How to Prepare Your Home for Painting
If your home in Greensboro needs to be refreshed, a new coat of exterior paint is a fast, affordable way to improve its curb appeal. So if your home exterior is looking shabby or if you’re simply ready for a change, consider painting the outside of your home yourself or hire a local painter to do it for you.
Painting a home is a huge project, but it isn’t an impossible job for some homeowners. You need to do your research to understand how to prepare the exterior surface by scheduling residential pressure washing, as well as what brushes and paints you need to use.
You can also team up with a professional painter by doing all of the prep work on your own, but then having their crew come in and do the painting with their best tools, safety equipment and professionally selected paint.
Whichever direction is best for you, you will still need to know exactly how to prepare your home for painting. Here are some of the most important things to remember.
6 House Painting Preparation Tips
- Decide which parts of the home to paint, collect the ladders and other necessary safety equipment. If you are planning to do the painting by yourself, you’ll thank yourself later. Having a plan will help to make the painting go a lot faster as soon as you begin. Collecting your equipment beforehand ensures that once you begin painting, you won’t have to stop and look for all of the supplies, meaning that you’ll have to maintain a wet edge the entire time you are painting.
- Choose the right paint and brushes. The most fun part of painting your home’s exterior 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 require more of a flat, or matte, finish, versus semi-gloss for the trim. You’ll need synthetic fiber brushes for latex paint. Rollers and sprayers are efficient options if possible.
- Pressure wash. Finally, it’s time to begin prepping the exterior of the home for its brand new paint! Invest time into pressure washing your home (or hiring a local pressure washing service) to remove any cracked or peeling paint. The high pressure is the recommended way to eliminate old paint, and it also cleans the outside of your home. Some areas of paint will peel off as soon as you spray over them. That’s a sure sign that the paint was deteriorating and needed to be replaced!
- Remove peeling paint. Now that the old paint has been loosened, scrape it off the house with a plastic or metal straight edge, being diligent not to dig deep into the wood surface. Then sand bumpy surfaces for a smooth finish. It isn’t necessary to sand every surface down to the bare wood. Any areas where the paint is still adhered need to be cleaned and have the edges sanded so the new coat of paint goes on smooth.
- Prime. Don’t skip the primer! Primer is an important step because it conceals any prior paint (especially with dark paint colors), results in even color for your new coat, and a smooth exterior with less imperfections. Let the primer dry based on the directions so that the original layer of paint won’t mix with it or create a rough patch.
- Plan to paint in good weather. 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 want to do the painting yourself, wait for a day that is somewhere between 75 and 85 degrees, with very little humidity. This will lead to the best adhesion.
Why Painting Your Home is a Good Idea
Not only will a brand new paint job make your home look years newer, it also creates a layer of protection to the overall exterior of your home.
Paint can help prevent insects from eating or boring into your home’s exterior. It also reduces wear and tear from inclement weather. Good quality paint stops wood from rotting and dirt doesn’t adhere to paint the way it does to bare wood.
Peeling paint is an obvious indication that it is time to be replaced. If paint is peeling, you really need to have it repainted in order to protect the wood beneath.
Aging paint really takes a toll on your home’s appearance. If you’re concerned about curb appeal, painting your home is one of the best things you can do.
Painting is a good idea if your home doesn’t seem to “fit in” in the neighborhood (but you want it to). If your home’s exterior color makes it stand out too much, or if the opposite is true and you really want it to stand out, a different paint color can completely change its look.
Hiring a Local Professional Painter in Greensboro
After the prepping is complete, you have the option to hand the work off to a professional painter in Greensboro (if you hadn’t already decided that from the start!). Hiring a painter is affordable. It also ensures that the results will exceed expectations with minimal effort from you.
Hiring a local painter to paint your home has several obvious benefits:
- A professional painter knows the optimal way to do the job, which means the paint will look a lot better and the project will be done a lot quicker.
- Companies don’t make a big mess. Their results will be neater, with no excess paint splattered or spilled around home.
- Due to their skill and experience, your new exterior paint will last a lot longer than if you painted by yourself.
- A professional painter will already have the safety equipment needed to paint anything higher than ground level.
Depending on your DIY abilities and interests, you can trust your painter to do all the pre-painting preparation, too. Most pros are prepared to take care of every part of the project, from eliminating old paint and cleaning the exterior to actually applying the paint.