How to Prepare Your Home for Painting

If your house in Wesley Chapel needs to be refreshed, a new coat of exterior paint is an easy, inexpensive option to improve its appearance. So if your home exterior is starting to look worn down or if you are simply ready for something different, consider painting the outside of your home yourself or hire a local painter to do it for you.

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

You can also team up with a painter by completing all the prep work on your own, but then letting their crew come over and do the actual painting with their tools, safety equipment and professionally selected paint.

Whichever direction is right for you, you’ll still need to know exactly how to prepare your home for painting. Here are the most important things to remember.

6 House Painting Preparation Tips

1. Decide which parts of the home to paint, collect the ladders and all other safety equipment. If you are preparing to do the painting yourself, you’ll thank yourself later. Having a clear plan will make the actual painting go much faster as soon as you begin. Gathering your tools ahead of time guarantees that once you start painting, you shouldn’t have to stop and look for needed supplies, meaning you’ll be able to maintain a wet edge the entire time you are painting.
2. Choose good paint and brushes. The fun part of painting your house is deciding the color or color combo. You’ll also need to pick the right paint finishes for all parts 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 also time-saving options if possible.
3. Pressure wash. Finally, it’s time to start prepping the exterior of your home for its beautiful new paint! Put time into pressure washing your home (or hiring a local pressure washing service) to loosen any cracked or peeling paint. The high pressure water is the recommended way to remove old paint, and it cleans the outside of your home. Some sections of paint should peel off as you spray them. That’s a sign that the paint was deteriorating and needed to be replaced!
4. Remove peeling paint. Now that the old paint has been loosened, get more of it off the house with a metal or plastic straight edge, being careful not to dig deep into the wood. Then sand surfaces for a smooth finish. It isn’t important to sand every surface down to the bare wood. Any sections where the paint is still adhered just need to be tended to and have the edges sanded so the new paint goes on the home smoothly.
5. Prime. Do not skip priming! Primer is a very important step because it conceals any previous paint (especially with dark colors), results in even color for your new paint, and a smoother exterior with minimal imperfections. Let the primer dry based on the directions so that the original layer of paint won’t mix with it or produce a rough patch on the surface.
6. Plan to paint on the best day. A professional painter is able to look at the weather forecast and tell you the most opportune day for applying exterior paint. That’s why they’re professionals! If you plan to do the painting on your own, wait for a day that is somewhere between 75 and 85 degrees, with very little humidity. This will result in the best adhesion.

Why Painting Your Home is a Good Idea

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

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

Peeling paint is an obvious clue that it needs to be replaced. If your paint is peeling, you need to have it repainted in order to protect the wood surface.

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

Painting is also a good idea if your home doesn’t to “fit in” in the neighborhood (but you want it to). If your home’s exterior color makes it stand out, or if it is the opposite and you want it to stand out, a different color can totally change its vibe.

Hiring a Local Professional Painter in Wesley Chapel

After prepping is finished, you can hand the job over to a professional painter in Wesley Chapel (if you hadn’t already chosen that from the beginning!). Hiring a painter is affordable. It also guarantees that the results will exceed your expectations with less effort from you.

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

• A professional painter will know the best way to do the job, meaning the paint will look much better and the project will be a lot faster.
• Pros don’t typically make a big mess. Their results will be neater, without extra paint splattered or spilled on your home.
• Due to their skill and experience, your new exterior paint will likely last a lot longer than if you did the job yourself.
• A professional painter will already have the safety equipment required to paint surfaces above ground level.

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