How to Prepare Your Home for Painting

If your home in Lewisville needs to be updated, a new coat of exterior paint is a quick, affordable way to improve its curb appeal. So if your house is starting to look worn down or if you’re just ready for a change, consider repainting the exterior of your home yourself or enlist a professional painter to do the job for you.

Painting a home is a big job, but it isn’t an unreasonable 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 type of brushes and paints to use.

You can also compromise with a painter by doing all of the prep work by yourself, but then having their crew come over 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

1. Decide which parts of the home to paint, collect the ladders and other necessary safety equipment. If you’re preparing to do the painting by yourself, you’ll thank yourself later. Having a plan will help to make the painting go a lot faster once you begin. Collecting your equipment ahead of time ensures that when you begin painting, you won’t have to stop and search for needed supplies, meaning you’ll have to maintain a wet edge the entire time you are painting.
2. Choose good paint and brushes. The fun part of painting your home is deciding the color or color combination. You will also need to pick the right paint finishes for all parts of the home. Latex is better than oil-based paint for home exteriors. It’s less messy and much easier to clean. The flat surfaces need more of a flat, or matte, finish, versus semi-gloss for the trim. You’ll need to us synthetic fiber brushes for latex paint. Rollers and sprayers are efficient options.
3. Pressure wash. Finally, it’s time to begin prepping the surface of the home for its beautiful 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 most effective way to remove old paint, and it also cleans the exterior of your home. Some areas of paint will peel off as you spray over them. That’s a sure sign that the paint was aging and needed to be replaced!
4. Remove peeling paint. Now that the original paint has been loosened, get more of it off the house with a plastic or metal 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 all the way 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 paint goes on smooth.
5. Prime. Don’t skip priming! Primer is an important step because it covers up any previous paint (especially important with dark colors), results in even color for your new paint, and a smooth surface with less imperfections throughout. Let the primer dry based on the directions so that the first layer of paint doesn’t mix with it or leave behind a rough patch.
6. Plan to paint on the best day. A professional painter can look at the weather forecast and find the most opportune day for painting a home. 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 will a brand new paint job make your home look several years newer, it also adds a layer of protection to the overall structure of your home.

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

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

Aging paint really takes a toll on your home’s exterior. If you’re worried about curb appeal, painting your home is one of the simplest 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 it is the opposite and you really want it to stand out, a different color can completely update its look.

Hiring a Local Professional Painter in Lewisville

After the prepping is done, you might want to turn the work off to a professional painter in Lewisville (if you hadn’t already decided that from the beginning!). Hiring a painter is cost effective. 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 most efficient way to do the job, which means the paint will look much better and the project will be done a lot faster.
• Companies don’t make a big mess. Their results will be much neater, without extra paint splattered or spilled on your home.
• Due to their skill and experience, your new exterior paint will last longer than if you did the job by yourself.
• A professional painter will have the safety equipment needed to paint areas above ground level.

Based on your DIY abilities and interests, you can trust your painter to do all the pre-painting preparation, too. Most pros are prepared to handle every part of the job, from removing old paint and pressure washing the exterior to actually applying the paint.