled around home.
• Because of their skill and experience, your new exterior paint will probably last a lot longer than if you painted yourself.
• A professional painter will have the safety equipment required to paint anything above ground level.

Depending on your DIY skills and desires, you can trust your painter to do all the pre-painting preparation, too. Most services are prepared to handle each part of the job, from eliminating old paint and pressure washing the exterior to applying the paint.