How to Prepare Your Home for Painting

If your home in Thornton has to be updated, a new coat of exterior paint is a quick, affordable option to improve its appearance. So if your house is looking worn down or if you’re just ready for something different, consider painting the exterior of your home yourself or pay a professional painter to do the job for you.

Painting a home is a huge job, but it isn’t an unreasonable job for most 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 yourself, but then letting their crew come in and do the painting with their best tools, safety equipment and professionally selected paint.

Whichever choice is best 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 of the home to paint, collect the ladders and all other necessary safety equipment. If you’re planning to do the painting by yourself, you’ll thank yourself later. Having a clear plan will help to make the painting go a lot faster as soon as you begin. Gathering your materials beforehand guarantees that when you start painting, you won’t have to stop and search for all of the supplies, meaning you’ll have to maintain a wet brush edge the whole time you are painting.
2. Choose good paint and brushes. The fun part of painting your house is choosing the color or color combo. You’ll also need to pick the right paint finishes for each part of the home. Latex is better than oil-based paint for home exteriors. It is less messy and much 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 is time to start prepping the exterior of your home for its brand new paint! Invest time into power washing your home (or hiring a local pressure washing service) to remove any cracked or peeling paint. The high pressure water is the most effective way to eliminate peeling paint, and it cleans the exterior of your home. Some sections of paint should peel off as soon as you spray over them. That’s a sure sign that the paint was deteriorating and needed to be replaced!
4. Remove peeling paint. Now that the original paint has been loosened, scrape it off the house with a plastic or metal straight edge, being careful not to dig deep into the wood. Then sand bumpy surfaces for a smooth finish. It isn’t important to sand every 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 smooth.
5. Prime. Do not skip the primer! Primer is a very important step because it covers up any prior 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 doesn’t mix with it or create a rough patch on the surface.
6. Plan to paint in good weather. A professional painter is able to look at the weather forecast and determine the most opportune day for applying exterior paint. That’s why they’re experts! If you want to do the painting on your own, wait for a day that is somewhere between 75 and 85 degrees, with low humidity. This will lead to 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 adds a layer of protection to the overall exterior of your home.

Paint will 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 won’t adhere to paint the way it does to bare wood.

Peeling paint is an obvious signal that it needs to be replaced. If your paint is peeling, you need to go ahead and 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 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 want it to stand out, a different color can totally change its look.

Hiring a Local Professional Painter in Thornton

After prepping is over, you might want to hand the work off to a professional painter in Thornton (if you hadn’t already decided that from the beginning!). Hiring a painter is cost effective. It also guarantees that the results will exceed your expectations with less effort on your part.

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

• A professional painter knows the most efficient way to do the job, which means the paint will look much better and the project will be a lot quicker.
• Pros don’t typically make a big mess. Their results will be much neater, without excess paint splattered or spilled on your home.
• Due to their skill and knowledge, your new exterior paint will likely last longer than if you painted by yourself.
• A professional painter will already have the safety equipment needed to paint surfaces higher than ground level.

Based 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 take care of every part of the job, from removing old paint and cleaning the exterior to applying the paint.