Painting the exterior of your home can seem like a scary task. It’s difficult, time consuming, and if you mess up you could be the laughing stock of the neighborhood. There are definitely more things to worry about than picking the right color. The nice thing is that painting your house is the most cost-effective way to improve the curb appeal of your home. That is, IF you do it right. We have a list of 7 tips to remember before you start painting your house.
Prepping is the key to a successful paint job. You should always check the weather before any major paint job outside the house. Because paint doesn’t adhere to damp surfaces, wait for relative humidity to be between 40% and 70%. Don’t paint exteriors when it’s raining. HGTV has a list of 10 tips for painting your home, but we condensed the list to the top 7 tips. Understanding the dos and don’ts will set the path to a successful exterior paint job.
Follow these 7 tips before you start painting the exterior of your home.
1. Quality Paint Over Price
Don’t look for the cheaper brands when it comes to painting the outside of your house. Better paint means you’ll be less likely to have to recoat it after a few years. You may be tempted to save money up front with a cheaper brand, but you’re bound to have trouble and eventually pay more in the long run.
2. Prep The Area Throughly
Paint doesn’t adhere well to dirty or rough surfaces. If your current paint job is peeling, be sure to scrape and/or sand the surface. Be sure to clean the siding and trim and allow it to dry, then sand the rough surfaces. If there’s rotten wood in your trim or siding, you may have to replace it. Or if it’s a smaller area, you can fill the gaps with wood filler, just make sure you sand it to a smooth surface afterwards.
3. Protect The Landscape
This one seems kind of obvious, but sometimes we forget how messy painting can be. Make sure to cover the ground, shrubs and any other vegetation below the area you are painting. Also, move or cover up any outdoor furniture, hoses, grills, etc.
4. Use Primer
This kind of goes hand-in-hand with our first tip. Make sure you’re spending money on a quality paint. A lot of paint these days have primer built in, which manufacturers assert will cut down on the number of coats you will have to apply. Before starting your project, look at reviews of popular brands with paint and primer technology and see which is the best for your area.
5. Combine Cans of Paint
This process is called “boxing the paint” by the pros. Buy more paint than you think you’ll need and mix them all into one large (5 gallon) bucket. This will help ensure a uniform color is applied to your home’s exterior. This trick also works if you didn’t buy ENOUGH paint and have to pick more up in the middle of your project.
6. Paint From Top To Bottom
Starting at the top and working your way down while painting helps control streaks. You’re bound to drip some paint during this process, but by painting from top to bottom you’ll paint over the mistakes in your process.
7. Add Grit
If you’re painting patio floors or steps, be aware that just a coat of paint can leave the surface pretty slick. This could cause some falls later. To avoid this, you can add a little bit of fine sand to the paint to add traction.
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